Kriv Stenders’ MIFF Premiere Fund co-financed film Kill Me Three Times has been selected as 2014’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Centrepiece Gala event on Saturday 9 August.
Following the mammoth success of Red Dog (MIFF 2011), Stenders’ new film pivots around a charismatic hit-man (Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg), who acts as the spark that ignites a chain of murder, blackmail and revenge in a small surfing town. Hired by a wealthy gent (Tim Winton’s The Turning’s Callan Mulvey) to ‘take care’ of his wife (On the Road’s Alice Braga), the assassin gets down to business only to discover there’s more than one person after his target. With a gambling addict (Animal Kingdom’s Sullivan Stapleton), a small-town Lady Macbeth (Wish You Were Here’s Teresa Palmer) and a corrupt cop (Beautiful Kate’s Bryan Brown) also thrown in the mix, Kill Me Three Times has all the makings of a saga that rises to Rashomon–esque heights.
Kill Me Three Times is one of six star-studded MIFF Premiere Fund movies to have their world premiere at this year’s MIFF (31 July–17 August 2014), with the others being:
• Cut Snake: A crime thriller from director Tony Ayres (Home Song Stories, MIFF 2007), in which a man’s engagement to a beautiful woman is threatened when a menacing man from his past reappears. Starring Sullivan Stapleton (Kill Me Three Times), Alex Russell (Bait) and Jessica De Gouw (These Final Hours, MIFF 2013).
• Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films: A feature documentary from Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood, MIFF 2008) about prolific 1980s Hollywood company Cannon Films.
• My Mistress: A love story from director Stephen Lance in which a strangely innocent affair between a young romantic and an S&M mistress becomes something more. Starring Emmanuelle Béart (A Heart in Winter), Harrison Gilbertson (Blessed, MIFF 2009), Rachel Blake (Sleeping Beauty), Socratis Otto (I Frankenstein) and Leah Purcell (Lantana, MIFF 2001).
• The Legend Maker: A dramatic thriller from director Ian Pringle in which an ageing forger needs all his cunning to survive. Starring Tony Nikolakopoulos, Jeremy Kewley, Steve Mouzakis and Sachin Joab.
• Paper Planes: A children’s film about an Australian boy’s passion for flight and competing in paper plane championships from director Robert Connolly (Balibo, MIFF 2009; Tim Winton’s The Turning, MIFF 2013). Starring Sam Worthington (Avatar), David Wenham (300), Terry Norris (Innocence) and Deborah Mailman (Sapphires).
An initiative of the Victorian State Government, the MIFF Premiere Fund provides co-financing support for new Australian theatrical films that will world premiere at MIFF. To date, the MIFF Premiere Fund has supported more than 40 films, including Berlinale 2014 selected titles Tim Winton’s The Turning and Galore, and Cannes 2014 Directors’ Fortnight-selected These Final Hours.
Introduced in 2012, Centrepiece Gala is one of MIFF’s most sought-after special events. A celebration both of local filmmaking and of the festival’s halfway point, it’s a red-carpet occasion comprising a world premiere screening and an official after party.
Kill Me Three Times Centrepiece Gala event takes place at Hoyts Melbourne Central, with after party to follow, on Saturday 9 August. Tickets are on sale now at miff.com.au/centrepiecegala
All single session tickets, including remaining MIFF Premiere Fund screenings, go on sale to the public 11 July 2014.
Melbourne International Film Festival runs 31 July–17 August 2014.
MIFF’s First Glance will be announced 27 May 2014. The full program will be launched 8 July 2014.
e-Mini Passes and Passports are on sale now at miff.com.au