While we were away: ‘The Dry’ performed for Roadshow; three Aussie projects were selected for Sundance; NITV updated its leadership team; ‘Sissy’ kicked off in Canberra and vale Susie Maizels, esteemed casting director.
Led by 'The Bold Type' star Aisha Dee, 'Sissy' centres on Cecilia (aka Sissy), a successful social media influencer living the dream, until she runs into her ex-teenage best friend. Invited away on a bachelorette weekend, Sissy is stuck in a remote cabin with her high school bully…and a taste for revenge.
The AMC-owned horror streamer pounced on the film ahead of its world premiere at SXSW over the weekend, where it impressed critics with its sense of humour and performances - it has a 100 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes so far.
Created by Anna Barnes, SBS thriller 'Safe Home' is the first project to be produced under Imogen Banks’ Kindling Pictures, with Emelyne Palmer co-producing and Stevie Cruz-Martin directing.
"We made a horror film and it's found this wonderful audience. It's definitely unexpected. And I wouldn't even necessarily say that our film is a straight horror film, but obviously as soon as you squash someone's head, it tends to not really fall in any other genre, no matter what the rest of the movie's about."
This year's AACTA Award for Best Film will be a contest between Baz Luhrmann’s 'Elvis', George Miller’s 'Three Thousand Years of Longing', Leah Purcell’s 'The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson', Thomas M. Wright's 'The Stranger', Western Sydney anthology feature 'Here Out West', and Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes' horror 'Sissy'.
Leah Purcell's 'The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson' leads the nominees for the Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) Awards, which will be held later this year.