Indigenous psychological horror film The Moogai has claimed the 2024 CinefestOZ Film Prize Award and its $100,000 cashpot.
The film, written and directed by Indigenous screenwriter Jon Bell, won the prize ahead of family film RUNT, dramedy Audrey and Adam Elliott’s upcoming claymation Memoir of a Snail.
The Moogai’s co-producer Alex White and actor Meyne Wyatt were presented with the prize by the Hon. David Templeman MLA Minister for Culture and the Arts at a celebration in Busselton. The jury of US Producer Gary Foster, documentary maker Nel Minchin, actress Tasma Walton, and in production-editing Gary Habib, was led by chair Rachel Griffiths.
“The jury were really blown away by the range of storytelling in this year’s official selection,” Griffiths said.
“From heart -warming, character-filled, family film RUNT, to the singular labour of making deep time and soulfulness of Memoir of a Snail, to the never-seen-this-kind-of-screwed-up-family of Audrey, to the genre-bending psychological-thriller of The Moogai. It says a lot about our industry that the range of storytelling in form and perspectives can be developed and be realized – in a single year.”
The Moogai producer, Mitchell Stanley, said the film was an Indigenous story that talks to the nation’s painful history.
“It gives us hope and inspiration to keep producing films that are unashamedly Indigenous yet can entertain a wider audience and spark much needed conversation. It’s recognition that through film we as First Nations filmmakers actually do have, a voice.”
The Moogai had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and its Australian Premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, where it won the GIO Audience Award for Best Australian Feature.
The film follows Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, after they give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. Fergus, who can’t see it but desperately wants to believe her, grows increasingly worried as she becomes more unbalanced.
The Moogai stars Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder) and Meyne Wyatt (We Are Still Here), as well as Tessa Rose (Top End Wedding), Clarence Ryan (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Toby Leonard Moore (Mank), and Bella Heathcote (Relic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
It will be released in Australian cinemas on October 31.
Meanwhile, Rachel Griffiths was also named the CinefestOZ 2023 Screen Legend at the event. The Screen Legend is recognised for playing a valuable role in supporting excellence in Australian filmmaking.