David Michôd’s The Rover and Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country will have their world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Rover, a futuristic thriller starring Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Anthony Hayes and David Field, will have a midnight screening out of competition.
Charlie’s Country, which stars David Gulpilil as an aging man who struggles to understand how he should define himself as an Aboriginal in modern Australia, will screen in the Un Certain Regard sidebar.
The South Australian Film Corp. and Screen Australia invested in both films. “This caps off a pretty good 12 months for SAFC-backed films,” said CEO Richard Harris, also referring to The Babadook, 52 Tuesdays and The Infinite Man.
"This recognition from Cannes is very significant for the possibilities of the film in the marketplace," de Heer said. "I am so pleased for David, for all his effort to be rewarded and for the chances of his best role now being seen not just at Cannes, but around the world."
Written by de Heer and Gulpilil, the film follows Gulpilil as blackfella Charlie, who is getting older and is out of sorts. The government’s intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, the policing of whitefella laws generally doesn't make much sense and Charlie's kin seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events that sees him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.
Entertainment One will release the film on July 14. It's the director's fourth film to be selected for Cannes. The Quiet Room (1996) and Dance Me To My Song (1998) screened in competition and Ten Canoes won the Un Certain Regard special jury prize in 2006.
Produced by Porchlight Films' Liz Watts, Lava Bear Films' David Linde and Michôd, The Rover will open on June 12 via Roadshow. The director, Pearce, Pattinson and the producers will attend the Cannes premiere.
"David and everyone involved with The Rover are thrilled by its world premiere at the highly prestigious Cannes Film Festival – it’s truly an honour to screen there, and a wonderful start to the movie's journey to audiences all over the world,” Watts said.
Grace of Monaco, which stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, will open the festival on May 14. This year's Cannes jury is headed by Jane Campion.
The 18 films in competition include Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman, which stars Hilary Swank, Moneyball director Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher, Michel Hazanavicius' Chechnya war film The Search, Ken Loach's Jimmy's Hall, David Cronenberg's Map to the Stars and Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner.
Also Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Olivier Sayas' Sils Maria, Nuri Blige's Ceylan Winter Sleep, Belgian Western Two Days One Night from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Atom Egoyan's The Captive, Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language, Japanese director Naomi Kawase's Still the Water and Alice Rorwascher's The Marvel.
COMPETITION
Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Clouds Of Sils Maria, Olivier Assayas
Saint Laurent, Bertrand Bonello
Maps To The Stars, David Cronenberg
Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Mommy, Xavier Dolan
The Captive, Atom Egoyan
Goodbye To Language, Jean-Luc Godard
The Search, Michel Hazanavicius
Jimmy’s Hall, Ken Loach
The Homesman, Tommy Lee Jones
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Eau Argentée, dir: Mohammed Ossama
Maidan, dir: Sergei Loznitsa
Red Army, dir: Polsky Gabe
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
The Salvation, dir: Kristian Levring
The Rover, dir: David Michöd
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Untitled, Lisandro Alonso
La Chambre Bleue, Mathieu Amalric
L’Incomprise, Asia Argento
Lost River, dir: Ryan Gosling
Amour Fou, Jessica Hausner
Charlie’s Country, Rolf de Heer
Bird People, Pascale Ferran
Eleanor Rigby, Ned Benson
Snow In Paradise, Andrew Hulme
Dohee-Ya, July Jung
Xenia, Panos Koutras
Run, Philippe Lacote
Hermosa Juventud, Jaime Rosales
Turist, Ruben Ostlund
The Salt Of The Earth, Wim Wenders