PRESS RELEASE
Two Australian feature films have been selected to screen in the Generation program of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). Galore will have its international premiere, joined by 52 Tuesdays, which will have its European premiere after screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Writer/director Rhys Graham and producer Philippa Campey’s debut feature Galore is a moving, lyrical drama about a group of reckless teenage friends and lovers. The film is set in Canberra’s suburban fringe, and was developed and financed with investment from Screen Australia. Graham and Campey have teamed previously on the award-winning documentaries Words from the City and Murundak: Songs of Freedom, and helmed the 'Small Mercies' chapter of Arenamedia’s portmanteau feature The Turning. Rhys’ short Love This Time won a jury special mention at Berlinale 2006. Galore’s cast features rising Australian stars Ashleigh Cummings (Puberty Blues, Tomorrow When the War Began), Lily Sullivan (Camp, Mental), Toby Wallace (Never Tear Us Apart, Return to Nim’s Island) and Aliki Matangi (Chris Lilley’s upcoming Jonah), whose performances were lauded after Galore’s sold-out world premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival in August.
Philippa Campey said, “It’s really a great honour to have been selected into one of the world’s best film festivals. We are thrilled to have our debut feature in the festival, alongside so many extraordinary films and filmmakers who we admire and are inspired by, especially given that Rhys’ work has been celebrated here in the past.”
Sophie Hyde’s directorial debut 52 Tuesdays follows the story of a relationship between a mother who is undergoing a gender transition, and her daughter, whose time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Written by both Hyde and Matthew Cormack, the film was shot every Tuesday for 52 consecutive weeks and stars emerging actors Del Herbert-Jane and Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who play mother and daughter respectively. Their performances have received rave reviews following the film’s world premiere at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival.
52 Tuesdays will have its international premiere at Sundance 2014 in January, as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. The film was produced by Bryan Mason, Matthew Cormack, Rebecca Summerton and Sophie Hyde of Closer Productions, and was funded through the South Australian Film Corporation’s FilmLab initiative, supported by Screen Australia’s Development department and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.
Sophie Hyde said, “We are delighted that the film will go directly from Sundance to the Berlinale. For us and our team, this film was a huge challenge and an enormous commitment and we have felt privileged to have been able to quietly handcraft this film within such a unique process. The strong international interest is really a great validation for the risk our investors, cast and crew took in creating this with us and we look forward to showing it to audiences in America and Europe.”
Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing, Kathleen Drumm, said “Berlin’s Generation section is renowned for its great films about children and young people. We are thrilled that out of only 12 films announced today from around the world, two of those were Australian. The selection will offer a wonderful stepping stone for the talented teams involved.”
Berlinale is widely regarded as one of the top three film festivals in the world and sold more than 300,000 tickets in 2013. The Berlinale Generation Competition Program, in which Galore and 52 Tuesdays will be screened, is the same programming strand that last year hosted the world premiere of Australian films Satellite Boy and The Rocket, the latter of which is Australia’s submission for Best Foreign Language film at the 2014 Oscars®.
The filmmakers will be supported by Screen Australia with travel grants to present their films at the Berlin International Film Festival, which will take place 6–16 February 2014.
www.berlinale.de
GALORE
www.facebook.com/galorethefilm
Production Company Film Camp Pty Ltd
Producer Philippa Campey
Writer/Director Rhys Graham
International Sales Entertainment One
Aus/NZ Distributor Hopscotch Films
Cast Ashleigh Cummings, Aliki Matangi, Lily Sullivan, Toby Wallace, Maya Stange
Synopsis It’s a sweltering summer before the final year of school and Billie and Laura share every secret, except for Billie’s biggest secret – she’s crazy in love and sleeping with Laura’s boyfriend Danny.
52 TUESDAYS
Production Company Closer Productions
Producers Bryan Mason, Matthew Cormack, Rebecca Summerton, Sophie Hyde
Writers Matthew Cormack & Sophie Hyde (story), Matthew Cormack (screenplay)
Director Sophie Hyde
International Sales Visit Films
Cast Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane
Synopsis 16-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Filmed over the course of a year, once a week, every week – only on Tuesdays – these unique filmmaking rules bring a rare authenticity to this emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility and transformation.