Kieran Darcy-Smith's directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, has been selected to screen at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
The film will have its world premiere as the opener of the World Cinema Dramatic competition.
In a statement, Darcy-Smith said he was thrilled beyond words. "To have been given the opportunity to make the film in the first place was an immeasurable gift – and it has been, quite truthfully, a wild and wonderful ride from start to finish," he said.
Wish You Were Here is a psychological drama that follows four friends on South East Asian holiday. When only three of them return, a desperate hunt for answers begins.
The film stars Joel Edgerton, Antony Starr, Felicity Price and Teresa Palmer and was shot in both Sydney and Cambodia.
In an interview with IF, Darcy-Smith spoke of the Cambodian shoot as a positive experience.
The script was co-written by the director and his wife, Felicity Price.
An Aquarius Films production, in association with Blue-Tongue Films, Wish You Were Here will compete against thirteen other films slated to screen as part of the World Cinema lineup, including features from Denmark, France and Chile.
Local films that have previously taken part in the competition include Animal Kingdom and Mad Bastards, which received five AACTA award nominations at a ceremony in Sydney yesterday.
The Sundance Film Festival will run from January 19 – 29, 2012.
A scene from Wish You Were Here