Seven Australian films now bound for Toronto International Film Festival

8The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) today announced the international premieres of two more Australian films – The Little Death and Paper Planes. This takes the total number of Australian films screening at TIFF to seven, following recent invitations to five other Australian projects.

Kathleen Drumm, Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing, said, “It’s a stand-out year for Australia at Toronto. These two latest selections offer wildly different, but equally entertaining additions to the Australian line-up. The Little Death is a cheeky, laugh-out-loud comedy that is at once salacious and tender-hearted, while Paper Planes delivers exuberant family fun and star appeal. In each case, Australian festival audiences cheered loudly during the films’ local debuts. We anticipate that Canadian audiences will find them similarly intriguing and uplifting.”

The Little Death, from writer, director and actor Josh Lawson, will have its international premiere in the Discovery section. The film also stars Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman and Kate Mulvany. The film is an edgy sex comedy and a warm-hearted depiction of the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney. Lawson’s sizzling and sometimes shocking screenplay weaves together a story that explores a range of sexual fetishes and the repercussions that come with sharing them.

This film marks the directorial debut of Josh Lawson, who is best known for his roles in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), The Campaign (2012) with Will Ferrell, and House of Lies alongside Don Cheadle (2012).

Award-winning filmmaker Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes will have its international premiere in TIFF Kids. The film, starring Sam Worthington, Ed Oxenbould, Deborah Mailman and David Wenham, is an imaginative children’s film about a young Australian boy’s passion for flight and his challenge to compete in the World Paper Plane Championships in Japan.

Robert Connolly’s films have screened in over 30 major international film festivals. His credits include writer/director of Balibo (2009) and Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012), and producer of The Boys (1998) and Romulus, My Father (2007). In 2013, he created and produced The Turning and executive produced These Final Hours.

As previously announced, Kriv Stenders’ dark comedy Kill Me Three Times will have its world premiere at TIFF, with an ensemble cast featuring Simon Pegg, Sullivan Stapleton, Alice Braga, Teresa Palmer, Callan Mulvey, Luke Hemsworth and Bryan Brown. It will screen in the Contemporary World Cinema alongside Tony Ayres’ thriller Cut Snake, which features Sullivan Stapleton, Jessica de Gouw and Alex Russell. Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country, starring Cannes best actor–winner David Gulpilil, will have its North American premiere in the same section.

Mark Hartley’s documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films will have its international premiere in Midnight Madness.

Sotiris Dounoukos’s A Single Body will have its international premiere in the inaugural TIFF showcase, Short Cuts International.

Screen Australia proudly supported Charlie’s Country, Cut Snake, Kill Me Three Times, The Little Death and Paper Planes.

Australian artist Shaun Gladwell has also been invited to present his projects BMX Channel and Midnight Traceur in TIFF’s Future Projections program, a crossover between cinema and art. Shaun’s work will be exhibited at several locations around the festival, and represents his interest in street culture and subculture plus his early participation in extreme sports.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.