Richard Keep

Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill have signed on to star in Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter, based on the novel by Julia Leigh. It will present a return to film for Nettheim, whose last feature was the 2000 film, Angst.

In news from the Cannes International Film Festival the short film Deeper Than Yesterday, a story of men who have been submerged in a submarine for 3 months and its impact upon them, won the Kodak Discovery Award for a Short Film and the Petit Rail d'Or at the prestigious Cannes Critics’ Week. The Kodak Discovery Award, which includes €3,000 worth of 35mm film...

While this year's Cannes Film Festival might be bookended by Aussie talent, it be fair to assess this year's representation of Australia's Film industry as "short" in stature. A trio of films have been selected for the festival, and of the three we find a pair of short films. Muscles, written and directed by Edward Housden follows the story of boy and his sister who wants to be a bodybuilder, and will screen in Official Competition. Deeper Than Yesterday, (see trailer) written and directed by Ariel Kleiman (who received an Honourable Mention in Short Filmmaking at Sundance) tells the story of Oleg, who emerges after 3 months underwater and fears that losing perspective may mean losing himself.

Among the projects to receive funding is Snowtown a true-crime story from Justin Kurzel whose short film Blue Tongue screened at Cannes in 2005. The film follows a teenager who befriend’s John Bunting, Australia’s most notorious serial killer, and his world is altered when confronted by fear and loyalty for the man.

Principal photography has just been completed on Jim Loach’s debut feature Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. The film follows the story of a social worker from Nottingham who uncovers a scandal involving the organised deportation of children in care from the UK to Australia.