Blue-Tongue Really Loves ‘Sarah Jane’

The collective, made up of six Aussies and one American, hit a high point this past Sunday when Jacki Weaver, star of Blue-Tongue member David Michod’s Animal Kingdom, was among the nominees for Best Actress at the Oscars. Formed by seasoned stuntman Nash Edgerton, his actor brother Joel, and Kieran Darcy Smith, Blue-Tongue began as a group of friends who could turn to each other for guidance and inspiration in all their various film projects. It seems to be working.

Last year, member Luke Doolan’s short, Miracle Fish, was nominated for an Oscar and the Brothers Edgerton collaboration, The Square, raked in a bevy of Australian film awards. Now, the collective, which Film Comment hailed as “the next New Wave,” is focusing their attention on Say Nothing, a psychological thriller that is currently shooting in Cambodia under the direction of Darcy-Smith. Lone American member and self proclaimed “wannabe Aussie” Spencer Susser is also making a name for himself with the Sundance pick, Hesher, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson and will be released in April. Susser (who we noticed all night during the Golden Globes he had some crazy seat next to Gordon-Levitt) hopes to ride the wave of buzz into adapting his acclaimed post-apocalyptic zombie short, I Love Sarah Jane, into a feature, reports The Playlist. Although there is no word on when production might actually begin, we can bet interested parties would rush the project to take advantage of the current high price of zombie films stock.

Gist: Released in 2007, the short film, I Love Sarah Jane, is a simple love story between two teens in a post-apocalyptic world, infested by zombies. It starred a then unknown Mia Wasikowska and featured questionable special effects. Despite the low budget, the acting and tone shone through, and resulted in a compelling and dramatic story.

Worth Noting: Short films were Blue-Tongue’s training grounds and proved to be much more. It not only allowed the collective to familiarize themselves with producing and directing their own projects, but the success of many of the shorts has lead to bigger and better opportunities.

Do We Care?: It’s a pretty inspiring tale. A group of friends, not from Hollywood, banding together and striving for years to build reputations within the film industry. Now, seemingly all at once, each friend gets the opportunity to direct a feature of their own. On top of that, their group of work is taking on it’s own unique characteristics — and the quality level is up there. So yes, we care — especially from a collective such as this one. Here’s our interview with Nash on The Square and our interview with David on Animal Kingdom.