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Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Exclusive: Daniel MacPherson has signed with Buchwald.

Macpherson got his start on TV in the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours as Joel Samuels.

He will next be seen in the Russell Crowe-directed thriller Poker Face, opposite Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, which hits theaters on November 16. He will soon begin production on the upcoming action-thriller Land of Bad, reteaming him with Crowe and Hemsworth, who will also star. The Australian actor was previously with UTA.

He can currently be seen in a heavily recurring role in the Apple TV+/Sundance series Foundation opposite Jared Harris and Lee Pace. Prior to that, he played the co-lead for three seasons in the reboot of the adrenaline-fueled military series Strike Back for Cinemax/HBO.

He starred in the Australian mini-series Bad Mothers and played the lead in two of Shane Abbess’ sci-fi action/thrillers, The Osiris Child and Infini, and in...

Following the success of his first movie “The Cup”, both at the box office and in the festival circuit, Bhutanese director and Buddhist Lama Khyentse Norbu pens and directs “Travellers and Magicians” in 2003 and this movie too is a collaboration with his regular partner and executive producer Jeremy Thomas. “Travellers and Magicians” is part of the special focus on Bhutanese cinema at Five Flavours Film Festival in Warsaw.

Travellers and Magicians screened at Five Flavours, that will be on in Warsaw November 15-22.

A young Bhutanese government officer, Dondup (Tsewang Dandup) has just been assigned to work in a small village. Despite being surrounded by beautiful nature and peaceful jolly people, his mind is set on the American Dream. In his room, like a grumpy teenager, he listens to rock music (he is a mean air-guitarist) and exercises under the blank gazes of his flatmate and the many poster girls on the walls.

Wizard-rockers Harry and the Potters will release their first full-length album in 13 years, Lumos, June 21st before embarking on a nationwide library tour in support of the record.

Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry and the Potters were at the forefront of the wizard rock movement which emerged in the early 2000s. Founded by brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, the band released their self-titled debut in 2003 then followed it up with Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock! in 2004 and Harry and the Potters and the Power of...

The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One will be available on Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD December 5th Now you can own The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One on Blu-ray/DVD Combo. We Are Movie Geeks has 2 copies to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie that starts with the letter ‘O’ ? (mine is Once Upon A Time In The West!). It’s so easy! Good Luck!

Official Rules:

1. You Must Be A Us Resident. Prize Will Only Be Shipped To Us Addresses. No P.O. Boxes. No Duplicate Addresses.

2. Winners Will Be Chosen From All Qualifying Entries.

When a dangerous outbreak threatens to destroy everyone living on a newly colonized planet, Lt. Kane Sommerville (Daniel MacPherson) goes against orders and leaves his station to rescue his young daughter (Teagan Croft). Desperate to...

The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One will be available on Blu-ray December 5th When a dangerous outbreak threatens to destroy everyone living on a newly colonized planet, Lt. Kane Sommerville (Daniel MacPherson) goes against orders and leaves his station to rescue his young daughter (Teagan Croft). Desperate to get to her before it’s too late, Kane enlists the help of an escaped prisoner (Kellan Lutz) as they battle their way through the chaos of a planet on the verge of annihilation. With the odds stacked against them, saving his little girl may be humanity’s last chance at survival.

​Star​ring​ Kellan Lutz (Expendables 3, The Twilight Saga, HBO’s “The Comeback”),​ Daniel MacPherson (Infini, Shannara Chronicles, The Cup)​, ​I​sabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Knight of Cups) and Rachel Griffiths (Hacksaw Ridge, “Six Feet Under”) ​, ​​​the film is directed by Shane Abbess​ (Infini, Gabriel)​​ who...

Stephen Curry.

Port Shorts Film Festival ambassadors Stephen Curry (The Castle, The Cup), Wolf Creek Ep Matt Hearn and.screenwriter Kier Shorey (Blurred), will deliver a free workshop in Port Douglas later this month.

They will be joined by Screen Queensland production incentive and attractions Manager Gina Black and New York Film Academy Australia.s Brian Vining and Dean Mayer.

.Do you guys even bother watching the weather report up there with your balmy winter sunsets? It.s bloody freezing here in Melbourne,. Curry said.

.Coincidently, Matt, Kier and I are very excited to be involved in these workshops helping young and emerging filmmakers develop their skills and build confidence in their craft.

.To be honest I.m probably not going to be much help, but the rest of the panel really know their stuff so it should be a great opportunity for anyone interested in filmmaking to come along and pick their collective brains.

Isabel Lucas and Luke Ford have joined the cast of Shane Abbess. new sci-fi feature SFv1.

They join Kellan Lutz (Expendables 3, Hercules 3-D, The Twilight Saga) and Daniel MacPherson (Infini, Shannara Chronicles, The Cup).

The ensemble cast includes Temuera Morrison (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III . Revenge of the Sith, Once Were Warriors), Bren Foster (Infini, The Last Ship, Terminus, Days Of Our Lives), with Rachel Griffiths (Saving Mr Banks, Beautiful Kate, Brothers & Sisters, Six Feet Under, Muriel.s Wedding), Firass Dirani (House Husbands, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, The Combination, The Black Balloon) Dwaine Stevenson (Infini, Gabriel), Grace Huang (The Man with the Iron Fists 1 and 2, Infini, Hiding) and introduces Teagan Croft.

Currently filming in Sydney and outback South Australia, the film is set in the future in a time of interplanetary colonization, when Sy (Kellan Lutz), a drifter,...

Ports Shorts Film Festival is giving the first finalist for this year's festival free accommodation.

All you need to do is submit you entry by September 18 to be in the running for two nights accommodation in Port Douglas' Qt resort and a dinner for two at its Bazaar restaurant.

The Festival will take place on October 23-24 and more than $10,000 in cash and prizes will be on offer to entrants.

Two of Australia.s leading film industry figures, Wolf Creek and Rogue producer Matt Hearn and acclaimed actor

Stephen Curry (The Castle, The Cup, Underbelly, Hiding) have signed on as judges and ambassadors of the Port Shorts Film Festival and will be involved in workshops and mentoring opportunities for filmmakers.

With a $5000 cash prize for the best short film in the Open Filmmakers Awards, the Port Shorts Film Festival wants

Australia.s brightest emerging filmmakers to show audiences what they are capable of.

Actor-director-writer David Field plans to pen a biography of his great mate Bill Hunter.

Field revealed his plans on Facebook, prompting numerous offers of help from colleagues and friends of the much-loved actor who died in 2011, aged 71.

Close buddies for more than 25 years, Hunter and Field often discussed co-writing a book but never got around to it.

.We were having too much fun,. Field tells If. He may use the title suggested by Hunter, which trades on one of the actor's favourite expressions, .Stand Where and Say What?.

Field first met Hunter, whose credits include Newsfront, Gallipoli, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Road to Nhill, Crackerjack, The Pacific and The Cup, at the Belvoir Theatre.

They worked together twice, in Laurie McInnes. 1993 black-and-white drama Broken Highway and in Alkinos Tsilimidos.s 2004 film Tom White, which starred Colin Friels as an architect whose life unravels after a nervous breakdown.

Los Angeles- based The Australian Film & Television Academy (Tafta) is introducing two new programs later this year, one designed to coach teenage actors, the other involving workshops with top casting directors.

In another innovation, the Academy is opening its La Experience course, which started several years ago to enable Australian actors to display their skills to managers, talent agents and casting directors, to international students from around the globe.

The Teen La Experience will run twice a year, based on the La Experience but condensed to 10 days and aimed at teens aged 12-17 years.

The Casting Director Intensive (Cdi) workshops will enable actors to sharpen their audition and cold reading skills and time management over two days in six individual sessions with six different casting directors, including David Rapaport and Lyndsey Baldasare.

Founded by John Orcsik in 1994, Tafta is dedicated to teaching and helping develop the craft of acting in...

James Mackay with Kim Ledger

.

The pool of talented young Australian actors is so vast the judges of the Heath Ledger Scholarship presented by Australians in Film have named 20 finalists this year, up from the usual 15.

That.s a real stamp of approval considering the calibre of the judges: Collin Farrell, Miranda Otto, directors Gregor Jordan and Robert Luketic, casting director Ann Fay (Anzac Girls, Packed to the Rafters) and Randi Hiller, VP of feature casting at Walt Disney Studios.

The winner of the sixth annual scholarship, which fosters the education and career development of young Australian actors in the Us, will be announced in Los Angeles on June 12.

The prizes include $10,000 cash, a two year scholarship at Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre in Los Angeles, two return flights to La. including attendance at the announcement ceremony and a second flight when he or she is ready to break into the market,...

Director David Parker will start shooting The Menkoff Method, billed as a quirky .comedy of human resources,. in Melbourne on September 9.

The screenplay is by first-timer Zac Gillam. It.s the debut feature from White Hot Productions, the production arm of the White Hot Group. The producers are David Lee, Jan Bladier and John Kearney, with Ian Kirk as executive producer.

The plot follows David Cork, a young, introverted bank worker who.s more interested in drawing his comic book than his tedious job in the bank.s data processing centre. All that changes when an enigmatic Russian Hr consultant, Max Menkoff, introduces sweeping reforms with devastating effects.

Menkoff.s unorthodox management techniques take on a dark and sinister turn, forcing Cork and the beautiful and formidable Ruby Jackson from the bank.s head office to try to save their colleagues from a fate worse than death.

The cast will be announced soon.

Financier/executive producer James M. Vernon has an unusual problem in the Australian film industry: he says he has more money to invest than there are viable projects.

Vernon.s Media Funds Management (Mfm) has co-financed a raft of films including Mark Lamprell.s Goddess, Fred Schepisi.s The Eye of the Storm, Simon Wincer.s The Cup, Stephan Elliott.s A Few Best Men and the soon-to-be-released Brian Trenchard-Smith-directed action thriller Absolute Deception.

Among the Mfm co-funded films in post-production are the Spierig brothers. supernatural thriller Predestination, Russell Scott.s 3D IMAX documentary Hidden Universe and Geoff Davis. WW1 drama The Stolen.

The most recent project Mfm co-funded was Trenchard-Smith.s action comedy Hard Drive, shot on the Gold Coast and starring John Cusack and Thomas Jane.

Typically Mfm provides up to 100% of the producer offset, up to 100% on pre-sales and gap financing based on qualified sales agency sales estimates.

Conrad Rothmann..

The film business was saddened to receive the news of the passing of SFX impresario and creator of illusions, Conrad Rothman on 21 June 2013 - the winter solstice. Conrad died of a heart attack on his way to a hospital in Sydney. An American import into our film industry in the 1970.s, Conrad was perhaps one of the first SFX men to hit our shores, and he was most welcome. .He was thought of as the .stunt-glass-kid. of Australia..no one did glass like Conrad., ex-wife and dear friend Natalie Hammond said of him. Conrad went to film school with Steven Spielberg and Richard Franklin. He worked often with the latter and wished he had with the former!

His final years were spent working out of Fox in Sydney in an office and workroom with Aet, where he was known as Corny. Conrad was the genuine eccentric and much loved by everyone.

Paul 'Clackers' Clark..

The Australian film industry was saddened to hear the news of the death of sound recordist extraordinaire Paul Clark on 5 July 2013, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Paul was on location shooting with Living Films, on a Canadian production, when he became unwell. Determinedly he completed the scene they were shooting before he left the set. Initially, he had complained of a sore foot. A blood infection followed by diabetic and heart complications ensued and Paul passed away peacefully. Friend and producer Chris Lowenstein was at Paul.s side until the end at Chiang Mai Ram Private Hospital at 6.00am local time. Friend and fellow sound recordist, Gary Wilkins, Paul.s Thai friends and workmates arranged a Buddhist funeral days later. Paul.s two sons, Simon and Sam were able to attend the ceremony. Gary Wilkins said, .We had made an agreement for Paul to return here, to his beloved Chiang Mai,...

People love rooting for an underdog, but what do you do when the story you want to tell belongs to one of the best at the top of their game? You inject some tragedy and ground their boundless highs with some humanity; you remind them that the person in question isn’t a god but just a human being who has achieved something brilliant. That’s the strategy adopted for The Cup, the film adaptation of the life of the jockey Damien Oliver who rode Media Puzzle to victory in the 2002 Melbourne Cup. Co-written and Directed by Simon Wincer (The Phantom), there’s enough talent assembled in a cast headlined by Brendan Gleeson to make the film passable, but the acting and the cinematography just barely overcome a script written with an almost complete lack of tact and natural feel for dialogue.

Read more...

By Allen Gardner

Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...

A film centred around sharks attacking people in a flooded supermarket isn.t often compared to the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and actor Sam Shepard. But leave aside the unique challenges of shooting in water for nine weeks with actors (including children) standing on shelves, and a mix of animatronic and computer-generated sharks . all captured in 3D . and that.s exactly what you.re left with according to director Kimble Rendall.

.Once we were working with the actors it was a bit like doing a Sam Shepard play on the stage because it really was like a theatre. There were eight actors out on the set and they don.t really leave,. although he laughingly adds .some of them leave . not by choice..

It is still a shark movie after all.

It begins with former couple Josh (Xavier Samuel) and Tina (Sharni Vinson) who come face-to-face in a supermarket...

Title: The Cup Director: Simon Wincer A true story based on the coveted horse race in Australia flies to the finish line. Literally. And you know what? It’s “no worries” as they say down-under…or at least in the Crocodile Dundee flicks. Yeah, the majority of American audiences will not recognize any of the performers save for Irish born thesp, Brendan Gleeson; who plays a revered horse trainer from Ireland that goes all in on a successful Australian jockey (played by co-writer Stephen Curry) to mount one of his horses, that many believe is past-its-prime. The story based on actual events takes place in 2002 Melbourne. Very little time is devoted [ Read More ]...

The box jellyfish is one of the world.s deadliest creatures. With tentacles up to three metres long and venom that attacks the skin, the heart and the nervous system, swimmers that are unlucky enough to be stung often never make it back to the shore. Drowned after going into shock, or dead of heart failure.

With experience as a former teenage backpacker in the area, Mooneys Insurance Brokers managing director David Mansley was well aware of the dangers faced by those brave . or stupid . enough to venture into the water along the Northern Queensland coastline during stinging season, which was why alarm bells rang when the production team behind shark thriller The Reef planned to do just that.

.There.s no way they could have shot where they were proposing to shoot,. he says.

Thankfully, co-producer Tiare Tomaszewski had contacted the insurance broker in the very early stages of...

Jodi Gordon has revealed that she would like to revive her television career. The 27-year-old Australian actress, who is best known for her former role as Martha Mackenzie in Home and Away, said that she likes the "stability" that working in TV offers. Gordon recently enjoyed roles in Australian films The Cup and Any Questions for Ben?, but said that she hopes to audition for more television parts soon. She told The Daily Telegraph: "I love television, I love the stability of it and I just love that it is ongoing. It would be nice to do some more television." Gordon also revealed that she would "love (more)...

Australian film Last Dance has begun production in Melbourne.

Directed by David Pulbrook, principle photography began on Monday in and around St Kilda, Melbourne.

The film is Pulbrook’s debut feature film. Pulbrook has had a long history as an editor, beginning his career in the 60s working on episodes of Homicide and Division 4. He’s since edited Gillian Armstrong’s Smokes and Lollies, Kevin Dobson’s Squizzy Taylor, Michael Pattinson’s Street Hero and Ground Zero which he won an AFI for. Most recently he edited Simon Wincer’s The Cup.

The film stars Julia Blake (Innocence, Bed of Roses), Firass Dirani (Killer Elite, Underbelly) and Alan Hopgood.

Pulbrook said of his film: “Last Dance digs beneath the stereotypes to reveal the basic humanity of the two principle protagonists and transcends the tragedy of their pasts and speaks of optimism, possibilities and tolerance. We were careful not to...

Essential Media goes into production on Monday to make two tele-movies based on the character of Jack Irish.

The films come from the creative team behind ABC’s other successful lawyer program Rake, Jack Irish will be directed by Jeffrey Walker and produced by Ian Collie of Essential Media and Entertainment, and adapted by Andrew Knight and Matt Cameron. It will be filmed in and around Melbourne.

The two films; Jack Irish: Bad Debts, and Jack Irish Black Tide, will star Guy Pearce as Jack Irish, the former criminal lawyer, collector of bad debts, footy fan, trainee cabinetmaker and sometime lover.

The two films will also feature Martin Sacks (The Cup, Blue Heelers), Emma Booth (Cloudstreet, Underbelly), Don Hany (Offspring), Colin Friels (Killing Time, Blackjack) and more.

We last saw Guy Pearce on the small screen in his Emmy winning role as Monty in mini-series Mildred Pierce.

Jack Irish: Bad Debts...

Real Steel has topped the Australian box office for the second week running. The Hugh Jackman action movie, which generated over $$2 million in ticket sales, retained its top spot, followed by Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell's Crazy, Stupid, Love in second position. In third place is new entry What's Your Number?, which generated $$830,519 in ticket sales, closely followed by Jodi Gordon and Stephen Curry's Australian racing movie The Cup with $$817,696. The Smurfs drops down to fifth place only two weeks after keeping the number one spot for three consecutive weeks. Other movies featured in the top ten are Rowan Atkinson's (more)...

Rubber Records has released a soundtrack album for the Australian drama The Cup. The album includes the original score from the movie by composer Bruce Rowland (The Man from Snowy River, Lightning Jack). The soundtrack is available as a digital release on Amazon. Audio clips can be checked out after the jump. The Cup is directed by Simon Wincer (Quigley Down Under, Free Willy) and stars Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Curry, Daniel MacPherson and Tom Berlinson. The movie about the running of the 2002 Melbourne Cup opened last week in Australia and is currently awaiting a domestic release. To learn more about the film, visit the official movie website.

Amazon.com WidgetsHere’s the album track list:

1. Opening Titles

2. A Day In Damien’s Life

3. Dermot Weld

4. Indecision

5. What’s Wrong With You?

6. Godolphin Stables

7. A Package From Perth

8. I Know What You Mean

9. Anything Could Happen

10. Damien’s Dilemma

11. He’s...

The Cup wasn.t quite the film that stopped.the nation in its opening weekend but it still made more than $800,000 for distributor Roadshow. The film, which follows the events leading up to Damien Oliver.s win at the 2002 Melbourne Cup, took in $817,696 across 277 screens, posting a modest screen average of $2952. Opening on 32 more screens than Red Dog (which opened on 245 in early-August), The Cup.had a long journey to get.to the big screen after several setbacks..The outbreak of equine influenza, the Us writers' strike and the global financial crisis all contributed to the delay of the $15 million flick which stars Stephen Curry, Daniel MacPherson, Jodie Gordon and.Shaun Micallef. Roadshow.s other local film of the year, Red Dog,...

Daniel MacPherson has revealed that he wants to pursue a Hollywood career. The Australian actor, who is best known for his acting roles in Wild Boys and The Cup as well as being the host of Dancing with the Stars, said that he originally planned to go on a vacation to Los Angeles recently. However, he revealed that he soon found himself looking for acting work there. MacPherson told National Features: "I was trying to take a holiday, to be honest. But there's so much stuff happening in that town that it just gets under your skin. "I was there for three weeks and I auditioned for four feature films, two TV series - and I didn't even have a visa! It's exciting that when I actually base myself there and spend a decent amount of time there, then there's great possibilities over there." MacPherson - who lived in London...

Daniel MacPherson has revealed that dieting for his role in The Cup was "hard". The 31-year-old Australian actor, who played the late jockey Jason Oliver in the racing film, said that he existed on "black coffee" while trying to lose weight before filming started. MacPherson told National Features: "The first month was pretty hard, but after that I was just living on black coffee and exercise." He admitted that he drove to a McDonalds on the last day of filming, but said that he could not binge on "junk food" because it made him feel sick. He added: "I started dieting in February and we didn't wrap until August; I was hanging by my fingernails by August." MacPherson, who appeared on the red carpet for The Cup's premiere alongside co-stars Jodi Gordon, Stephen Curry and Shaun Micallef (more)...

The stars of Australian racing movie The Cup have appeared at the premiere alongside the real people who they portrayed. Former Home and Away actress Jodi Gordon, ex-Neighbours star Stephen Curry and castmates Daniel MacPherson and Shaun Micallef walked the red carpet with jockey Damien Oliver, who Curry plays in the film. The Cup tells the story of Oliver's victory in the 2002 Melbourne Cup on horse Media Puzzle just days after his brother Jason died in a trackwork accident. Damien, who attended the screening with wife Trish and their three children, told the Herald Sun: "It feels really weird to see part of your life in a film, but it has been a long time coming and we are really excited. "They have done a wonderful job and we feel honoured to have a film made about this piece of our life."

(more)...

Stephen Curry has admitted that his latest role was a challenge. The Australian actor, who plays top jockey Damien Oliver in upcoming Aussie movie The Cup, said that he found the job difficult because he is not very confident around horses. Curry told the Herald Sun: "The horses and I don't really get along, I'll be honest. They are wonderful, beautiful creatures, but so are great white sharks. I don't want to swim with them or be on them, I just want to bet on them. "We had 500 extras on day one and I got bucked off in front of all of them. And my mum laughed the loudest. Thanks for that, Mum." The Simon Wincer film tells the story of Oliver's Melbourne Cup victory on horse Media Puzzle shortly after (more)...

James Cameron has a thing for water. And almost-impossible-to-film storylines…this time, he’s done it again: he’s the producer of Sanctum, a new movie about a cave-diving team having to face their worst fears when they get stuck inside the least accessible cave in the world.

I had the chance to speak to the lovely Alice Parkinson, who stars in the film in the role of strong and tomboyish Victoria. Alice gave me an interesting insight on gruelling training, learning to dive and filming underwater.

—————-

HeyUGuys: Sanctum is a high tension movie and your role is very physical and demanding. What did you think when you first read the script – where you a bit nervous, or just excited?

Alice Parkinson: Excited, most definitely. With that kind of story, I knew it was going to be hard work and gruelling – and it was. But I was excited.

The Factory

Opens: 2011

Cast: John Cusack, Jennifer Carpenter, Ksenia Solo, Mae Whitman, Sonya Walger

Director: Morgan O'Neill

Summary: An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, New York. When his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any pretension and professional restraint he might have to get the killer.

Analysis: Shot almost three years ago now, Dark Castle had originally planned to release this thriller back in late 2009. However for reasons unspecified, it has been sitting on a shelf for some time and keeps getting delayed. In cases like these, the most obvious reason is usually the correct one - it stinks (eg. "Case 39"). The company certainly has had its fair share of box-office duds lately including "Whiteout," "Ninja Assassin," "The Losers," "Orphan" and "Splice".

Yet Cusack generally has good taste in projects, his last venture into horror was the surprisingly effective Stephen King...

Encore visited the Geelong set of Simon Wincer’s new project The Cup which, although shot on a tight schedule, he hopes will be ‘the movie that stops a nation’ when it’s released in 2011.

The Cup tells the story of Damien Oliver (played by Stephen Curry), winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup with the horse Media Puzzle and the support of Irish trainer Dermot Weld (Brendan Gleeson). Oliver’s brother (Daniel MacPherson) was killed one week before the event in a horse racing accident in Perth – which also reflects the way their father died 27 years ago.

Us journalist Eric O’Keefe heard of Oliver’s story and contacted Wincer, trying to get more information from his Australian friend to write a magazine article. Wincer looked into it and rang him back saying “This is a movie!”

Wincer is, of course, no stranger to horse-themed projects, from 1983’s Phar Lap to the 2008 CBS miniseries Comanche Moon.

Days before the race that stops a nation, Encore has exclusive images from the shoot of Simon Wincer’s The Cup.

Wincer shot most of the film in Victoria earlier this year, but will shoot the climatic Melbourne Cup race scenes after the real one takes place next week.

The Cup tells the story of Damien Oliver (played by Stephen Curry), winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup with the horse Media Puzzle and the support of Irish trainer Dermot Weld (Brendan Gleeson).

It will be released by Roadshow next Easter.

Releasing a local film can be the most fulfilling experience for a distributor, according to Joel Pearlman, managing director of Roadshow Films… but it can also be like wandering into the unknown, with no track record of success and no guarantees.

Will the performance of recent local hits increase distributors’ interest in local product? Is the slate more diverse than before?

All of our Australian films tend to be across a wide spectrum. In the last 12 months we’ve had Mao’s Last Dancer and Bran Nue Day, which are completely different films, and we finished off with I Love You Too, a modern romantic comedy. Beautiful Kate was for a limited audience, so the releases couldn’t’ be more diverse.

In the next 12 months we have Red Dog, which is a broad comedic family film, and The Cup, based on a true story, so those films couldn’t be...

By Brent Lang

"The Cup," the true story of jockey Damien Oliver and racehorse Media Puzzle’s victory at Australia’s prestigious Melbourne Cup is currently shooting in Melbourne, Australia, Myriad Pictures announced Thursday.

Director Simon Wincer seems a natural fit for the project, having previously helmed such family-firendly, adorable animal movies as "Free Willy" and "The Young Black Stallion."

Wincer also directed more adult fare like th...

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... - Australian Film Scene: Local Business: Screen Australia has announced funding of 4 short films as part of its Springboard program aimed at assisting filmmakers who intend on making a short film which will be used to market an expanded feature version of the same project. The films selected include: - Cryo (feature film Cargo) a sci-fi thriller directed by Luke Doolan- Transmission (feature film These Final Hours) an apocalyptic drama written & directed by Zak Hilditch- Mercury (feature film Hound) a conspiracy thriller written &amp...

Australian Film Scene: Local Business: Screen Australia has announced funding of 4 short films as part of its Springboard program aimed at assisting filmmakers who intend on making a short film which will be used to market an expanded feature version of the same project. The films selected include: - Cryo (feature film Cargo) a sci-fi thriller directed by Luke Doolan- Transmission (feature film These Final Hours) an apocalyptic drama written & directed by Zak Hilditch- Mercury (feature film Hound) a conspiracy thriller written & directed by Paul Oliver- Rarer Monsters (feature film Tremula) a sci-fi thriller written & directed by Shane Krause The Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (Efic) will provide loans against the Producer Offset to filmamkers to assist with small film and TV productions. The eligibility criteria will be to have an international distribution agreement and a provisional certificate from Screen Australia. Amounts will be loaned up to...

Director Simon Wincer is about to start production of his new horseracing film The Cup, but he admits that the project has been particularly difficult to put together.

“I’m glad that we’re up and running, because it’s certainly tried my patience a number of times,” Wincer told Encore.

The Cup tells the story of Damien Oliver, winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup with the horse Media Puzzle. Oliver’s brother was killed in a horse racing accident in Perth, one week before the event.

Wincer and Eric O’Keefe started working on this project in 2003, and it’s taken seven years to make it happen. The $17.5m film was financed in 2008, but fell apart due to the global financial crisis.

Win some, lose some. That’s what The Cup has experienced in its long journey.

Ray Winstone was attached to the project, to play Irish trainer Dermot Weld.