After completing principal photography on One Less God, the producers of the psychological thriller inspired by the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai have launched a crowd-funding initiative. They aim is to raise $200,000 to cover post production, deliverables and publicity for the festival circuit by December 23.
The Indiegogo campaign kicked off on November 27 with rewards, a design competition, teaser and interviews with prominent commentators on issues explored in the film such as human rights, ideology, fundamentalism and compassion.
The experts include Dr. Munjed Al Muderis, Dr. Simon Longstaff, Dr. Anne Aly, Raimond Gaita, Kylie Sturgess and Dr. Sahar Amer. It.s the feature debut of writer-director Lliam Worthington, whose background is in music videos, corporate films and theatre.
The thriller centres around a group of international tourists trapped inside their hotel for 68 hours while two young Islamic terrorists, guided by a ruthless handler, sweep the hotel seeking to exterminate the guests. As days pass,...
The Indiegogo campaign kicked off on November 27 with rewards, a design competition, teaser and interviews with prominent commentators on issues explored in the film such as human rights, ideology, fundamentalism and compassion.
The experts include Dr. Munjed Al Muderis, Dr. Simon Longstaff, Dr. Anne Aly, Raimond Gaita, Kylie Sturgess and Dr. Sahar Amer. It.s the feature debut of writer-director Lliam Worthington, whose background is in music videos, corporate films and theatre.
The thriller centres around a group of international tourists trapped inside their hotel for 68 hours while two young Islamic terrorists, guided by a ruthless handler, sweep the hotel seeking to exterminate the guests. As days pass,...
- 11/30/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
![Richard Roxburgh](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWQ5M2MzODAtYTljMS00MDJmLWIxMmQtMjdmYzdhYTY4YTIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDMzNzkzNg@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
![Richard Roxburgh](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWQ5M2MzODAtYTljMS00MDJmLWIxMmQtMjdmYzdhYTY4YTIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDMzNzkzNg@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
SYDNEY -- Two films that deal with Australian immigrant stories -- one set in the postwar era and one in the 1970s -- dominated the nominations for the Australian Film Institute Awards.
Actor Richard Roxburgh's directorial debut, "Romulus, My Father", swept the board, earning mentions in every category and doubling up in the best actor and supporting actor categories for 15 nominations, while Tony Ayres' semi-autobiographical "The Home Song Stories" also was nominated in every category for a total of 12 nominations.
"Romulus" is based on the life of Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita and his embattled migrant family in postwar Australia, while "Home Song" centers on Rose, a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in '70s Australia with two young children.
Both are up for best feature, where they will compete with Matthew Saville's "Noise" and Michael James Rowland's "Lucky Miles".
"Home Song"'s 12 noms continues the film's domination of Australia's awards season: This month it received nine nominations at the people's choice-style Inside Film Awards; Joan Chen is up for best actress at next month's inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards; and it was chosen last week as Australia's entry in the foreign-language Oscar race.
Actor Richard Roxburgh's directorial debut, "Romulus, My Father", swept the board, earning mentions in every category and doubling up in the best actor and supporting actor categories for 15 nominations, while Tony Ayres' semi-autobiographical "The Home Song Stories" also was nominated in every category for a total of 12 nominations.
"Romulus" is based on the life of Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita and his embattled migrant family in postwar Australia, while "Home Song" centers on Rose, a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in '70s Australia with two young children.
Both are up for best feature, where they will compete with Matthew Saville's "Noise" and Michael James Rowland's "Lucky Miles".
"Home Song"'s 12 noms continues the film's domination of Australia's awards season: This month it received nine nominations at the people's choice-style Inside Film Awards; Joan Chen is up for best actress at next month's inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards; and it was chosen last week as Australia's entry in the foreign-language Oscar race.
- 10/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Richard Roxburgh](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWQ5M2MzODAtYTljMS00MDJmLWIxMmQtMjdmYzdhYTY4YTIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDMzNzkzNg@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
![Richard Roxburgh](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWQ5M2MzODAtYTljMS00MDJmLWIxMmQtMjdmYzdhYTY4YTIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDMzNzkzNg@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
This review was written for the festival screening of "Romulus, My Father".No one could accuse Aussie actor Richard Roxburgh of being chicken.
For his directing debut, he's tackled a hard-sell downer of a tale about a migrant family living a hardscrabble existence in the Australian bush near the end of WWII.
Incredibly, like the great Shakespearean tragedies, "Romulus, My Father" manages to transcend a wretched pile-up of calamities -- suicide, infidelity, madness -- and emerge as a work of melancholic beauty.
Credit unfaltering performances by Eric Bana, Franka Potente and limpid-eyed newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee, as well as Roxburgh's decision to echo the restraint of the stripped-back memoir upon which the drama is based.
"Romulus" is a beacon of sensitive filmmaking in what's lately been a fairly bleak local landscape. Its raw emotional power could also translate effortlessly to an international arthouse audience.
The memoir of Australian moral philosopher Raimond Gaita, adapted for the screen by poet Nick Drake, recounts a childhood uneasily balanced between the hard-working integrity of his father and the erratic behavior of his chronically promiscuous mother.
Smit-McPhee plays Raimond as an 8 year old, who suffers through more than a little boy should.
His beautiful mother, Christina (Potente), treats their bare-bones home in country Victoria like a hotel, dropping in unannounced whenever one of her big-city affairs peters out.
Romulus (Bana) is a poor blacksmith from Eastern Europe struggling to scrape together a living in an often hostile environment. His great love for his wife lends him a capacity for forgiveness that seems saint-like.
He's not a saint, of course, but he's a good man and -- barring the odd violent explosion of pent-up emotion -- provides a strong role model for his son.
The screenplay is frugal with dialogue, and positively stingy with exposition.
Roxburgh, who has had success as a stage director, makes terrific use of stillness and is a master at just letting his characters be.
The expressive silences between father and son are companionable, then strained as Christina's casual infidelities and reckless neglect of her family take their toll.
Letters from his absent wife turn up at the farm sporadically, each one a fresh assault on Romulus' heart.
Bana is a soulful actor and his stricken looks cut deep as Romulus learns that Christina has hooked up with his good friend Mitru (Russell Dykstra), then that she's moving in with him, and later that she's having his baby.
Cracks start to show in Romulus' stoicism; pushed to the limit after hosting Christina and her new lover in his home, a suicidal burst of speed on his motorbike leaves him in hospital with a broken leg.
The arrival of baby Susan plunges the unstable Christina into a debilitating depression and puts further weight on Raimond's young shoulders as he steps in to look after his half-sister.
Two suicides and a crushing betrayal finally get the better of Romulus and his descent into madness leaves the child stripped of the buffer that shielded him from the hardest knocks.
This laundry list of affliction sounds heavy going. Yet it's testament to the talent involved that "Romulus" emerges as a strangely uplifting tale of a rock-solid father-son bond.
Lightening the load are exuberant bursts of gallantry, from stalwart family friend, Hora (a terrific Marton Csokas), and humor, from a hobo pal (Jacek Koman) with an unconventional way of cooking eggs.
The subject matter may be weighty and often painful, but the film is truly beautiful to look at.
The period detail is flawless but not overt. And, while cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson bathes everything in a tawny glow, the sparse-leaved gums and scattered granite boulders give the landscape a haunting austerity.
ROMULUS, MY FATHER
Arclight Films
Arenafilm
Credits:
Director: Richard Roxburgh
Writer: Nick Drake
Producers: Robert Connolly and John Maynard
Executive producers: Andrew Myer, Gary Hamilton and Victor Syrmis
Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Production designer: Robert Cousins
Music: Basil Hogios
Costume designer: Jodie Fried
Editor: Suresh Ayyar
Cast:
Romulus: Eric Bana
Christina: Franka Potente
Hora: Marton Csokas
Rai: Kodi Smit-McPhee
Mitru: Russell Dykstra
Vacek: Jacek Koman
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
For his directing debut, he's tackled a hard-sell downer of a tale about a migrant family living a hardscrabble existence in the Australian bush near the end of WWII.
Incredibly, like the great Shakespearean tragedies, "Romulus, My Father" manages to transcend a wretched pile-up of calamities -- suicide, infidelity, madness -- and emerge as a work of melancholic beauty.
Credit unfaltering performances by Eric Bana, Franka Potente and limpid-eyed newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee, as well as Roxburgh's decision to echo the restraint of the stripped-back memoir upon which the drama is based.
"Romulus" is a beacon of sensitive filmmaking in what's lately been a fairly bleak local landscape. Its raw emotional power could also translate effortlessly to an international arthouse audience.
The memoir of Australian moral philosopher Raimond Gaita, adapted for the screen by poet Nick Drake, recounts a childhood uneasily balanced between the hard-working integrity of his father and the erratic behavior of his chronically promiscuous mother.
Smit-McPhee plays Raimond as an 8 year old, who suffers through more than a little boy should.
His beautiful mother, Christina (Potente), treats their bare-bones home in country Victoria like a hotel, dropping in unannounced whenever one of her big-city affairs peters out.
Romulus (Bana) is a poor blacksmith from Eastern Europe struggling to scrape together a living in an often hostile environment. His great love for his wife lends him a capacity for forgiveness that seems saint-like.
He's not a saint, of course, but he's a good man and -- barring the odd violent explosion of pent-up emotion -- provides a strong role model for his son.
The screenplay is frugal with dialogue, and positively stingy with exposition.
Roxburgh, who has had success as a stage director, makes terrific use of stillness and is a master at just letting his characters be.
The expressive silences between father and son are companionable, then strained as Christina's casual infidelities and reckless neglect of her family take their toll.
Letters from his absent wife turn up at the farm sporadically, each one a fresh assault on Romulus' heart.
Bana is a soulful actor and his stricken looks cut deep as Romulus learns that Christina has hooked up with his good friend Mitru (Russell Dykstra), then that she's moving in with him, and later that she's having his baby.
Cracks start to show in Romulus' stoicism; pushed to the limit after hosting Christina and her new lover in his home, a suicidal burst of speed on his motorbike leaves him in hospital with a broken leg.
The arrival of baby Susan plunges the unstable Christina into a debilitating depression and puts further weight on Raimond's young shoulders as he steps in to look after his half-sister.
Two suicides and a crushing betrayal finally get the better of Romulus and his descent into madness leaves the child stripped of the buffer that shielded him from the hardest knocks.
This laundry list of affliction sounds heavy going. Yet it's testament to the talent involved that "Romulus" emerges as a strangely uplifting tale of a rock-solid father-son bond.
Lightening the load are exuberant bursts of gallantry, from stalwart family friend, Hora (a terrific Marton Csokas), and humor, from a hobo pal (Jacek Koman) with an unconventional way of cooking eggs.
The subject matter may be weighty and often painful, but the film is truly beautiful to look at.
The period detail is flawless but not overt. And, while cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson bathes everything in a tawny glow, the sparse-leaved gums and scattered granite boulders give the landscape a haunting austerity.
ROMULUS, MY FATHER
Arclight Films
Arenafilm
Credits:
Director: Richard Roxburgh
Writer: Nick Drake
Producers: Robert Connolly and John Maynard
Executive producers: Andrew Myer, Gary Hamilton and Victor Syrmis
Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Production designer: Robert Cousins
Music: Basil Hogios
Costume designer: Jodie Fried
Editor: Suresh Ayyar
Cast:
Romulus: Eric Bana
Christina: Franka Potente
Hora: Marton Csokas
Rai: Kodi Smit-McPhee
Mitru: Russell Dykstra
Vacek: Jacek Koman
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/29/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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