News
Rachel Ward announced to direct PALM BEACH
“Everybody’s vision is absolutely aligned and with Joanna’s exceptional script in the incredibly capable hands of Rachel, the alluring world of Palm Beach is hopefully set to become a future classic.” Teaming up with duo Bryan Brown and Sam Neill (currently on screen in Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country) Joanna Murray-Smith’s exceptional script is set to become a future classic. Read more here.
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FILM CRITICS CIRCLE OF AUSTRALIA Awards Nominees announced
Congratulations to all the nominees in the FILM CRITICS CIRCLE OF AUSTRALIA Awards. Special mention to: Cate Shortland nominated for UNIVERSAL PICTURES AWARD BEST DIRECTOR (Berlin Syndrome), Stefan Duscio (Jungle), Greig Fraser ASC (Lion), Germain McMicking (Berlin Syndrome) nominated for ACS AWARD BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, and Jack Hutchings (Berlin Syndrome) for BEST EDITING.
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THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE is welcomed back to the Lyric Hammersmith
Praise for Andrew Bovell’s THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE in its successful return season at London’s Lyric Hammersmith. “Easily the finest production I have ever seen at the Lyric Hammersmith” – Evening Standard “An articulate piece of drama about the dangers of unarticulated emotions.” – The Telegraph “This production’s searing honesty about family relationships stays with you long after the curtain falls.” – RadioTimes
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Muriel’s Wedding the Musical: A resounding hit
Congratulations to the Muriel’s Wedding: the Musical team. After opening night this Saturday the reviews are flooding in. Here are just some of the terrific responses: “Muriel’s Wedding feels like the complete package: a beloved film seamlessly updated; a central character who retains all the ambiguities that made you root for her in the first place; a conspicuously inventive score peppered with classic pop hits, and a mainstage debut that will be talked about for years.” SMH “Director Simon Phillips has the ...
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Adam Cook at the Seymour Centre 2018
Acclaimed director Adam Cook doubles down at the Seymour Centre next year. Sport for Jove fans can catch MOBY DICK from August 9th: “For those who have not read Moby Dick in years or have never wet their feet, it is an example of the very greatest poetry ever put to paper – exquisitely playful, funny, barbaric, soul-shunting and desperate. To see it on stage is a miracle of theatricality, the power of the spoken word, and the skill of the actor. This is ...
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Kriv Stenders signs on to direct POACHER
Kriv Stenders is attached to direct Poacher, a Tasmanian-set seafaring action thriller starring Luke Bracey and Nick Nolte. Bracey will play Cam Strachan, a young man who encounters a fishing baron named John Hardy (Nolte) who rules the town, and is transformed from a small-time abalone poacher into the boss of a criminal gang. Stenders responded to the script as a blend of Western, crime thriller and seafaring adventure, likening it to The Perfect Storm meets Animal Kingdom. Read more here.
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AACTA’s Announced
Congratulations to all nominees for the upcoming AACTA’s, especially to all the HLA clients for their exceptionally good work: BEST TELEVISION DRAMA SERIES TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL BEST DIRECTION IN A TELEVISION DRAMA OR COMEDY TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL Episode 5 – Who’s Your Daddy? Jane Campion; SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY Episode 2 – Alex, Glendyn Ivin BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN TELEVISION TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL Episode 5 – Who’s Your Daddy?, Germain McMicking BEST PRODUCTION ...
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Tommy Lee Jones Joins STONER
Andrew Bovell’s adaption of John William’s book STONER adds another star to the list as Tommy Lee Jones joins the cast. To be directed by ATONEMENT’s Joe Wright STONER follows a dirt-poor farmer (Casey Affleck) turned academic who emerges as an unlikely existential hero while making his way through the first half of the 20th century. Read more here.
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Adam Spencer launches “The Big Questions””
How often have you used Google to help you answer a random question that pops into your head? Or sat around with friends to discuss a topic at length? Adam Spencer’s new podcast is here to help. “Big Questions HQ is a place to talk to smart interesting people about smart interesting stuff. Adam speaks to a range of experts across a mix of different topics, with a strong tilt in the direction of Science & Technology. The idea is ...
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Thing I Know To Be True – UK tour success
Andrew Bovell’s THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE continues its tour of the UK, charming audiences as it goes. “Those of a sentimental turn of mind may find Things I Know To Be True to be a heart-warming and reassuring story of family life as lived today – a familiar story of solidly working class parents struggling to make a better life for their children. Those of a more cynical bent might connect with the realisation that the ties that bind families ...
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Neil Armfield Directs New Play at National Theatre London
Announced overnight, director Neil Armfield will travel to the National Theatre London in 2018 to take on David Hare’s new play I’M NOT RUNNING. “I was thrilled to accept. It’s one of his best plays — smart, passionate, absolutely contemporary and funny” I’M NOT RUNNING follows the world wide success of his production of CLOUDSTREET which played at The National in 1999 and 2001. Read more about Neil and the National Theatre season here.
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Four Stars for The Go-Betweens: Right Here
THE GO BETWEENS: RIGHT HERE is released in cinemas today! Kriv Stenders directs a “thoughtful, engaging, enigmatic” documentary charting the band’s rise and fall. The Sydney Morning Herald gives THE GO BETWEENS a glowing four star review: “The film, and most of the others I mentioned, ought to be compulsory viewing for young bands – how not to screw the pooch – but maybe not. Everyone has to make their own mistakes.” Read more here.
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Bright Star Hits Netflix
“Campion had been on a roll of casting popular A-list actors in her films (Holly Hunter in The Piano; Nicole Kidman in The Portrait of a Lady; Kate Winslet in Holy Smoke; Meg Ryan in In the Cut), but the casting of these two up-and-comers couldn’t have been more perfect” Jane Campion’s dreamy Bright Star is now available on Netflix. Following Romantic poet John Keat’s final years and his romance with Fanny Brawne, Campion’s 2009 film cast young Ben Whishaw and Abby Cornish as the ...
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Doug Anthony All Stars Charm London
The Doug Anthony All Stars have returned to Australia, but their recent stint in the UK proceeds them: “The iconoclastic musical act recently reunited and their London performance this weekend of their Edinburgh Fringe hit Near Death Experience was a potent reminder that form is temporary, class is permanent….The result was a gig that was funny, moving and profound. While older fans might recall those early shows, those present here will never forget their latest gig.” Read more here.
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New Pizza: Stefano Manfredi’s guide to new wave pizza
Stefano Manfredi has been researching pizza for for many years, the result is his book NEW PIZZA. Charting the new wave movement that re-imagines pizza making in a modern context, Manfredi notes “It’s a movement back to pizza’s origins, before industrial flour milling, while at the same time using modern advances in stone milling, machinery and oven technologies.” Read more here.
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Wayne Blair Does Dirty Dancing
“From Vietnam with the Sapphires to the Catskill Mountains with Baby and Johnny: Australian director Wayne Blair is being lined up to direct another musical spectacular with a TV remake of Dirty Dancing. ” With no set airing date, anticipation grows for the upcoming three part series lead by Abigail Breslin. Read more here.
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Armfield’s Hamlet to be broadcast on BBC
Brett Dean’s opera, which premiered at Glyndebourne this year, will be broadcast on BBC4 in the autumn after being recorded at the festival. Australian audiences have a chance to catch HAMLET at the Adelaide Festival next year. Read more here.
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Jane Campion to take Cologne Film Festival Top Prize
Dame Jane Campion will be in Cologne this year to accept the Film Award. The annual prize is given to those who have made an “outstanding contribution to the further development of film and media through their work”. The 27th Film Festival Cologne runs from September 29 to October 6. The Film Festival Cologne is considered one of the leading showcases of the latest extraordinary productions in film and television. Read more here.
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Four Australians in International Cinematography Awards
Four Australian Cinematographers have been selected for the inaugural IMAGO International Awards for Cinematography. IMAGO is the European Federation of Cinematographers, a collaborative global umbrella encompassing the world’s Cinematographers Societies. The awards will be held October 28th 2017 in Helsinki. Two of HLA’s own have been tipped, Andy Commis for The Daughter and Stefan Duscio for Backtrack. “This is a great opportunity for Australian cinematographers to be welcomed into the room, to play in the same sandpit as their European ...
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Missy Higgins Joins Miracle City
Heralded as an uncovered musical theatre gem, Sydney Opera House audiences will have the chance to catch Nick Enright and Max Lambert’s acclaimed musical Miracle City. After a smash season at the Hayes Theatre in 2014 Miracle City will arrive at the Opera House in October, this time with Missy Higgins in tow. Set in the early 1990s, at the height of televangelism, Miracle City tells the story of the Truswells, a family with a dream to build a religious theme park, and the ...
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Record Audiences for Top of the Lake: China Girl
The much anticipated return of Detective Robin Griffin has turned out big numbers as Jane Campion’s series Top of the Lake: China Girl airs to 130,700 viewers. “These numbers, which do not include all streaming figures, make it the second most watched show on Foxtel this year after Game of Thrones. Tim Christlieb from BBC said it was a credit to the amazing team behind the show.” Read more here.
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Kate Gaul at Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Congratulations to director Kate Gaul whose two shows in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, MISTERMAN and GOOD WITH MAPS, have both played to rave reviews! MISTERMAN “Walsh, Campbell, and director Kate Gaul, form a team that is able to simultaneously shatter tensions and prolong them, like a perpetrator sitting down to eat a sandwich in the middle of a bank robbery. In short, utterly captivating.” – The Reviews Hub GOOD WITH MAPS “Director Kate Gaul keeps the pace flowing nimbly ...
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FilmInk MIFF Best Film: Have You Seen the Listers
FilmInk have interviewed director Eddie Martin after they name his film Have You Seen the Listers as their pick for best film from MIFF. “I thought of Anthony and he felt like the right character because he is a larger than life kind of guy and his sense of freedom is inspirational too. He is so open and out there, which are qualities we would all like to have.” Read more here.
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Good news for opera fans
Following the huge success of Barry Kosky’s Saul last year, the Adelaide Festival again brings home grown opera talent to the fore. This year’s festival headliner will be director Neil Armfield and composer Brett Dean’s Hamlet, fresh from a season at Glyndebourne. “British tenor Allan Clayton will reprise his role as Hamlet for the Australian season, supported by American baritone Rod Gilfry as Claudius and British tenor Kim Begley as Polonius. Australian sopranos Cheryl Barker and Lorina Gore will take ...
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