Screen Australia announced Wednesday that they will provide production investment funding for Rodd Rathjen’s debut feature BUOYANCY from Causeway Films. The debut feature for writer and director by Rodd Rathjen, his previous credits include the short film Tau Seru which premiered at Cannes International Film Festival as part of Critics Week and won Best Australian Short at Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2013.
The Causeway films production trio of Sam Jennings, Kristina Ceyton and Rita Walsh are best known for their 2014 breakout horror film The Babadook, and the upcoming post-apocalyptic Cargo, which will be the first Australian feature to be released under the Netflix Original banner.
BUOYANCY is set deep in rural Cambodia and follows the story of an innocent boy who is enslaved on a fishing trawler and soon realises his only hope of freedom is to become as violent as his captors.
The feature has also received financing from Film Victoria, MIFF Premiere Fund, Aurora Media and post-production company Soundfirm. Umbrella Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand, with international sales to be handled by Charades and Echo Studio. Talent for the film includes producer Rita Walsh, director of photography Michael Latham and editor Graeme Pereira.
Screen Australia also announced that West of Sunshine, Chasing Comets and 1%, who independently financed their productions, have received completion funding to “get these impressive titles over the finish line.”
In the meantime, here’s Rathjen’s 2013 short:
Tau Seru from Rodd rathjen on Vimeo.
