Exile Entertainment has announced production on a new Australian crime-thriller, FATHER’S DAY. With principal photography wrapping on 6 March, and the film scheduled for final completion at the end of June 2017, the producers have released some behind-the-scenes photos from the film.
Written and directed by first time feature film director Jason Raftopoulos, FATHER’S DAY is described as a modern Australian version of Bicycle Thieves. It follows a gambling addicted father growing desperate as he tries to pay back a debt to a violent loan shark, all the while looking after his young son.
Entirely shot on location in Melbourne, the cast features recent AACTA Nominee for Best Actor Damian Hill (Pawno), Arthur Angel (Red Dog), Kat Stewart (Offspring) and Tony Nikolakopoulos (Head On), and introduces young talent Ty Perham.
Producer Alexandros Ouzas of Exile Entertainment said that they were inspired by the styles of Goddard, Rossellini, Visconti. “We are shooting at a rapid pace as we follow our main character on location with many non-actors. There’s a real freedom to this style of production. The cast and crew have been fantastic and we couldn’t have done this without them.”
FATHER’S DAY will be released in Australia, New Zealand and the UK through Bounty Entertainment and Exile Distribution.
A Canadian horror-comedy, Father’s Day has been refused classification (RC) by the Australian Government Classification Board two days before it was scheduled to screen at the Monster Fest Film Festival at Melbourne’s Cinema Nova.
“This is an outrageous decision” comments Festival Director and Monster Pictures Manager Neil Foley ‘Yes Father’s Day is an edgy film, but it is an hilarious and over-the-top spoof that, despite it’s gore, is actually one of the sweetest films in the Monster Fest program!”
Father’s Daywas due to screen this coming Sunday at 8.00pm following on from another Canadian film by the same filmmakers, MANBORG.
Father’s Daytells the story of a one-eyed vigilante named Ahab who sets out to stop the murderous rampage of a psychopath dubbed “The Father’s Day Killer”
At this stage the Classification Board have not disclosed their reasons for the banning of the film. Their official site simply states that:
The film is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Films Table, 1. (a) as films that “depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified.
Father’s Day has been granted an 18+ certificate by the British Board of Film Classification, despite being historically even more conservative than their Australian counterparts.
Produced by Canadian collective Astron-6 and distributed by Melbourne based Monster Pictures,Father’s Day has been a hit at festivals across the globe, winning numerous awards including ‘Best Film’ at the prestigious Toronto After Dark Festival.
Father’s Day screened earlier this year at Sydney’s Night of Horror Film Festival’ where it won awards for ‘Best Feature Film’ and ‘Best Director’ as well as numerous other awards. The film had been granted a temporary festival exemption by the Classification Board on the occasion of the Sydney screening.
“This is yet another example of the draconian censorship in this country. Laws that restrict Australian adults from viewing legally produced materials that are freely available in the rest of the world are an embarrassment and need to be overhauled immediately” says Dean Bertram, Director of the Night of Horror Film Festival.
The scheduled Sunday evening screening of Father’s Day will be replaced by another Canadian film Dead Hooker in a Trunk whose co-directors Jen & Sylvia Soska, are currently in Australia to promote their new film American Mary. Dead Hooker in a Trunk and American Mary will be presented by the sisters at Monster Fest and accompanied by a Q&A sessions. American Mary will be released nationally in theatres this month.
Tickets to Monster Fest are still available. Go to their website to purchase.
Another month has passed, so it’s time for a poster round-up! If you are looking for the previous entries of this exciting new column, you won’t find them. That’s because it’s an exciting new column! Each month we take a look at the most recent quirky posters from around the world, and offer up our witty opinions on them. It’s the validation that studios everywhere have been craving, and the Google bait that we know we need.
Green With Envy Vs. The Fuzzy Pack
Almost quietly slipping in under the radar was the viral campaign for The Muppets, cleverly marketed as a new romantic comedy starring Jason Segal and Amy Adams. Complete with a faux trailer that also debuted this month, this was for all intents and purposes a perfect campaign for a rom-com – except that it wasn’t. Our favourite fuzzy friends appear when least expected, just as they do in a similar trailer parodying The Hangover: Part II. Disney have released two posters to go along with their viral masterpiece.
Who doesn’t like Muppets? It’s a no-brainer that this is going to have a massive cult audience, and with the huge list of cameos set to make appearances, how could it possibly go wrong? Despite being the first theatrical outing for the Fuzzy Pack since 1999’s Muppets From Space, Muppets have long had a great tradition of parodying the entertainment industry, and the Green with Envy poster and trailer is a pitch-perfect campaign to take unsuspecting Saturday-night punters into the crazy world of the Muppets. The Fuzzy Pack trailer (and poster) is not quite as good, but it certain lampoons the zeitgeist.
Mother’s Day Vs. Father’s Day
Just when you thought that every possible occasion had been plundered by the horror boffins, we have our mums and dads to watch out for now. Mother’s Day is a remake of the 1980s Troma film, largely banned around the world for themes of sadism, rape and violence. Not sure how this is going to work in these more sanitised times, but the presence of Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II through Saw IV) behind the camera is sure to attract genre fans. Father’s Day is Troma’s own response to the remake of their 1980s film.
Richard says:
There’s really no competition here. Where the Mother’s Day poster is a carbon copy of pretty much every Photoshopped horror movie poster since the mid-1990s, Father’s Day is a piece of art. This isn’t the only poster for Father’s Day either, with at least two other alternates being just as groovy as this one. However, hands-down this evokes the best of b-movie classics and exploitation gems all the way up to Machete. As a bonus I’ve included the original 1980 poster to the right, complete with the tagline “I’m so proud of my boys – they never forget their mama”. Oh how times have changed!
Friends with Benefits: Subtle Vs. Not-So-Subtle
After star-making turns in The Social Network and Black Swan respectively, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are following in the footsteps of Kunis’ co-star Natalie Portman (No Strings Attached) and heading straight for a romantic comedy about a pair of friends who run into trouble when they add sex to the relationship. Despite the sexy subject matter, the US poster (right) errs on the coy side, while the Australian/international poster (left) is as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Richard says:
Still not sure whether the idea of J.T. and Meg Griffin sharing the screen excites or fills me with childlike dread, but only one of these posters appears to be aimed at bringing sexy back. This begs a further question: if J.T. brought sexy back, where was it and what were we doing before he rescued it from a faraway land? Regardless of whether you are looking at the poster that has a confused-looking Timberlake, or the one that implies he will be inserting his finger repeatedly into Mila’s affirming hand, we know one thing for sure: they will get together at the end of the movie.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: 2009 Vs. 2011
The most completely unnecessary sequel is tempered by the fact that David Fincher (The Social Network) is behind the lens on this one, and a very slick trailer was also released this week. The original poster for for the Swedish version of the film reflected the original title of Stieg Larsson’s book “Men Who Hate Women”. There is, of course, a third type of poster, the highly stylised version of the original film as released international. However, these two posters below seemed to be most analogous: both posters feature Blomkvist and Salander staring into camera, although the new Fincher poster features a slightly less clothed Lisbeth.
Richard says:
Really? Daniel Craig has his arms around a naked Rooney Mara and he still can’t crack a smile? Clearly it’s warmer wherever they are too, because the original cast are fully clad AND have a roaring fireplace. This has been one of the best-selling novels around the world for the past few years, and the highly successful Swedish trilogy of films has found its way to film fans around the world. Fincher’s reputation is key here, and the poster for the new film is clearly aimed at making it look sexy for US audiences: as sexy as a story that contains anal rape and torture can be. On a side note, neither actually has a dragon tattoo. Either way, we trust Fincher implicitly and this is one to watch out for early next year in Australia.
