/News 24.02.20

SOUTH AUSTRALIA SHINES ACROSS THE GLOBE

SOUTH AUSTRALIA SHINES IN BERLIN

South Australia will be on show at the Berlin International Film Festival (20 February – 3 March), with two locally made drama series and a South Australian produced feature added to the prestigious program.

Highly anticipated drama series Stateless, starring and co-created by Cate Blanchett (Carol, Blue Jasmine), will have its international premiere at the festival accompanied by a panel event hosted by Variety, ahead of its Australian TV premiere on 1 March.

Shot in South Australia in 2019, the SAFC-supported ABC series stars a multi-award-winning cast including Dominic West (The Wire, 300), Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale), Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys, The Suicide Squad) and Asher Keddie (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and tells the story of four strangers whose lives collide at an immigration detention centre in the middle of the Australian desert.

Watch the trailer here:

South Australian-made coming of age series The Hunting, by Adelaide based Closer Productions, will also be showcased at the festival as part of the Berlinale Series Market and Conference program.

The SAFC supported series, which premiered in Australia in 2019 and has since been sold to seven countries worldwide including the UK, Ireland and Canada, focuses on the lives of four teenagers caught up in a nude photo scandal.

Australian feature H is for Happiness, produced by Adelaide based Producer Julie Ryan of Cyan Films, will also have its international premiere at BIFF, being selected to open the Generation KPlus program.

Pretoria to premiere in Glasgow

New Daniel Radcliffe feature Escape from Pretoria will have its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on February 29, ahead of a wider UK release on 6 March.

Shot entirely on location in Adelaide, South Australia in 2019, the SAFC-supported film stars Radcliffe (Harry Potter, Jungle, The Woman In Black) and Australian Actor Daniel Webber (The Dirt, 11.22.63, The Punisher) as South African political prisoners and freedom fighters Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, who were branded terrorists and imprisoned in 1978 for their involvement in covert anti-apartheid operations for the ANC (African National Congress).

Watch the trailer here.

SXSW spotlight for South Australian post-produced horror film Dembanger

South Australian produced teen horror Dembanger will have its world premiere at South by Southwest (13-22 March) after being selected for the festival’s popular Midnighters program.

Described as an “edgy slasher for the social media generation”, Dembanger was executive produced by Adelaide producer Anton Andreacchio.

The debut feature from US Director John Berardo, the film follows university student Ellery Scott (Lindsay LaVanchy) whose world unravels when her star athlete brother is slain on campus amidst a brewing scandal, kicking off a spree of social-media-linked murders that leave her racing alongside the police to uncover the university’s hidden secrets.

Get in touch with the South Australian Film Corporation for more information about filming in their state: