PRESS KIT 3 June 2015 !1 “A moving and compassionate exploration of the human condition. One of Paul Cox’s most personal and emotional films. David Wenham gives an exceptional performance.” David Stratton 2 !2 Contents Synopsis 4 Cast List 5 Production Notes 6 From the Writer/Director 7 Production Team 8 Trefor Prest - Sculpture 10 Awards for Paul Cox Films 11 Production Team Biographies 13 Filmography & Bibliography 16 Cast Biographies 17 Investors / Sales / Contacts 21 3 Synopsis One Liner A journey of love on a transplant waiting list made poignant because of the influence of the filmmaker’s own experiences; falling in love, living with cancer, and life-saving liver transplant. One Paragraph Robert is a renowned sculptor who lives alone surrounded by the tools of his trade and his highly distinctive artworks. Robert is close to his daughter Poppy, but has an unresolved relationship with Hannah from whom he is separated. The family is stunned when Robert is diagnosed with cancer of the liver and six months to live. In the process of physical decline and mental turmoil, Robert meets Maya, an Indian marine biologist who comes from a different world, a different reality. Maya’s Uncle also has cancer and is preparing for death by passing on his wisdom and knowledge with grace and acceptance. Against all the odds, Robert is put on the transplant list. New hope and future possibilities appear deepening his planetary journey with Maya. In Robert’s last tumultuous months his passion for Maya intensifies as he confronts the agony/ecstasy of finding the love that has evaded him his entire life, just as his body is about to be taken from him. DURATION: 109 mins Cast Robert David Wenham Maya Shahana Goswami Hannah Jacqueline McKenzie Poppy Hannah Fredericksen Derek Terry Norris Louise Genevieve Picot Aunt Seema Biswas Uncle Mohan Agashe Dr James Kim Gyngell 5 Production Notes We weren’t sure Paul would get to make this film which has been close to his heart since he became the recipient of a new liver, Christmas 2009. The care Paul received through the Australian health-care system and particularly from the Austin Hospital Liver Transplant Unit has re-energised his compassion for humanity. Paul had many old comrades around him on set which is an important part of his process. Many of the behind-the-scenes featurettes we’ve created for the release emphasise Paul’s working methodology and how he works with his close-knit crew. FORCE OF DESTINY would not have been made without Paul’s second-chance at life. Since his transplant he has been more dogged than ever in his commitment to proposing a cinematic language that honours and respects the human spirit. Partner organisations for the release include DonateLife who have supported the creation of twelve clips, including one with Paul and his partner Rosie. These celebrate the film and offer Personal Portraits of those impacted by Organ Donation. The Cancer Council are working with us to create a beautiful Cinema Programme for special event screenings. We also have hundreds of organisations, passionate about raising awareness and support for the themes inherent in the story who are involved on a grass-roots level. In honour of Paul’s significant cinematic achievements we have also created the Paul Cox Video Scrapbook on our website (for July Launch). Clips from career collaborators chatting about Paul with entries from Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Chris Haywood, Jacqueline McKenzie etc… this Scrapbook reaches beyond the FORCE OF DESTINY team and we hope entries will continue to grow. Recent health developments mean that Paul is again living with cancer. We send him our love. www.forceofdestiny.com.au 6 From the Writer/Director Robert’s ‘inner voice’ and the chronological order of Force of Destiny, are influenced by Tales From the Cancer Ward, the book I wrote while undergoing treatment and spending hours in hospital beds where moods and images overlap and distinctions between reality and fantasy blur. This human drama is played out against the backdrop of organ transplantation, a highly charged phenomenon, an extraordinary advancement in modern medicine. Vaslav Nijinsky, the great Russian dancer, wrote in his diary, “You will understand me when you see me dance”. I find the task of describing this film very difficult and so fall back on this insight from a great artist. Perhaps you will understand a little more of the film and the imagery that emerged after my transplant, when you have seen the the film. Thankfully the digital age has made it possible to show how the mind ‘dances’, to capture and share personal visions and planetary encounters, or at least make an attempt at doing so. I view Force of Destiny as a ‘spacial love story’. Standing on the edge of the void you begin to see things differently, you begin to see the enormity of the universe, the enormity of possibility, if only we can allow it and welcome it. In the Zulu language, the word for liver means courage, it is synonymous with the darkest, deepest, most mysterious realm inside the human anatomy. 7 Production Team Writer & Director Paul Cox Producers Mark Patterson Maggie Miles Baby Mathew Somatheeram Associate Producers Tony Llewellyn-Jones Anil Acharya Executive Producer Shaun Miller Director of Photography Ian Jones ACS Sound Recordist James Currie Production Designer Asher Bilu Art Director Chris Haywood Sculpture Trefor Prest Make-Up & Hair Delia Silvan Editors Jonathan auf der Heide Mark Atkin ASE Composer Paul Grabowsky Sound Designers James Currie, Tom Heuzenroeder 8 9 Trefor Prest Sculpture Trefor's sculptures feature in Force of Destiny. Trefor rarely accepts commissions, preferring instead to follow his own enquiries, producing mainly small personal pieces. Trefor has exhibited widely since 1972 in Australia and overseas including at the National Gallery of Victoria; ‘Volume and Form’ Singapore and the 8th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii. www.treforprestsculpture.com.au 10 Awards for Paul Cox Feature Films 1981 AFI Award - Best Film: Lonely Hearts 1983 AFI Award - Best Actor in a Leading Role: Norman Kaye for Man of Flowers 1984 Valladolid Int. Film Festival - Golden Spike: Man of Flowers 1984 AFI Award - Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role: John Hargreaves for My First Wife 1986 Grand Prix, Ghent International Film Festival: My First Wife 1986 Flanders International Film Festival - Golden Spur: My First Wife 1991 Human Rights and Equal Opp. Comm. Feature Film Award: A Woman’s Tale 1991 AFI Award - Best Actress: Sheila Florance for A Woman’s Tale 1992 Flanders International Film Festival - Golden Spur: A Woman’s Tale 1993 Brisbane International Film Festival - Chauvel Award: Distinguished Contribution to Australian Cinema 1994 AFI Award - Best Cinematography: Nino Martinetti for Exile 1994 44th Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Bear (nominated): Exile 2000 Joseph Plateau Music Award - Wim Mertens: Molokai 2000 Taormina Int. Film Festival - FIPRESCI Critics Award: Innocence 2000 Montréal World Film Festival - Grand Prix des Amériques: Innocence 2000 Toronto Film Festival - People’s Choice Award (tied): Innocence 2000 Saint-Tropez International Film Festival - Best Film: Innocence 2000 Vissengen Film Festival, Holland - Best Film: Innocence 2000 CineVegas Film Festival, Holland - Best Film: Innocence 2000 IF Award - Best Feature Film & Best Sound Design: Innocence 2000 IF Award - Best Actress: Innocence: Julia Blake 2000 IF Award - Best Editing: Innocence 2003 Montréal Int. Festival of Films on Art - Jury Prize: Nijinsky 2004 Montréal World Film Festival - Grand Prix des Amériques: Human Touch 2007 Special Jury Mention Louis Vuitton Hawaii Int. Film Festival: Kaluapapa Heaven 11 12 Team Biographies Paul Cox - Writer/Director Born in Holland and settled in Australia, Paul Cox is an auteur of international acclaim and is one of Australia’s most prolific filmmakers with forty-seven features, shorts and documentaries to his name. Paul has been the recipient of numerous special tributes and retrospectives at film festivals across the world including a major retrospective at the Lincoln Centre in New York. Mark Patterson - Producer Mark produces both feature films and documentaries. He produced Race to London 2012 a six part documentary series for ABC 1. His international experience saw him produce the feature film The Dragon Pearl 2010, the first official Australian/Chinese co-production. Mark’s first feature credit was the box office and festival hit Innocence 2000 with Paul Cox. Again with Cox, Mark produced Human Touch 2004, was executive producer of the documentary The Remarkable Mr Kaye 2006 and produced the feature documentary Kalaupapa Heaven in 2007. Mark has filled senior positions with the South Australian Film Corporation and Film South. Maggie Miles - Producer Maggie produced Van Diemen’s Land which screened at the Edinburgh IFF 2009 and received a Special Mention at Sitges IFF. Alongside Robert Connolly, Maggie produced The Turning, distributed by Madman Entertainment and CinemaPlus. With Robert Connolly and Liz Kearney, Maggie produced the children's feature film Paper Planes which screened at the Melbourne IFF 2014, Toronto IFF 2014, Busan IFF 2014 and the 2015 Berlinale where it opened the Generation Kplus section. Paper Planes won the inaugural CinefestOz Film Prize 2014. 2015 will see the release of the documentary Dare To Be Different which Maggie directed. Baby Mathew Somatheeram - Producer Baby Mathew of Soma Productions first met Paul Cox at the 2012 International Film Festival of India - Thiruvananthapuram, where Paul was on the Jury. Baby Mathew invited Paul to stay in ‘Somatheeram’ his beachside Ayurvedic Health Resort and there Paul related the powerful story of Force of Destiny. Baby Mathew was so moved by Paul’s personal journey of courage and strength, he did not hesitate to offer to co-produce its Indian segment.