Sweet Country

Sweet Country

Cast: Hamilton Morris, Bryan Brown, Thomas M. Wright, Ewen Leslie, Anni Finsterer, Matt Day, Sam Neill
Director: Warwick Thornton
Genre: Drama

Synopsis: Inspired by real events, Sweet Country is a period western set in 1929 in the outback of the Northern Territory, Australia. When Aboriginal stockman Sam (Hamilton Morris) kills white station owner Harry March (Ewen Leslie) in self-defence, Sam and his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey-Furber) go on the run. They are pursued across the outback, through glorious but harsh desert country. Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown) leads the posse with the help of Aboriginal tracker Archie (Gibson John) and local landowners Fred Smith (Sam Neill) and Mick Kennedy (Thomas M. Wright). Fletcher is desperate to capture Sam and put him on trial for murder - but Sam is an expert bushman and he has little difficulty outlasting them. Eventually, for the health of his pregnant wife, Sam decides to give himself up. He is put on trial in the courtroom of Judge Taylor (Matt Day). But will justice be served?

Sweet Country
Release Date: Sweet Country premieres in Australia on 7 October 2017 at the Adelaide Film Festival, with tickets now on sale.
Trailer

Sweet Country Wins Best Film - Platform at Toronto Film Festival

After winning the Special Jury Prize in Venice, Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country has won Best Film in the Platform Competition at Toronto International Film Festival.

The Festival Jury remarked that Sweet Country 'is a spiritual epic taking place in 1929 in Australia's Northern Territory. It is a great saga of human fate, and its themes of race and struggle for survival are handled in such a simple, rich, unpretentious and touching way, that it became for us a deeply emotional metaphor for our common fight for dignity." Following its two festival outings, the film is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Previous films screened In Competition in the Platform Section at Toronto International Film Festival include Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, Jackie starring Natalie Portman, and Ivan Sen's Goldstone.

The film will now head to London, where it will screen In Competition at the BFI London Film Festival.

Inspired by real events and starring Hamilton Morris, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Ewen Leslie, Thomas M. Wright, Natassia Gorey-Furber, Anni Finsterer, Matt Day and introducing, Gibson John, Tremayne Doolan and Trevon Doolan, Sweet Country is set in the 1920s on the Northern Territory frontier - where justice itself is put on trial.

Directed by Warwick Thornton, recipient of the Camera d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for his debut feature Samson and Delilah, the period western is a stunning cinematic vision and soundscape set in the desert of the magnificent MacDonnell Ranges around Alice Springs in central Australia.

'We knew Sweet Country would be instant Australian classic and to have another international film festival recognise the talent of Warwick Thornton, and the entire filmmaking team, is wonderful," said Transmission Films Joint Managing Directors Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten.

'To win Platform, the prestigious competition at the Toronto Film Festival, on top of the major award at Venice is incredible news. We set out with a sort of Trojan horse approach, using the recognisable Western genre, but in the belly we carried a story about our country's genesis. To have Sweet Country so warmly embraced internationally at two of the world's great film festivals is simply amazing," said Bunya Productions' and Producers of Sweet Country David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin.