HUGO WEAVING, DON HANY and XAVIER SAMUEL headline an all-star Australian cast
of established and emerging Australian actors for Craig Monahan’s new feature HEALING, which commences principal
photography February 18 on locations in regional Victoria and Melbourne.
HEALING is a powerful, moving story of
redemption produced by director/writer Craig
Monahan and Australian film industry stalwart Tait Brady. Co-written by Alison
Nisselle (Curtin, Janus, Phoenix),the
film brings together Hugo Weaving (The Hobbit, Priscilla, Proof, Cloud Atlas
etc) opposite multiple AFI/AACTA, ASTRA nominated and LOGIE Award winning
Australian star Don Hany in his
first major feature film lead role. Don is well known to audiences for roles in
TV’s East West 101, Offspring, Devil’s Dust and Jack Irish; in
addition to the feature film Lucky Miles.
Joining the cast is Xavier Samuel (Twilight: Eclipse, Bait, hot off the success of the Sundance Film
Festival favourite Two Mothers and
soon to be seen in Catherine Hardwicke’s Plush),
star of stage and screen Jane Menelaus
(Janus, The Dish), Anthony Hayes (Animal Kingdom, Devil’s Dust, The Slap), Mark Leonard Winter (Dangerous
Remedy, Balibo), Robert Taylor
(A&E’s Longmire, The Matrix), Justine Clarke (Look Both
Ways, Tangle) and Laura Brent ( A Few Best Men, Chronicles of Narnia )
HEALING will also reunite Craig
Monahan’s lead cast from The Interview
in Hugo Weaving and Tony Martin (Candy, False Witness).
Director of Photography is Academy
Award® and BAFTA winning cinematographer Andrew
Lesnie, whose credits include The
Hobbit, Babe, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, I Am Legend and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, amongst
many others.
HEALING
is a life-affirming journey of inspiration and the discovery of
hope. Viktor Khadem (Don Hany) has spent 16 years in prison
and has almost given up on life. For his
final 18 months, he is sentenced to Won Wron, a low-security, pre-release
prison farm, where Senior Officer Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) has established a unique program to rehabilitate
broken men by giving them the responsibility for the rehabilitation of injured
raptors – beautiful, fearsome proud eagles, falcons and owls. Against all odds, Matt takes on Viktor as his
number one test case, introducing him to Yasmine, a majestic Wedge-tailed
Eagle. If these two can tame each other,
anything is possible.
Director/writer/producer
Craig Monahan said : “ the script is inspired by true events and the powerful
connection forged by humans with birds and animals. This project has attracted a remarkable cast and crew and we are privileged to be
working with them and the dedicated staff at Healesville Sanctuary.“
HEALING is being produced through
Monahan’s PointBlank Pictures and
will be distributed in Australia by Pinnacle
Films, whose CEO Sherard Kingston commented :
“Pinnacle
is thrilled to be involved in HEALING and congratulates the team on assembling
such a brilliant cast and crew. Our association with the film
only reiterates Pinnacle's commitment to distributing fine Australian
projects”.
Craig
Monahan is best known
for directing The Interview, starring
Hugo Weaving, which was nominated for 9 AFI awards, winning Best Picture, Best
Original Screenplay and Best Actor. The film was invited to over 30
international film festivals, was sold into 25 territories and garnered much
acclaim including: Jury Prize at Flanders, Best Film at Seattle, a FIPRESCI
(International Critics) Award and Best Actor Award at the Montreal Film
Festival. His other credits include the
2005 feature Peaches and documentary
feature film Animated.
Tait
Brady has over 25
years experience in the Australian film industry including Feature Film
Evaluation Manager at the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) and General
Manager at Palace Films where he managed acquisition and release of numerous
Australian films including Chopper, Head
On, Japanese Story and Lantana. A
former Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, Tait’s production
credits include The 25th Reich and The Last Days Of Joe Blow, currently in
post.
HEALING has received financing from Screen Australia, Film Victoria, Deluxe and ABC TV
; and is
filming in regional Victoria with the support of the
Victorian Government’s RLAF Fund.
International Sales are being handled
by Los Angeles-based Sales Agent Lightning
Entertainment - Richard Guardian, sales consultant on the film for
Lightning is introducing HEALING to buyers at the Berlin Film Festival’s
European Film Market which commenced this week.
An early 2014 release is planned.
