Lisa Siregar | June 24, 2011

Hollywood has come to Jakarta with the filming of psychological thriller “The Philosophers” set to begin on Saturday.

At a news conference in Senayan, South Jakarta, on Friday, film producer George Zakk said he believed “The Philosophers,” to be set in an international school in Jakarta, was the first time Hollywood had shot a movie on location in Indonesia’s capital.

The producer of “The Pacifier” starring Vin Diesel said the film would “present Jakarta today as we will shoot the entire film in Indonesia, not any other place.”

Also present at the news conference were stars Bonnie Wright who plays Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, English actor James D’Arcy and Indonesian Cinta Laura.

Cinta, who shot to fame on a local sinetron production but has most recently focused on her pop career, said she would “represent an Indonesian student in the film.”

Philosophers director John Huddles, who has previously directed the 1998 film “At Sachem Farm” starring Minnie Driver, Rufus Sewell and Nigel Hawthorne, said multiculturalism was a major theme in the movie, which revolves around a challenge to reboot humanity in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.

“There will be students from Turkey, Iran, Australia, Africa, Canada, United States and London,” he said.

Wright said the cast had been in Jakarta for a week, acclimatizing themselves to the local conditions to help them get into character.

Television station SCTV has worked with the crew for more than a year to arrange the film’s production in Jakarta.

The film will also be shot at locations outside of Jakarta, though it was not disclosed where.

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Got this tweet:

S_SunHerald S, The Sun-Herald
Hey @sophielowecom! Make sure you check out S tomorrow for a stunning new Sophie Lowe cover shot. One of our most gorgeous shoots yet…

Can´t wait to see the pics!

DCD Rights to launch new drama series The Slap at MIPCOM as part of recent investments in new programming

LONDON: 16 June 2011 – As part as a raft of recent investments in new quality programming, international distributor DCD Rights has acquired global distribution rights to Australian 8-part drama The Slap, which it will launch at MIPCOM 2011.

Produced by Matchbox Pictures for ABC Australia, the series boasts a stellar cast including Golden Globe Award nominee Melissa George, Academy Award Nominee Sophie Okonedo, Tony Award nominee Essie Davis, Jonathan LaPaglia, AFI Nominees Alex Dimitriades, Sophie Lowe, and two-time AFI Award-winning actor Anthony Hayes.

Nicky Davies Williams, CEO, DCD Rights, says: “we are thrilled to be launching this new high profile drama as part of our top highlights for MIPCOM this autumn. This partnership further demonstrates the breadth of our commitment in the drama genre and successful collaborations with top producers around the world.”

Pilar Perez, SVP Acquisitions, DCD Rights, added: “our distribution reach and access to significant funding enables us to invest in exciting new productions around the world, and we are constantly on the look out for programming with huge international appeal such as The Slap”.

The Slap is based on the award winning novel by Christos Tsiolkas and traces the shattering repercussions of a single event on a group of family and friends. At an Australian backyard barbeque, a man slaps a child who is not his son. The boy’s parents are so affronted by the assault that they call the police and legal action results. The Slap explores what happens when the veil of civility that binds us as a society, is rent aside by one disturbing action. It brings to vivid life questions of parenting, the rights of children, race, class, sexuality, and the different perspectives of men and women.

AFI Award-winning directors include Jessica Hobbs (Love My Way, Answered by Fire), Matthew Saville (Noise, The King), Tony Ayres (Walking on Water, The Homesong Stories, Saved), and Robert Connolly (Balibo, The Bank). Series producers are Helen Bowden (Soft Fruit, Girl in a Mirror), Tony Ayres and Michael McMahon (The Home Song Stories, Saved), ; Penny Chapman (My Place, RAN) is Executive Producer and Christos Tsiolkas is Associate Producer and Story Consultant.

The series in due to premiere later this year on ABC Australia.

 

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Kiss will be a part of two sections at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The first time will be on saturday June 25 as part of Short Stories From Down Under. Details and bookings here. The second is on sunday June 26 as part of First Love. Details and bookings here.

I saw some photos of Sophie from last night at at photo agency and she´s colored her hair. It now has red-ish stripes in it!! I´m guessing it´s for her role in The Philosophers as the cast is soon to leave for Indoneisa to start the filming I´ll post pictures when I can find any that´s not heavily tagged like the ones I saw!

May 30, 2011
Local celebrities including Miranda Otto, Ruby Rose, Sonia Kruger, Pia Miranda and Sophie Lowe have donned red frocks by Australian designers such as Dion Lee, Collette Dinnigan and Willow in the July issue of Marie Claire magazine for an 11-page spread to raise awareness for heart disease. Shot by fashion photographers Harold David and David Gubert, Megan Gale covers the July issue (her first Marie Claire cover) in a one-shouldered Alex Perry number, while Jennifer Hawkins looked red-hot in a strapless fire-engine red Ellery dress with a revealing thigh-high split. Love their looks? To support this worthy cause, you can bid for the red designer duds for auction from June 1, with all proceeds going to the Heart Foundation, or add a splash of colour to your Winter wardrobe by wearing red on June 9.

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MARIE CLAIRE’S 2011 RED DRESS CAMPAIGN
May 31, 2011, 2:22 pm
Bid for your favourite designer dress and help support the Heart Foundation.

marie claire is proud to present a collection of nine gorgeous red dresses designed by Australia’s leading fashion designers as part of marie claire’s annual Red Dress campaign to raise awareness about heart disease in women.

Heart Disease is the leading killer of Australian women, and of the leading killers it is arguably the most preventable. marie claire’s Red Dress campaign is all about raising awareness around this important issue as well as raising some much-needed funds for the Heart Foundation. Show your support by bidding for one of the exclusive designer dresses, as worn by the gorgeous Australian celebrities featured in marie claire’s July issue.

From the Alex Perry gown worn by this month’s covergirl Megan Gale (valued at $12,500!) to the more affordable cocktail dresses, there’s a dress to suit every style and one of these dresses could be yours simply by bidding. Plus, by placing a bid you’ll also do your bit for the cause with all proceeds going to support the Heart Foundation.

This exclusive auction closes June 11, so don’t miss out! Click here to bid now, and view the dresses in more detail.

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Sophies dress is designed by Dion Lee

Thu 19/05/2011 12:07:10]

By Sam Dallas

Two tense, psychological Australian thrillers have been picked up by overseas distributors.

South Australian film Snowtown, directed by Justin Kurzel, has been sold to Revolver Entertainment for UK distribution rights after a bidding war through sales agent Protagonist Pictures followed its screening at the Cannes International Film Festival earlier this week.

The Shaun Grant-penned film, produced by Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw, has had theatre-goers talking since it won the audience award at the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.

Based on true events, the Warps Films Australia flick is set in Adelaide’s northern suburbs and based on real crimes of Australian serial killer John Bunting.

Financed by Screen Australia, South Australian Film Corporation, Film Victoria, BAFF and Omnilab Media, the powerful psychological film explores the relationship between 16-year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) and father-figure and mentor Bunting (Daniel Henshall).

The film has also sold to independent French distribution company ARP Selection – which in the past picked up rights to Animal Kingdom and more recently Sleeping Beauty.

Snowtown opens in Australia, through Madman Entertainment, today (Thursday, May 19). To view the trailer, click here.

Western Australian thriller Blame, written and directed by Michael ‘Hank’ Henry, has been acquired by distributor Lightning Entertainment from London-based sales company High Point Films for a North American release.

French distributor CTV has also picked up the rights, High Fliers will distribute the film in the UK and Ireland, while DD Dreams and Sinema TV bought the rights for China and Turkey, respectively. HBO will handle TV rights for central Europe.

Blame, the first Australian film to shoot at 4.5K resolution on the Red One camera, follows a group of five young friends who aim to commit the perfect murder, seeking revenge for their friend’s death. It stars Sophie Lowe (Beautiful Kate), Damian de Montemas (The Secret Life Of Us), Kestie Morassi (Wolf Creek), Simon Stone (The Eye of the Storm), Mark Leonard Winter (The Pacific) and Ashley Zukerman (Rush).

The $1.8 million film was financed by ScreenWest, MIFF, 3 Monkey Films, Factor 30 Films and Screen Australia.

“It’s not the traditional revenge thriller as such, it becomes a much more intense psychological drama about truth and lies and how people respond when they find themselves in circumstances increasingly outside of their control,” producer Ryan Hodgson says.

Blame, distributed in Australia by Pack Screen’s Peter Castaldi and produced by 3monkeyfilms and Factor 30 Films, opens nationwide on June 16.

For a full feature on Blame, check out the upcoming June/July edition of IF magazine.

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It seems like Sophie has a new project in the works, The Philosophers. Here´s what I could find about it:

Marie Claire magazine interviews Bonnie Wright (Ginny Wesley in the Harry Potter films!)

Do you plan to continue on with acting?
I’m in my second year of college at the University of London, University of the Arts at the moment doing film. And I start a new film in June this year that’s an American film set in Jakarta in Indonesia, and I think there are two other Australian actors meant to be in it, Rhys Wakefield and Sophie Lowe.

Right now, my hunger and drive is to really play as many diverse roles as possible. And I think when you’re with a character for 10 years, it’s an awfully long time. For me now, opportunities have very much opened up, so it’s just seizing the right ones and choosing everything right.

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Info from New York Times movie page

Acting credits
Rhys Wakefield – James
Bonnie Wright – Georgina
Ben Chaplin – Professor Zimit

Productions credits
Director – John Huddles
Screenplay – John Huddles
Producer – Cybill Lui
Producer – George Vitetzakis
Executive Producer – Cybill Lui

Company info
An Olive Branch Productions, Inc. – Production Company

Locations
Jakarta, Indonesia

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Info from Potter Shots, a Harry Potter forum

In an international school in Jakarta, a philosophy class is having its last session. The professor challenges twenty-one graduating seniors to select ten who would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear attack. ~ Baseline StudioSystems

Logline: In a ploy to sleep with one of his students, a college professor challenges challenges twenty-one graduating seniors to select ten who would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear attack.

In a college philosophy last class´last session, the professor challenges twenty-one graduating seniors to select who would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear attack. It is in fact a plot by the professor to sleep with one of his students, who he has already slept with twice before. (Offers out to Rhys Wakefield for James and Sam Rockwell for the role of Mr. Zimit.)
Production Weekly – Issue 746, Thursday January 13, 2010

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03 May 2011
3monkeyfilms and Factor 30 Films are pleased to announce that Blame will screen at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in the Cinema des Antipodes section, an official sidebar event that is part of the Cannes Cinephiles program. Producers Ryan Hodgson and Melissa Kelly will attend the festival and introduce the film’s screenings and then participate in Q&A’s with the audience.
“We are extremely excited to be screening in Cannes and nothing would please us more now than seeing the audience in France respond as favourably as the audiences in Melbourne, Toronto, Chicago and more recently in Buenos Aires,” said Melissa.

Ryan said “Blame features a mostly new and exciting ensemble cast and we are very pleased that the film is showcasing Australia’s first class acting talent at another major international film festival.”

Written and directed by Michael Henry and produced by Ryan Hodgson, Melissa Kelly and Michael Robinson, Blame is a 3monkeyfilms and Factor 30 Films production financed by ScreenWest, the Melbourne international Film Festival Premiere Fund, Screen Australia and private investment.

Pack Screen will release the film in Australia on 16 June 2011. London based High Point Films is handling international sales.

For more information on Blame visit the website www.blamefilm.com or join them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BlameMovie

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Rooftop Bar
March 10th, 8:30 p.m.

As part of the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program, the Rooftop Cinema will be screening of some of the most inspirational and fashionable films from around the world. Celebrating the sometimes bizarre, often confronting, and always creative way that fashion is represented on film; FASHIonFILM will showcase over 20 fashion shorts.

The mini film festival will also premiere the screening of Corinne Day Diary, directed by Mark Szaszy, boyfriend of the late photographer Corinne Day. Shot over a period of ten years, the documentary explores the life of the British fashion photographer whose fame rose with the ascent of Kate Moss as she captured and made popular the new waif thin/heroin-chic look.

The night also features a range of shorts from a unique duel screening of two films by Dutch fashion photographer Erwin Olaf to a film for Lover by Kasia Werstak starring Sophie Lowe.

Catch FASHIonFILM on Thursday 10th of March from 8.30pm, tickets are available online at http://www.rooftopcinema.com.au/ticketing/

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