The Australian Film Commission (AFC) today announced the feature films selected for the 2006 SP*RK national script hothouse.
The creative teams behind the eight projects will attend an intensive week-long residential script lab in Byron Bay, 22–29 October 2006.
The projects selected are:
∑ The Collaborators – a macabre story about friendship and betrayal, from Jane Kenneally, Mairi Cameron and Shane Danielsen.
∑ Shadowman – a psychological thriller in which a children’s author is forced to confront his past when one of his stories starts to write back to him. Developed by Scottie Connolly, Julie Marlow and Jim Howes.
∑ An Imaginary Life – in exile, the greatest poet of Ancient Rome learns how to live from a boy reared by wolves. Developed by Penny Chapman and John Alsop, based on the novel by David Malouf.
∑ My Mad Heart – a romantic comedy about a man’s battle to take control of his life, exorcise his demons and find love, from Luigi Acquisto and Ian Watson.
∑ The Detective – a crime thriller set in Cambodia in 1948, about a detective who looks in the mirror and sees a murderer. Developed by Michael Robertson and Roger Joyce, based on the novel Battambang by Ron Poulton.
∑ Here to Alice – explores a family’s struggle to rediscover the magic they have lost when a circus rolls into town during the summer of 1952. Creative team of Leanne Tonkes, Emma Freeman and Emily Ballou.
∑ Almost French – a romantic comedy/drama about an Australian journalist struggling to make sense of love in the world’s most romantic city, Paris. Developed by Sonja Armstrong and Kate Dennis from the best-selling book of the same name by Sarah Turnbull.
∑ Seeds – a sci fi psycho drama about loneliness, alienation, insomnia and combat robots, from Catriona Hughes, Ian Gilmore and Andrew Kelly.
Lori Flekser, the AFC’s Acting Director, Film Development said, “SP*RK provides a wonderful opportunity for scriptwriters to test and challenge their ideas in an intensive but supportive environment. The week-long workshop gives scriptwriters the space to be inspired and allow imaginative and conceptual leaps to take place.”
The SP*RK participants will dissect their scripts with leading local and international advisors, and will receive detailed feedback in one-on-one sessions. The writers will be joined by their directors and producers for the workshop’s final three days.
