Multi-award-winning director Warwick Thornton has begun production on Wolfram, the highly anticipated sequel to 2017’s Sweet Country.
Set some four years after the events of Sweet Country, the film pulls another thread of David Tranter’s Alyawarra family history, extending and deepening the story world by taking the perspective of the women and children of the family.
‘David Tranter’s family story is also my family’s story,’ said Thornton. ‘My great grandmother and her daughters worked the Hatches Creek mines for whitefellas. Now a truth will come and it’s called Wolfram.’
Directed and lensed by Thornton, with a script written by Sweet Country’s writers Steven McGregor and David Tranter, Wolfram tells the story of an Indigenous family in the 1930s colonial frontier, anchored by their matriarch Pansy, played by Deborah Mailman (The New Boy, Total Control, Boy Swallows Universe). The three ‘irrepressible’ children of the family find themselves on the run from their cruel white masters, where they must journey across central Australia to try and find a safe home.
‘Where Sweet Country was a film about justice, Wolfram: A Sequel to Sweet Country is about family,’ reads the press release.
Thomas M. Wright (Sleeping Dogs, The Stranger, Barkskins) will reprise his role as Mick Kennedy, with the now 18-year-old Philomac played by Pedrea Jackson (Sweet As, Blueback). They are joined by cast including Errol Shand (The Clearing), Joe Bird (Talk To Me), John Howard (Mad Max : Fury Road), Aidan Du Chiem (Last Days of The Space Age), Ferdinand Hoang (Jasper Jones), Jason Chong (Little Monsters) and Matt Nable (Riddick).
Further returning cast are Luka May Glynn-Cole (Dark Place) as Olive, Anni Finsterer (Thou Shalt Not Steal) who played Nell, Gibson John (Territory) in the role of Archie and Natassia Gorey Furber (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) as Lizzie.
Wolfram will mirror the ‘visceral tone and style’ of Sweet Country, and is being shot on the same locations where the sets for the fictional town of Henry from the original film still stand.
The shoot is now underway in Alice Springs, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Territory, National Indigenous Television (NITV), Screen NSW and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. Production is also working closely with the Arrernte Traditional Owners, led by elder Theresa Ellis
Producers are David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin from Australian production company Bunya Productions (Sweet Country, The Drover’s Wife, Limbo) along with Co-Producers Drew Bailey (June Again) and David Tranter (Sweet Country). Executive Producers are Cecilia Ritchie (The Drover’s Wife) and Kurt Royen (Audrey).
Editor is Nick Meyers (Sweet Country, The New Boy), casting director is Anousha Zarkesh (Sweet Country, The New Boy), production design by Michael Leon (The New Boy), costume design by Heather Wallace (Sweet Country, The New Boy), hair and makeup design by John Logue (Mystery Road).Â
Paradise City Sales (formerly Memento International) will introduce the film to international buyers at Cannes, while Dark Matter will handle Australia and New Zealand distribution.
ScreenHub: Warwick Thornton’s Wolfram: the sequel to Sweet Country is announced
About Sweet Country, the precursor to Wolfram:
After winning the Special Jury Prize in Venice Competition and the Platform Competition Award at Toronto International Film Festival, Sweet Country played in more than 50 festivals (winning 20 prizes along the way) and was sold to more than 70 territories across the world. The film was awarded Best Film at the AACTAs, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, and the AWGIEs, among dozens of international awards.Â
‘The truth-telling legacy of Sweet Country had a profound impact on audiences all around the world, and we cannot wait to tell more of this family’s frontier experiences as we delve back into its world,’ said producers David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin of Bunya Productions. ‘The unparalleled directorial stewardship of Warwick Thornton will bring to life the exquisite and psychologically affecting portraits of the characters created in David Tranter and Stephen McGregor’s script.’
‘Sweet Country is an example of the high calibre of First Nations stories and storytelling we have in Australia,’ said Head of Screen NSW Kyas Hepworth. ‘Its characters, who were rooted in the family history of David Tranter, captivated audiences across Australia and the world. Screen NSW is thrilled to again support Bunya Productions, Warwick Thornton, David Tranter and Stephen McGregor in bringing the next chapter in this story to the screen in Wolfram.’
Wolfram does not yet have a confirmed release date.
