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NOMINATED
2009 MIFF AWARDS
BEST FILM
BEST SCREENPLAY - CHRISTOPHER WEEKES
BEST ACTRESS - NONI HAZLEHURST
BEST ACTRESS - NONI HAZLEHURST
Winners announced May 2009
RECENT FILM FESTIVALS
The screening times were :
JAN - MARCH 2009
2009 CLEVELAND FILM FESTIVAL
The screening times were :
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
WINNER
2008 FILM CRITICS CIRCLE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS
BEST ACTRESS - NONI HAZLEHURST
ALSO NOMINATED
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - LEEANNA WALSMAN
Winners were announced Feb 2009
2008 Goteborg Film Festival
The screening times were :
Sunday, January 25, 2009, 08:30pm
Monday, January 26, 2009, 10:00am
Thursday, January 29, 2009, 03:00pm
NOMINATED
2008 AFI AWARDS
BEST ACTRESS - NONI HAZLEHURST
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - LEEANNA WALSMAN
Winners announced 6th December 2008
2008 Torino Film Festival
In Competition
The screening times were :
Late November 2008
http://www.torinofilmfest.org/
27th November 2008 – NEWS ARTICLE
TURIN OVATION FOR BITTER & TWISTED
by Simon de Bruyn
The accolades look set to continue for director Christopher Weekes and his debut film Bitter & Twisted, after the film received an extended standing ovation at the Turin Film Festival, where it is currently playing in official competition alongside 14 films from around the world.
The festival reception caps off a stunning year for Weekes, who has travelled with the film to the Sarajevo, Montreal, Seoul and Tribeca film festivals so far. In addition, Bitter & Twisted cast Noni Hazlehurst and Leeanna Walsmann have each been nominated for AFI Awards, in the best actress and supporting actress categories respectively.
The Dungog Film Festival is the only Australian festival to screen the film so far.
Speaking from Turin, where is a currently a guest of the festival along with the film's lead actor Steve Rodgers, Weekes told INSIDEFILM said he was ecstatic at how far the film had come from its modest beginnings.
"It's a real honour to be invited to screen Bitter & Twisted in competition at this year's Torino Film Festival. I never in my wildest dreams imagined this little film would one day find itself all the way across the world at a giant festival in Italy, playing alongside the work of such heroes of mine as Roman Polanski, Oliver Stone and Nanni Moretti. It's been an experience and opportunity I will never, ever, forget," he said.He said the Turin festival had flown Rodgers and his family over for the film's first screening, as the actor had not yet seen the completed film.
"Steve Rodgers, who plays Jordan, hadn't actually even seen the film before this week as he's been doing a play in London. The festival flew his family over for our first screening here and he finally got to see this little story of hope we've all been struggling on for so long now, thousands of miles from the sunburnt Sutherland this adventure started in years ago, he said.
Rodgers told INSIDEFILM that he was overwhelmed by the reception from the festival crowd.
"It's been so great to see something I did a while ago get recognised here in Torino where they eat and drink film day and night. At the opening night screening I hadn't seen the film before because I've been out of Australia doing theatre in London, so it was a really emotional night for me," he said.
"I'd forgotten how much heart Chris had put in the film. When they stood up at the end I couldn't get the smile off my face. I felt like the white headed, big bloke version of Megan Gale. This truly is an independent success story."
Bitter & Twisted was produced by Bridget Callow and Odin's Eye Entertainment is handing worldwide sales of the film.
Odin's Eye principal Michael Favelle said: "It's really rewarding to see this little film, deemed not worthy of government support, be received so warmly all over the world. I'm really happy for Chris; he has done a great job and deserves some time in the sun."
NOMINATED
2008 INSIDE FILM AWARDS
Winners announced 13th November 2008
NOMINATED
2008 SOYA FILM AWARDS
Winners announced 12th November 2008
4th October 2008 – REVIEW
A subtle take on bereavement - Bitter & Twisted
by David Stratton, The Australian
BACK in the 1960s, when I was often involved in bitter arguments with the chief film censor about some of his board's more outrageous decisions, he would express amazement that anyone would want to see this or to hear that as part of an entertainment.
He could never be persuaded that the cinema can, and should, be more than mere entertainment, that it can carry messages and tell stories as powerful and meaningful as any novel, and with more immediacy. It's true that the vast majority of people who go to the cinema, most of them young, do so to be entertained, to relax and enjoy themselves. But that doesn't mean films that set out to do something different - to educate, to inform, to probe the human condition - aren't equally valid. Hollywood pretty much corners the market when it comes to movie entertainment, while Australian cinema, on the whole, has always been more aligned towards Europe in that most locally made films, whether they are successful or unsuccessful, are about real people, not comic book characters.
These thoughts came to mind while watching Bitter and Twisted, a low-budget Australian film that shows evidence of enormous talent even asit deliberately avoids any element that mostpeople would call entertainment. Even the title is indicative of its ultra-serious intentions (it could form part of a triple bill with Mike Leigh's Bleak Moments and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Despair).
Like Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours: Blue and the new Swedish film Suddenly, this is a film about bereavement, the toll the sudden death of a loved one takes on a family; not your average Friday-night popcorn movie.
The film begins with the sudden and (to the audience) unexplained death of a young man. Three years later, those closest to him are still suffering from the loss. His father (Steve Rodgers), a not very successful car salesman, has become a binge eater and as a result is embarrassingly obese; he can no longer give his wife (Noni Hazlehurst) the love and comfort she craves. Their surviving son, Ben, played by the film's talented writer-director Christopher Weekes, is, if anything, even more conflicted. On the one hand he's drawn towards his dead brother's girlfriend, Indigo (Leeanna Walsman), who lives next door and who has channelled her hurt and loss into a damaging affair with a married man (Gary Sweet), while on the other, his instincts are to hang out with his gay friend (Matthew Newton), a charming layabout.
Weekes's approach is subtle and understated. These people, who live in a southern suburb of Sydney, are largely inarticulate, unable to talk about the pain they feel. The father spends his lunch hours eating his sandwiches in the cemetery where his son is buried; the mother vainly attempts to improve her life with new clothes, a different hairstyle, even a trip to a bar where she meets a slightly predatory character closer in age to her son than to herself. There are long, pregnant silences, embarrassing small talk, clumsy attempts to come to terms with lives that are forever changed. Obviously this is not a film for everyone, and it was made without assistance from the usual government funding bodies. Yet on so many levels it is a better film than some of the more vaunted local productions we've seen recently, thanks partly to the consummate performances from a cast of actors who are accomplished enough to fill in the deliberate gaps in the dialogue with looks, glances and body language but also because of the outstanding cinematography by Sam Collins, which is so precisely lit and framed it evokes early Jane Campion.
It's probably true that Rodgers is too young to play the father, but after his first scene, his delicate, painfully good performance transcends any qualms on that score.
Films such as Bitter and Twisted have a very hard time competing against higher profile movies with advertising budgets that probably exceed the cost of a small, underfunded local production. But when a film is as good as this, it deserves to be supported and to be counted among the most positive achievements of Australian cinema. Certainly, it's one of the best locally made films released this year.
Australian Film Institute
2008 AFI Award Screenings
See Festival Info and Screening Times for More
August - September 2008
http://www.afi.org.au/
7th August 2008 – NEWS ARTICLE
BITTER & TWISTED TO SCREEN AT SARAJEVO FEST
by Simon de Bruyn
Australian writer/director Christopher Weekes is packing his bags again to follow his debut feature Bitter & Twisted to the Sarajevo Film Festival where it will screen as part of the "international auteur" program alongside Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg and Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York.
The film was labeled one of the sleeper hits of this year's Tribeca Film Festival after five sold out screenings, and made its Australian festival debut at the small but burgeoning Dungog Film Festival in late May. It will also screen at the Montreal World Film Festival in late August.
The film will screen in Sarajevo as part of the Panorama program, which is comprised of only 16 films defined by their "exceptional narrative" and "extraordinary quality" and helmed by a range of geographically diverse "international auteurs".
Set in suburban Sydney, Bitter & Twisted is an ensemble piece about a family's reaction to son Liam's untimely death three years before, and draws powerful performances from a diverse cast including Noni Hazlehurst, Steve Rodgers, Leeanna Walsman, Gary Sweet, and Matt Newton. It was produced by Bridget Callow.
In an email interview from his current screenwriting base in New York, Weekes told INSIDEFILM he was excited about the festival slots, particularly the Sarajevo screening alongside Kaufman who was one of his personal filmmaking heroes.
"It's an incredible honour to get selected for these two festivals. It was only a few months ago I'd given up thinking anyone was going to see Bitter & Twisted unless they watched it on my couch. Now I'm heading to Bosnia to screen it outside an old fire station the night after Charlie Kaufman screens his new film on the same wall," he said.
"That's more than just a dream - that's a sign I should go out and buy a lottery ticket … and maybe a copy of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for Charlie to sign when I get there."
The film's executive producer and sales agent Michael Favelle (with Odin's Eye Entertainment) said he expected to announce an Australian distributor for the film in coming weeks.
Bitter & Twisted will have a limited preview season to quality for the AFI Awards at Melbourne's Sun Theatre from September 4.
2008 Montreal Film Festival
The screening times were :
Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:00am
CINEMA QUARTIER LATIN 16 : L16.22.1
Sunday, August 24, 2008, 09:40pm
CINEMA QUARTIER LATIN 10 : L10.24.6
Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 05:00pm
CINEMA QUARTIER LATIN 10 : L10.26.4
Bitter & Twisted had its World Premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
The screening times were:
Thursday, April 24, 6:45pm – AMC 19th St, East
Saturday, April 26, 1:00pm – AMC Village VII
Thursday, May 01, 4:45pm – AMC Village VII
Saturday, May 03, 8:15pm – Village East Cinemas
Sunday, May 04, 5:15pm – Village East Cinemas
Bitter & Twisted had its Australian Premiere as the Closing Night Film of the 2008 Dungog Film Festival
The screening time was:
Sunday, June 01, 7:00pm – James Theatre
9th May 2008 – PRESS RELEASE
BITTER & TWISTED - NEW AUSTRALIAN FILM MAKES IT BIG IN NEW YORK
BITTER & TWISTED, an independently financed film from young writer/director Christopher Weekes premiered last week at the prestigious New York Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews and accolades.
By the opening night, four of its five screenings had already sold out and Q&A sessions were packed with audiences curious about this surprise hit from the other side of the world.
According to Weekes, "it was nerve-racking seeing it for the first time with an actual audience, before that we'd only ever screened in it in my lounge room … We were literally carrying the film with us on the plane, finishing it a day or so before we were on … but the response since we got in New York has been so amazing and overwhelming that I'm still in a state of shock from it all."
Jane Rosenthal, who co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival with Robert DeNiro, described Weekes as "a unique and distinct voice. Bitter and Twisted is a strong directorial debut and a wonderful film with characters that draw you in."
BITTER & TWISTED was filmed and financed by Weekes when he was just 24 and features some of Australia's finest talents including Noni Hazlehurst (" The Australian Judi Dench" … Indiewire), Steve Rodgers, Gary Sweet, Matthew Newton, Leanna Walsman and Rhys Muldoon. The producer Bridget Callow only adds to the achievements, being merely 24 at the time herself.Sales Agent Michael Favelle of Odin's Eye Entertainment is fielding numerous offers for the film and writer/director Christopher Weekes, who also starred in the film, has stayed on in New York to keep up with the unexpected demand from top US agencies and production companies to direct new projects.
Australian audiences will not have to wait too long before they get their first taste of BITTER & TWISTED. The movie will have its Australian Premiere as the closing night film of the 2nd Annual Dungog Film Festival, with other local and international festivals and distribution soon to be announced.
BITTER & TWISTED is an intimate story of longing, loss and identity. Three years after the death of a young man we flash forward to see the toll it has taken on his parents (Hazlehurst & Rodgers), brother (Weekes), and ex-girlfriend (Walsman).
17th March 2008 – PRESS RELEASE
AUSSIE FILM-MAKERS by no means
"BITTER & TWISTED"
BITTER & TWISTED, an independently produced and financed Australian feature film will have its World Premiere at the prestigious 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, New York. Written and directed by newcomer Christopher Weekes and Produced by Bridget Callow, BITTER & TWISTED will screen in the festival's Discovery Program which is designed to unearth new talent from across the globe.
Self financed by Weekes, this deeply personal multi-narrative drama was shot on Super 16mm in the southern shires of Sydney. On the strength of the screenplay, Weekes and Callow were able to attract the significant Australian talent of: Noni Hazlehurst (Little Fish); Steve Rodgers (The Bank); Leeanna Walsman (One Perfect Day, $9.99); Matthew Newton (My Mother Frank); Gary Sweet (The Tracker), and Rhys Muldoon (Danny Deckchair). Hazlehurst, on hearing the news spoke about her decision to take on a project with an untested team: "I loved the script – and the idea of working with a young director/producer team on something that meant so much to them was exciting". I don't care whether a film has a big budget or a small budget, I just want to work on good films and this was just a fantastic script". Weekes and Callow who were only 24 when the film was shot, are thrilled to be travelling with their key collaborators, Cinematographer Sam Collins and Editor Simon Wright to the Big Apple for the World Premiere, where the film will have several screenings at Tribeca.
The team also worked closely with their International Sales Agent and Executive Producer, Michael Favelle of Odin's Eye Entertainment who first spotted the film's potential in post-production and has been intimately involved in the process ever since. According to Favelle, Weekes is an "extraordinary talent and he is truly a director to watch in the future." The film tells the story of … Bitter & Twisted is a multi-narrative drama of longing and loss, starting with the death of a young man and flashing forward three years to assess the toll it took on all those around him.