23/10/2013 - Slow West by John Maclean commences principal photography, Strangerland by Kim Farrant to begin in 2014

John Maclean, who won the 2012 BAFTA for Best Short Film for Pitch Black Heist, has commenced principal photography at New Zealand locations for his feature debut Slow West. Maclean reunites with Michael Fassbender (photo), star of Pitch Black Heist, who is starring in the film and also producing for the first time. The 19^th century Western, written by Maclean, follows a boy on a journey across America in quest of the love of his life, accompanied by a mysterious stranger. Other stars include Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Ben Mendelsohn (Starred Up [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Mackenzie
film profile]).

Fassbender and Conor McCaughan for the UK’s DMC Film, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman the UK’s See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tom Hooper
film profile]), and Rachel Gardner for New Zealand’s Rachel Gardner Films are producing. The UK’s British Film Institute and Film4, the New Zealand Film Commission and Australia’s Fulcrum Media Finance are financing. Hanway is handling international sales and Lionsgate will distribute in the UK.

Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving are attached to star in Strangerland [+see also:
trailer
film profile], co-written by Irish writer Michael Kinirons (Lowland Fells) and Australian writer Fiona Seres (television’s The Lady Vanishes). Kim Farrant (Naked On The Inside) will direct the story of a couple whose lives change after their children are lost in the Australian outback. The shoot is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2014. The film is a coproduction between Dragonfly Pictures (Australia), Worldview Entertainment (US) and Fastnet Films (Ireland), with funding from the Irish Film Board and Screen Australia.