Sweet Country

Sweet Country is a new Australian film creating big buzz, having already won a raft of high profile prizes worldwide, and being included in this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was inspired by true events, and tells the story of an Aboriginal man on the run after killing a white man in self-defence.

Indigenous Australian director Warwick Thornton – of the award-winning Samson and Delilah fame – brings his local knowledge of Alice Springs to this intense period western, set in 1929. There are moving performances from Indigenous actors and newcomers Hamilton Morris, Natassia Gorey-Furber, and Tremayne and Trevon Doolan, plus renowned actors Bryan Brown and Sam Neill.

In a fascinating public art initiative, the Sweet Country Stills Exhibition showcases the striking visuals of 16 large-scale photographs taken behind the scenes by stills photographers during the making of Sweet Country.

Warwick Baker, Michael Corridore, Tamara Dean and Mark Rogers travelled to Alice Springs, capturing portraits of the cast and locations as the film was made, often working with limited time due to the constraints of the movie’s tight schedule.

The project represents a groundbreaking partnership between BUNYA Productions and PHOTOPLAY, supported by the Screen Australia Indigenous Department
 and produced by aMBUSH Gallery (an initiative of Wiltshire + Dimas Management). It will be on display to the general public (free of charge) 24 hours, 7 days a week at OPEN at Darling Quarter from Monday 29 January until Sunday 25 February.

Photos by Tamara Dean and Michael Corridore.
OPEN at Darling Quarter is located at 1-11 Harbour Street, Sydney NSW 2000.