On February 16, 2009, cameras will start rolling on Animal Kingdom, one of the most compelling and ambitious feature films to be produced in Australia.
With an all-star ensemble cast including Guy Pearce (Memento), Ben Mendelson (Australia), Joel Edgerton (The Square, Kinky Boots), Luke Ford (The Black Balloon), veteran star of stage and screen, Jacki Weaver (Cosi), Sullivan Stapleton (Underbelly), and sensational newcomers James Frecheville and Laura Wheelwright. Animal Kingdom is a taut thriller set amidst the explosive world of a family addicted to crime, as experienced through the eyes of a naïve 17 year-old youth who enters their lair. It's the Wild West, where criminals and police wage their war on the city's streets, while the innocent suffer the consequences.
Violent, haunting and utterly mesmerizing, Animal Kingdom is the debut feature of writer/director David Michôd whose previous short films have screened extensively internationally and in Australia, including the multi-award winning Crossbow which screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Venice and Melbourne in 2007.
Liz Watts, of dynamic Sydney-based production company, Porchlight Films, whose previous credits include The Home Song Stories and Little Fish will produce, with additional key crew including cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Jerrycan) and production designer Jo Ford (The Last Ride) and costume designer Cappi Ireland (Balibo).
Filming will take place entirely on location in Melbourne, Australia over seven weeks from 16 February until 3 April 2009. Animal Kingdom was developed through the NSW Film and Television Office's Aurora program and post production will be completed in NSW.
