Rites of Passage

Outstanding film about young people - recommended viewing for anyone working with young people - it gives a detailed and moving insight into the way that young people think and what motivates them. Well made by young people who know their subject matter and how they want to portray it. This film was shown to a regional youth mentoring organisation with everyone providing quality feedback and appreciating the opportunity to gain an insight into the young people of today and how this knowledge can be used to help support them on their journey into adulthood. A sincere thank you to those involved in producing the film - and congratulations on producing such a great film.

We were fortunate to be able to show this film to members of our organisation. These are people who work with and mentor young people - many of whom have had experiences like those in the film. It was hard-hitting and very moving. Anyone who works with young people - parent, mentor, grandparent, youth worker who wants to understand the worlds our young people live in, must see this film.

We see the challenges our young people face and their strength and resilience grow as they overcome them. What is particularly inspirational is that it was the young people themselves who made the film - they acted, filmed and told their stories from their perspective. You will laugh and you will cry - but most of all you will celebrate with them as overcome challenges, gain understanding and find they too have skills, knowledge and accomplishments and a place in the world.

genius ! Unscripted & so achieves poignant reality within each scene by using cinematographic techniques to grab the viewer and pull them into the life of each young person. Rites Of Passage is Well worth watching - after all, we've all been teenagers & these guys are no different. At it's simplest, Rites is Local kids growing through their circumstances. This movie has immense positive impact in the lives of the young actors - and this is beautifully conveyed to those who watch it. Weather you identify with a character, or just knew someone like them, Rites Of Passage will make you remember good times, & bad, awaken your empathy, and if you are anything like me, it will linger in your mind for years and drive you to question some of your own choices.

Rites of Passage (Aust 2013 dir. Phillip Crawford)

Rites of Passage is a feature drama set in the suburbs of the Illawarra in NSW. As the name suggests, the film is concerned with teenagers negotiating the dangers and discoveries of their age. It is a multi-character film exploring issues including schooling, romance, drugs and other crimes and misdemeanours, all set against a backdrop of imperfect families, many suffering the traumas of domestic violence.

Six dramatic scenarios unfold in a novel way, more resonating with each other than overlapping. Kids are initially just getting by, though often they triumph against the odds, too. For all the weighty themes, there is great delight and humour in these stories.

The filmmaking is superb with gorgeous imagery and audacious editing. All scenes were shot on more than one camera, giving rise to very stylish cinema. The many characters are quickly established through affecting performances that always ring with authenticity.

This beautiful movie is all the more impressive as the young cast also crewed the shoot. Guidelines were in place that required that the script come from the actors, that the locations used be in their neighbourhood and, fittingly, that the first screening be in the community. It had also wisely been resolved that should an actor fail to show up, the production would continue with necessary adjustments to the storyline. This model of filmmaking brings to mind British social realism mixed with Lars von Trier's Dogme 95. The project was auspiced by Beyond Empathy (BE), a group who, "Love art and hate disadvantage".

From this brilliant conception emerges a stylish self-portrait of resilient kids responding to the challenges surrounding them. Clearly, both the young people involved and their community have been transformed in the process of making this film and the viewer has to marvel at the breathtaking success of this inspired intervention. Rites of Passage is a uniquely rewarding movie experience highly recommended for teenagers and older.

Rating: 4 & ½ stars out of 5

Andrew Bunney Let's Go To The Pictures Three D Radio, Adelaide

Not many films are as honest and raw as this. Not many films would care enough for the underprivileged, unappreciated, ignored society we're too quick to label in Australia's poor suburbs. What this film does is question our roles as parents.

While the kids go through a series of self discoveries, though journeys they're not even aware they're on, we see their lives are heading for a place that is a bleak, hopeless and destructive. There's no guiding light for them here. Life is it's greatest teacher and the movie, to it's wonderful credit, doesn't do it in a sentimental way but in an intimate, truthful approach we see and feel them find out for themselves. It doesn't come without costs. Not everyone comes out of it unscathed.

The cast mostly comprises of real kids in similar situations and circumstances the movie presents and Director Phil Crawford does a terrific job in cutting the fat and passing no judgement on their actions-rather he presents it just as fact.

Kudos must go to everyone involved with this film. It experiments with shooting styles that on paper you may question but on this film it succeeds. A brave, fearless piece of film-making that deserves to be seen as a counterpoint to how most Australian films potray us to be.

Houso's shows us a kind of over the top satire of this community but if you want to dig deeper you couldn't ask for a better tour than this little gem. Great work.