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Exclusive: UK sales outfit Sc Films International has acquired world rights to Australian comedy The Way, My Way and will launch sales at the upcoming Cannes market.

The pic is an adaptation of a memoir of the same name by author-filmmaker Bill Bennett. The book follows Bennett as he attempts to walk the Camino de Santiago — an 800km pilgrimage trail across the top of Spain. The story is described as the tale of “a man at a pivotal point in his life, searching for meaning, and finding himself on the walk.”

Bennett has written and directed the film, which stars Chris Haywood, and Jennifer Cluff (Kiss Or Kill). The film will be theatrically released by Maslow Film Distribution in Australia and New Zealand on May 16 and Sc Films will screen the film in Cannes.

“I’m delighted to be working...

'Wolf Creek' season one..

Production has begun in South Australia on the second season of Stan's Wolf Creek, with showrunner Greg McLean once again in the director's chair.

John Jarratt reprises the role of Mick Taylor, and will be joined by Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant), Matt Day (Rake, Paper Giants, Underbelly, Kiss or Kill), Ben Oxenbould (Comedy Inc., The Kettering Incident, The Code), Laura Wheelwright (Animal Kingdom), Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit, The Leftovers) and Chris Haywood (Shine, Muriel's Wedding, Dogs in Space).

Of the second season McLean said: "We.ll join an amazing cast on a road trip of a lifetime, as they must draw on their inner strength to outwit the terrifying Mick Taylor. John Jarratt returns to take Mick.s dark arts to a whole new level, showcasing the beautiful and dangerous landscapes of the remote outback..

Joining McLean in directing will be Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here,...

That's Not Me.

Aussie indie comedy That.s Not Me,.director Gregory Erdstein's feature debut,.has wrapped principal photography and is currently in post.

Erdstein co-wrote.the film.with actor Alice Foulcher and shot it over the past nine months in Melbourne and Los Angeles.

It follows the story of Polly, whose dreams of making it as an actor are shattered when her identical twin sister Amy lands a plum role in an HBO show and starts dating Jared Leto.

Mistaken for her famous sister at every turn, Polly decides to use her sister.s celebrity for her own advantage — free clothes, free booze, casual sex. — with disastrous consequences for them both.

That.s Not Me stars Isabel Lucas and Offspring.s Richard Davies alongside newcomer Foulcher.

The ensemble cast also includes Andrew O.Keefe (Deal or No Deal, Weekend Sunrise), Andrew Gilbert (Kiss or Kill, Round the Twist...

In the past 11 months director/producer Bill Bennett has been criss-crossing the globe, filming interviews with holy men in India and the Himalayas, Aboriginal elders at Uluru, a direct descendant of the Sufi mystic Rumi in central Turkey, and theologians and philosophers at the Vatican.

Accompanied by his partner/producer Jennifer Cluff he.s roamed the Us to talk to research scientists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists and psychologists.

All that is in the service of his most personal project, the feature documentary Pgs (Personal Guidance System) the Film.

Bennett, whose credits include Backlash, Spider & Rose, Kiss or Kill and The Nugget, embarked on a quest to understand what intuition is, where it comes from, and how to tap into it after a near-death experience.

.Several years ago I would have died in a car crash, if not for a flash of intuition,. he says. .In the end, I just want to know what saved my life.

An Indian astrologer told filmmaker Bill Bennett in Mumbai in September that he will make untold wealth and live like a king if he spends at least 15 days in Dallas.

Dr. Bimal Bhatt did not explain how this miraculous upturn in Bennett.s life would occur, only that he would be exposed to divine cosmic rays.

Bennett, who believes in intuition, is flying to Los Angeles on November 16 and onto Dallas on November 23, where he will carry no money and stay in a cheap motel, as Bhatt advised.

He will film those 15 days for a documentary, The Texas Cosmic Rays Experiment. The docu might be a special feature on the DVD of another docu he is making, or a separate stand-alone.

Bhatt, a lawyer and astrologer for 35 years, told Bennett he would make bold decisions and that a vast amount of money, anywhere from $1 million to $1 billion, would come to him.

The Australian organisers of picSeeder, the inaugural global, online pitching competition designed to enable aspiring filmmakers to fund short films, have extended the deadline for entries to June 30.

The brainchild of filmmaker Bill Bennett and his wife, producer Jennifer Cluff, the competition invites contestants to submit a one-minute pitch video.

Members of the site (www.picseeder.com), which is free, get to vote on their favourite pitch. Those who submit the 12 most popular pitches will be asked to provide a three-minute video.

The winner will be determined by an international jury comprising Us sales agent Robbie Little, French financier/producer Jean-Charles Levy, Stephen Gates, New York-based head of the literary department at talent management company Evolution Entertainment, actress Michelle Ang and Indian producer Udayan Baijal.

The cash prize, funded from the $28 entry fee, is up to $50,000.

Bennett told If the take-up was slower than he expected and he hopes extending...

Australian filmmaker Bill Bennett has launched an online short film competition offering up to $50,000 prize money.

picSeeder has attracted a respected international panel of judges comprised of French financier and producer Jean Charles Levy, Us sales agent Robbie Little, Us manager Stephen Gates, Indian producer/assistant director Udayan Baijal, and actor Michelle Ang.

Public funding for short films has fallen in recent years as the focus has shifted to supporting features, TV, and digital media although crowdfunding and lower digital production costs has helped offset the decline.

Bennett said he hopes the picSeeder competition will present an alternative source of financing, "particularly for young filmmakers so they don't have to go cap in hand to the funding bodies."

In December, 2012, Screen Australia said it had spent its entire $42 million drama production budget in just six months although earlier this month it announced $40,000 in support of short musical comedy Emo (The...

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has had the greatest cultural impact of any local film released between 1993-1997, according to a new analysis by Screen Australia.

The report, Staying Power: The enduring footprint of Australian film, ranked almost 100 films' longevity by assessing their: primary release, revenues, ongoing access by audiences, acclaim and wider impact.

The report highlighted 20 films that had a domestic box office greater than $2.5 million and/or achieved an international release in 10 countries or more. Aside from Priscilla, the other films assessed were: Angel Baby, Babe, Bad Boy Bubby, The Castle, Children of the Revolution, Cosi, Country Life, Dating the Enemy, Kiss or Kill, Lightning Jack, Muriel's Wedding, Napolean, Paradise Road, The Piano, Reckless Kelly, Shine, Sirens, The Sum of Us, and The Wiggles Movie.

Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley, speaking at the Canberra International Film Festival, said feature films have the powerful ability...

To celebrate their 13th anniversary this year, the Melbourne Underground Film Festival is going green!

No, they’re not out to save the kookaburra or anything. Instead, they’re hosting a special tribute to the New Irish Low Budget Cinema, featuring two films by acclaimed filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh, plus work by Colin Downey, Gary Kenneally and Gerard Lough.

Muff will host a repeat screening of Kavanagh’s celebrated thriller Tin Can Man — it previously screened at Muff in 2008 — as well as his latest film, The Fading Light. The three other Irish films screening all fall into the horror/thriller genres, from Downey’s The Looking Glass to Kenneally’s Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman and Lough’s trilogy-ending The Shaken 3. And, in addition, the entire fest kicks off with the opening night Irish thriller Charlie Casanova by Terry McMahon.

But don’t think Muff is all Irish all the time this year,...

Anupam Sharma

Bill Bennett

A new Australian film set in India has cast Aussie actress Toni Collette and Slumdog Millionaire actor Dev Patel.

Defiant is written and directed by Kiss or Kill’s Bill Bennett and produced by Bennett and Anupam Sharma.

The Australian-based Sharma told Encore that the production is aiming to have a global perspective and operate despite the lack of a co-production treaty between Australia and India.

However, this suits Sharma’s plan: “I’ve always propagated that we should use the Australian producer offset, and use private Indian finance.”

“At the end of the day, these stories work because they’ve got something to tell, not a doctored story to make a co-production. You have to find the right team. When I look at the team, I’ve constantly screamed we need a global perspective.”

The film is based on a newspaper article Bennett read about...

Cooper is stamped by the Ellie as is tradition to accept her award

Dany Cooper Ase has won best editing in a feature film for her work on Oranges and Sunshine at the Australian Screen Editors Awards.

Nicknamed The Ellies, the awards were held last night at the Vanguard in Newtown, Sydney, hosted by actor comedian Rob Carlton (Underbelly, Paper Giants).

In addition to the awards, each year the guild gives accreditation to editors whose work is considered of a consistently high standard.

This year the guild accredited Scott Gray Ase (Somersault, Solo, The Boys are Back), Matt Villa Ase (The Great Gatsby, Happy Feet 2, I-Robot) and Sue Schweikert Ase (commercials Axa’s Crocodile Tears, McDonalds’ James Dean and Australian Tourism Commission).

Henry Dangar Ase (Winter of our Dreams, The Crossing, Spider and Rose, Lucky Miles Rake, Kiss or Kill) received lifetime membership to the guild.

Guild president Jason Ballantine...

Prabhat Chitra Mandal will organise an Australian Film Festival from June 21-27, 2011 in Mumbai, in association with the Australian Consulate in Mumbai and Ffsi.

Eight feature films and one short film from Australia will be screened as part of the festival. The screenings will be held in Chavan Centre on June 21 and 22, and Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre on June 23 and 27. The catalogue of film festival will be provided at the venues. Those interested can register for the festival at the venue.

Schedule for the festival:

Rangswar, Y.B.Chavan Centre

21st June 2011:  Spider & Rose 6.30 p.m.

Tuesday (Australia/1994/ Col./94 Min)

Dir.:-Bill Bennett

Tempted 8.10 p.m.

(Australia/2001/ Col./95 Min)

Dir.:-Bill Bennett

22nd June 2011: Kiss or kill 6.30 p.m.

Wednesday (Australia/1997/Col./96 Min)

Dir.:-Bill Bennett

King of Mykonos 8.10 p.m.

(Australia/2010/ Col./ 90 Min)

Dir.:- Bill Bennett

Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre

23rd June 2011: Uninhabited 6.30 p.

The Australian Film Initiative's first event in India ends on a high note as Viacom 18 Motion Pictures becomes the first Indian film corporate to tap into Australian film industry with Abhinav Kashyap's next film, while Australia's ace director announces his next thriller to be shot completely in India. The announcements were made at a lunch hosted by An Australian Film Initiative with the Australian Consul General as the chief guest supporting these important developments between Indian and Australian film industries and welcoming Viacom18 Motion Picture's decision to partner with Australian Film Company. At the end of the inaugural, Australian Film Festival and Film Seminars, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures formally announced that through Abhinav's film, it will formally start collaborations with Australia with long term aims to utilize funding and grants from Australia and investment into Indo-Australian projects. Viacom 18 Motion Pictures was a key industry supporter for An Australian Film Initiative's festival in Mumbai.

According to the founders of the upcoming Australian Film Festival in India, Australia is yet to benefit from a relationship with non-traditional markets such as India, the Middle East and Latin America.

“I believe Australia is yet to properly benefit from its relationship with the world’s biggest film industry –India – and other non-traditional markest. This was the fundamental principle behind an Australian Film Initiative and it has been most encouraging to see the Australian Film Festival in India receive support from Australian government and industry alike within hours and days of the announcement. I hope this initiative grows in the coming years providing loads of commercial and creative benefit to our film industry in Australia,” said festival co-director Anupam Sharma.

The festival will feature an industry element, with invitation-only roundtables on investment and distribution and industry speakers at various sessions. It’s been conceived as a “much needed platform...

New Delhi, May 26 – ‘The Dish’, ‘Lantana’, ‘Ten Canoes’ and many more films will be showcased at the two-day Australian Film Festival that begins in the capital June 5.

To be held at the India International Centre (Iic), it will open May 31 with the movie ‘Look Both Ways’. A multiple-award winning film, it has been written and directed by Sarah Watt.

The gala will showcase a range of Australian films, including ‘Kiss or Kill’, ‘The Bank’, ‘Radiance’ and Toni Collette.

Right back to early cult classics Wake in Fright, Razorback and Roadgames, Australian films have loved grabbing bright-eyed tourists and putting them in extreme danger.

Now, thanks to the more recent success of Wolf Creek and Black Water, "tourists-in-peril" is now an entire Aussie genre and the next few years promises to give audiences a bucketload of terrifying movies that pit travellers against all sorts of craziness in the outback.

The latest entry in the genre is Uninhabited - from seasoned director Bill Bennett (The Nugget, Kiss or Kill), who may not consistently make quality but at least consistently makes movies - and we have the new poster!

And who says you can't work a Zoolander quote into everything you do?...

SYDNEY -- Two of Australia's most experienced filmmaking teams have linked with first-time feature directors following investment decisions announced Monday by the country's principal funding agency, the Film Finance Corp. Bill and Jennifer Bennett (Kiss or Kill, The Nugget) will produce Deck Dogz, the first feature to be directed by Steven Pasvolsky, who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his short film, Inja. Pasvolsky also wrote the film about three boys as they embark on a journey to meet their hero, a legendary skate-boarding champion.