Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired the North American rights to director Warwick Thornton’s “Sweet Country,” the company announced Thursday.
“Sweet Country” stars Bryan Brown, Hamilton Morris, Thomas M. Wright, Ewen Leslie, Natassia Gorey-Furber, Gibson John, Matt Day, Anni Finsterer, Treymaybe Doolan, Trevon Doolan and Sam Neill.
The film is the winner of the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, where it also had its world premiere. The film is also the winner of the Platform Competition at this mont’s Toronto International Film Festival.
“Sweet County” follows Sam, a middle-aged Aboriginal man, who works for a preacher in the outback of Australia’s Northern Territory. After Sam murders a man in self-defense, he becomes a wanted criminal for the murder of a white man and is forced to flee the country with his wife.
As the details of the murder begin to surface, questions of whether justice is being served also surface.
“Warwick’s film is beautiful even when it is brutal. We are very excited to work on a film that showcases this great rising talent,” said Peter Goldwyn, president of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Thornton added, “That landscape around Alice Springs is sacred. The Macdonnell ranges are always in my mind from growing up there with my family. So, ‘Sweet Country’ is a film about the land and our family and what happened when the missionaries and pastoralists arrived.”
“Sweet Country” is produced by Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey, while it was written by David Tranter and Steven McGregor.
The deal was negotiated by Peter Goldwyn of Samuel Goldwyn Films and Emilie Georges of Memento Film on behalf of the filmmakers.