Director Craig Boreham’s new feature film Lonesome will have its world premiere at the prestigious Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) this month.
Lonesome tells the story of Casey (Josh Lavery), a country lad running from a small-town scandal, who finds himself down and out in the big smoke of Sydney, when he meets Tib (Daniel Gabriel), a city boy, struggling with his own scars of isolation. Together both men find something they have been missing but neither of them knows quite how to negotiate it.
Lonesome also features the acting talent of Anni Finsterer and Ian Roberts and was produced independently by Ben Ferris and Ulysses Oliver from Breathless Films, Dean Francis of JJ Splice Films, who was also the film’s Director of Photography, and executive producer Paul Struthers with m-appeal handling worldwide sales.
Craig says to premiere at SIFF is “an absolute thrill.
“This film was such a labour of love for the entire cast and crew, and we can’t wait to show it to an audience for the first time. SIFF is one of the top festivals in North America, so it is an honour to be having our world premiere there,” says Boreham.
Producer Ben Ferris says, “Lonesome is a poignant and timely queer love story, and one that emerges unexpectedly amid the transactional world of casual hook-up culture. Craig’s talent as a director allows him a lightness of touch to find the comic in the tragic, while losing none of the authenticity and tenderness at the film’s heart. Dean Francis’ cinematography lends a cinematic grace to the basements and rooftops of a Sydney less frequently depicted on screen.”
Producer / Director of Photography Dean Francis says, “It’s rare to see the inner emotional lives of diverse queer characters portrayed with such raw honesty. Making Lonesome totally independently gave Craig and the team complete creative freedom, and it’s fabulous to see these instincts validated by the market and the high-profile film festivals that are embracing Lonesome.”
Lonesome is Boreham’s sophomore feature after 2016 Teenage Kicks. Teenage Kicks had its world premiere at Sydney Film Festival and its European premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival after which the Guardian named Boreham “a compelling new voice in queer Australian cinema”.
Currently Craig is in development on his next project, an adaptation of the acclaimed queer neo-noir novel, Down the Hume. Development is being supported by Screen Australia and is being penned by Craig and the book’s author Peter Polites along with Adrian Chiarella. It is being produced by Annmaree Bell and Paul Struthers of Azure Productions. Down The Hume will be heading to market at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.