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Aussie Thriller Surfaces on iTunes
iTunes appears to be a new distribution avenue for Australian films, if Andrew Traucki has anything to say about it.
The low budget Australian film Black Water, about a crocodile terrorising a group of tourists in Northern Australia has just been released in Australia via iTunes.
The film, which stars Diana Glenn (Satisfaction, Oyster Farmer) and Maeve Dermody (Beautiful Kate, the upcoming Griff the Invisible), and which was sold in 76 countries and released theatrically in the UK, Mexico, Japan, Poland and Malaysia, was almost impossible to see in an Australian cinema, apart from select screenings. It has been available on DVD for a while now, but has finally hit iTunes, where its target audience may discover this unfairly neglected, innovative gem.
Andrew Traucki, one half of the writing and directing team on the 2007 project alongside David Nerlich, was happy for the film to become available on iTunes.
"I think it's wonderful that there is now a legal way to download Black Water from the net," Traucki says. "It's already been up there to download illegally for some time. Most people I think realise that illegal downloading deprives filmmakers of an income and now they can see Black Water for only $3.99 legally, which is fantastic."
Asked why it was so challenging to find an exhibitor for the film in its native market, Traucki says there didn't seem to be a place for Australian genre films in the marketplace. "Broadly speaking, I think in Australia there are two main markets for cinema releases: the Australian ‘arthouse' and the overseas, mainly US, blockbuster-genre film," he explains. "Unfortunately that means Australian genre films like Black Water have a hard time gaining support from local distributors for theatrical release. Also we had to go up against Rogue [another croc-centric horror/thriller, from the director of Wolf Creek], which was a $30million US backed film that didn't do so well at the box office [it made just over $4.5 million]. I think that scared some distributors off."
Despite the setback, Black Water has received praise from critics. Asked what distinguishes his movie from films of the same genre, Traucki reflects on the basic elements of the film's story. "For me, realism is a very important part of Black Water," he says. "What made it stand out from other films about crocodiles is that it is based on a true story. We used real crocodiles - not CGI or animatronics - and we tried to keep the film as real and gritty as possible so the audience would be drawn into the story and ask themselves the question, ‘What would I do in a situation like this?'"
Since Black Water, Traucki has been hard at work on a follow-up film, The Reef, which features Underbelly stars Gyton Grantley and Damian Walshe-Howling. Despite the difficulties he has faced in getting Black Water seen in Australia, the director is confident about the prospects for his new film. "It is also a survival thriller based on a true story," he reveals. "However, this time the predator is a big shark. We will try every which way to get The Reef seen. We are in current discussion about a November release here in Australia. As a filmmaker, you haven't really finished your job until you find an audience for your film."
For more on Black Water visit the website. For more on The Reef, click here.