By Travis Johnson
Geelong’s acclaimed Back to Back Theatre, which features a stock company of actors with intellectual disabilities, is making the leap to the big screen, having partnered with Matchbox Pictures to produce their first feature film, the tentatively titled Bunghole. the project will lens in and around Geelong in May 2017.
Matchbox Pictures’ Executive Producer, Debbie Lee (Glitch, Twentysomething, Please Like Me), is effusive about the opportunity to work with Back to Back, “We jumped at the chance having long been admirers of Back to Back Theatre’s ground breaking theatre work which is recognised in Australia and internationally. I first saw their incredible show small metal objects in Sydney many years ago and had my mind blown – so the idea of working with them was thrilling. It’s been a fantastic process so far and we’re looking to shoot next May in Geelong,”
Director Bruce Gladwin will bring to life the darkly humorous story of a team of people who embark in the clean up of a strange toxic wasteland, but find themselves backfooted when they stumble across a survivor of the catastrophe they have been tasked with sweeping away. As with their theatre productions, Back to Back will cast performers with mental disabilities.
“Our new screen project acknowledges some of the current lack of diversity on television in Australia and highlights how important it is to represent the full breadth of all communities. It will affirm that people with disabilities can work as professional artists that engage a large audience base,” said Alice Nash, Back to Back’s Executive Producer.
Thanks to the investment from Adelaide Film Festival’s HIVE Funding, Bunghole will premiere at the Festival in 2017 and will be be broadcast on ABC TV in 2017 or in 2018. Additional funding has been secured via Film Victoria’s Assigned Production Investment Fund for Film & Television and its Regional Location Assistance Fund. An additional $60,000 will now be sourced from the community to complete the film.
“We are hoping to partner with other like-minded supporters to find the final portion of funds required to make this intrepid screen debut to be shot in Geelong with actors with intellectual disabilities at its centre,” said Nash.
For more information or to donate, head to the official Back to Back site.
