by Dov Kornits
“You get to a point where you realise that if you don’t back yourself, nobody else will,” says Snatchers screenwriter, co-director, producer, editor and star Craig Alexander.
Made in Canberra, Snatchers follows a pair of lifelong mates and hospital orderlies (Alexander and Justin Hosking) in the not-too-distant dystopian future. Trying to make a fast buck by selling organs, the pair are thrown a major curveball when a corpse (Hannah McKenzie) wakes up on the operating table!
“To get our first feature internationally recognised, and premiering in London at Raindance, a festival known to promote innovation and bold storytelling, is both rewarding and incredibly encouraging,” said co-director/producer Shelly Higgs. “It takes a huge amount of work to get a feature film off the ground, and the fact that a feature completely produced in Canberra, ACT, with a 90% local cast and crew – with more than 50% of those made up of women, I might add! – is a great achievement and testament to the hard work of the whole team and the people who supported us.”
“It’s been a long journey and a lot of blind faith to get through to this point when pretty much everything says it’s not going to happen. You really just have to see it through and hope for the best – this is a validation of that journey,” added Craig Alexander.
The highly regarded Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK, screening shorts and feature films from around the world.
“I think UK audiences will really respond to this film,” said Shelly Higgs. “They’ll get the humour and understand the undercurrent of social commentary.”
Snatchers has also been picked up for distribution in Australia and New Zealand by Screen Inc.
