By Travis Johnson
Principal photography on Bunghole, a 30 minute film written ad directed by Bruce Gladwin, is due to start next week in and around Geelong. The film is collaboration between Matchbox Pictures (Barracuda, Glitch, Wanted, The Slap) and the acclaimed theatre group Back to Back, whose company of actors is comprised entirely of performers with intellectual disabilities.
Back to Back actors Simon Laherty and Sonia Teuben will play Des and Tam, two members of a clean-up crew in a bizarre toxic wasteland, who stumble across what appears to be the wasteland’s last human survivor. Bunghole is described as “…a story about two unlikely heroes who manage to find a little humanity in the strangest of places. The question is, what will they do when they find it?”
Jacek Koman (Jack Irish, The Warriors), Brian Tilley, and Robin Ramsay co-star, with the finished film set to premiere at at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2017 before being broadcast on ABC TV.
Back to Back Executive Producer Alice Nash said, “With support from the Adelaide Film Festival’s Hive program we have been able to venture into new territory. By bringing our work to screen, we are part of sweeping changes to national and international screen landscapes, presenting actors of difference in high profile contexts with broad audience appeal.”
“It’s been wonderful bringing together the talents of Back to Back Theatre to produce what is bound to be a stunning and powerful piece of television drama,” Matchbox’s Stephen Corvini added.
