By Travis Johnson
Screen Australia has thrown funding at Babyteeth, the feature debut from Shannon Murphy. Based on the play by Rita Kalnejais, the film is described as “a bittersweet comedy” and will feature Ben Mendelsohn (Ready Player One, Animal Kingdom) and Essie Davis (Game of Thrones, The Babadook) in key roles.
According to the official synopsis, “…what might have been a disaster for the Finlay family leads to letting go and finding grace in the glorious chaos of life, as Henry (Mendelsohn) and Anna (Davis) realise their seriously ill teenage daughter Milla has fallen madly in love with a drug dealer, Moses. This romance is Milla’s protective parents’ worst nightmare – but Milla doesn’t want to play it safe anymore. Things get messy and morals go out the window, as the lives of those around the family – their disarmingly honest pregnant neighbour, a brilliantly flawed music teacher, a child violin prodigy and Moses’ family – become intertwined.”
“I’m delighted to be working with such a strong and gifted female team in producer, Alex White and director Shannon Murphy interpreting Rita Kalnejais’ vivid, insightful and funny screenplay about how precious life is,” said executive producer Jan Chapman. “We so appreciate the support of Screen Australia, Create NSW, WeirAnderson.com and Spectrum Films along with our distributor Entertainment One for Australia and international sales agent Celluloid Dreams, whose imaginations Babyteeth captured and who were all essential in enabling Rita’s fresh and original voice to move to production. To have Ben and Essie illuminate that voice is perfect.”
“I first saw Rita Kalnejais’ humorous and profoundly moving play Babyteeth at Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre in 2012 with executive producer Jan Chapman,” said producer Alex White. “Rita’s exquisitely delicate examination of the life of a teenage girl and the people who constellate her was a life-affirming experience. It felt like the perfect work to be translated to screen.”
Babyteeth is a Whitefalk Films production with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Create NSW, and was financed with the support of WeirAnderson.com, Whitefalk Films, Jan Chapman Films and Spectrum Films. It was developed by Whitefalk Films in association with Katherine Slattery and Jan Chapman with the assistance of Screen Australia, Create NSW and Waking Dream Productions. Australia/New Zealand distribution through Entertainment One and international through Celluloid Dreams.
