By Jackie Shannon
“The Sydney Film Festival is very proud to open with the world premiere of this outstanding Australian film,” says festival director, Nashen Moodley, of Ivan Sen’s Goldstone. “This is a complex and layered work that comes together brilliantly in Ivan Sen’s signature outback noir style.” The new feature from Australian auteur, Ivan Sen (Beneath Clouds, Toomelah), is a complex, stylish, and intelligent outback noir that reflects on Australia’s history with a compelling tale of its present.
In this follow up to 2013’s brilliant Mystery Road, Aussie legend, Aaron Pedersen, reprises his role as troubled indigenous detective, Jay Swan. On the trail of a missing person, Jay finds himself in the small mining town of Goldstone, where he is immediately arrested for drunk driving by young local cop, Josh (Alex Russell). When Jay’s motel room is blasted with gunfire, it becomes clear that something larger is at play in the district. Jay and Josh struggle to overcome their mutual distrust to uncover the unpleasant truth. Sen, who also wrote, shot, edited and scored the film, taps the beauty of the outback, and corrals a stellar cast including Jacki Weaver, David Wenham, David Gulpilil, Cheng Pei-pei, Michelle Lim Davidson and Tom E. Lewis. One of Australia’s great unsung cinematic masters, Goldstone is another triumph for Ivan Sen.
“I’m in this with Ivan,” Aaron Pedersen told FilmInk of his drum-tight relationship with his director upon the release of Mystery Road. “We’re in a business, but I don’t want to waste my time with things that I don’t have an interest in. Mystery Road has been a very special thing for me. Ivan made this film for 2 million dollars, and he made it shine. He’s raised the bar here in a lot of ways, not just for his own filmmaking, but also as a filmmaker in this country.”
With Goldstone, Ivan Sen is set to do it again. “You get the sense that you must offer something special to be invited back to open the festival for a second time [Mystery Road opened the festival in 2013], and we hope that Goldstone does do that,” says Ivan Sen in his official statement. “It’s an extreme privilege for everyone involved with the film to have this exciting opportunity. From experience, we know that the Sydney Film Festival opening night is a very special screening here in Australia. Goldstone is about us, and our cultural crossroads. The first screening of the film anywhere in the world will be here, at home in our country, on country, where it should be.”
The Sydney Film Festival runs from June 8-19. For all information, head to the website. The full Sydney Film Festival programme will be announced on Wednesday 11 May at 11:00am.
