By Travis Johnson
If you have any questions for or about Simon Baker, his directorial debut, Breath, or novelist Tim Winton, on whose book the film is based*, now’s your chance. Following its Gold Coast Film Festival screening on Thursday April 19, Roadshow is mounting a, ahem, roadshow. Baker will tour with the film to select locations around the country, participating in post-screening Q&As.
Western Australia gets first preference, appropriately enough – the film is set there, specifically the South West Coast in the ’70s. The WA premiere happens in Albany on Saturday April 21 while Denmark, where the film was shot, gets a special community screening, followed by a Q&A screening in Perth.
Screenings in NSW (Ballina, Avoca and Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne and Geelong) and Queensland (Brisbane) will follow. Baker will be joined by actors Samson Coulter and Ben Spence for most of the tour, while Breath author Tim Winton is on board for Western Australia and Sydney.
“I feel privileged to be able to take Breath out and hand deliver it to audiences across Australia,” said Baker. “I’m especially thrilled to be returning to the Great Southern region of WA, to share and celebrate with those communities who welcomed us so warmly, and contributed with great spirit to the making of Breath. It’s their film.”
Starring Simon Baker, Elizabeth Debicki, Samson Coulter, Ben Spence, Rachael Blake, Jacek Koman and Richard Roxburgh, Breath follows two teenage boys, Pikelet (Samson Coulter) and Loonie (Ben Spence), growing up in a remote stretch of the Western Australian coast. Hungry for discovery, the pair form an unlikely friendship with Sando (Simon Baker), a mysterious older surfer and adventurer, who pushes the boys to take risks that will have a lasting and profound impact on their lives.
Breath hits Australian cinemas on May 3, 2018.
*Like “Why are Curtin University writing lecturers still obsessed with Tim bloody Winton?” We’ve been wanting an answer to that one for 20 years.
What role will Red John play in this show?