Finally a new photo update! I’ve found quite a few HQ stills from The Black Balloon, which I have added to the gallery :) Most of them are replacements of already added photos, but some are new to me!

GALLERY LINKS
Movies » The Black Balloon » Stills

KATE DENNEHY
March 21, 2010

Actor and director Richard Roxburgh abruptly dismisses my suggestion of exploring wonderful underwater caves in Fiji on his upcoming family holiday.

“Not interested,” he says, cutting me off mid-sentence.

It’s not rudeness that produces the response but his knee-jerk reaction after spending the past three months enduring a form of underwater torture.

Roxburgh heads the cast of Sanctum, the $30 million, 3D action thriller about an underwater cave diving expedition that goes horribly wrong.

Fairfax Media caught up with Roxburgh, his gorgeous Italian wife and actor, Silvia Colloca and their energetic three-year-old, Raphael as filming finished at the Gold Coast this month.

Roxburgh managed to maintain his equilibrium, if not his health, knowing his punishing schedule and challenging scenes would be intertwined with precious time with his family.

A persistent cough and heavy cold increased the demands of the shoot and Roxburgh suffered underwater nosebleeds during the last two days of filming.

“This is the most gruelling thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

“We had to wear a full face mask and breathing apparatus that only allows you to take and expel mini-breaths. When you’re doing action sequences underwater it’s pretty scary ‘cause you feel like you’re not going to get enough air. The cough, cold, nosebleeds and 3am finishes were pretty taxing.”

Canadian director of the multiple Oscar winning 3D blockbuster, Avatar, James Cameron is executive producer of Sanctum, to be released next year.

It’s based on the near-death experience of Andrew Wight who is a caver and the film’s producer. He was leading a dive expedition in a remote cave system beneath the Nullarbor Plain when a freak storm caused the entrance to collapse, leaving 15 people trapped.

Filming underwater created obvious communication and lighting difficulties and the actors had to resurface often to recoup and re-hydrate. The underwater action sequences at night took four or five hours at a time and a lot of the other filming wasn’t easy either.

“If we weren’t crashing through bat shit-infested tunnels we were hanging out on a rocky ledge having 30,000 litres of water a minute thrown on our heads,” Roxburgh said.

“I hesitate to use the word ‘torture’ but there were moments like water torture, a bit like we were going to war. But that’s the way it had to be because that’s what the film’s about – people dealing with a sequence of nightmarish events.”

If you’re interested in reading the rest of the interview (no more sanctum talk) press here.

Sanctum wraps shooting in QLD
March 18, 2010
Movie Mazzupial

Underwater 3D epic Sanctum finished filming in Queensland today and I spoke to director Alister Grierson exclusively about it. The Gold Coast director and the stars are flying down to Mt Gambier on Monday to shoot the final underwater cave scenes.

Grierson says they have spent the last three days filming on Dunk Island in North Queensland and are now on the “home stretch”.
“It’s very exciting, but I’ve got more work to do supervising the shoot with the second unit in Mt Gambier,” he says.
“It has been physically demanding for the actors and quite dangerous.
“It’s always stressful when you have people in the water in these dangerous situations but they really stepped up to the challenge.
“They’re relieved to finish in a way, but it’s always sad when you finish a film because it’s like a community and you form some really close bonds.”

Sanctum stars Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd and Australian actors Richard Roxburgh and Rhys Wakefield as three divers on a cave-diving expedition gone wrong. It is based on the real-life experience of the producer and writer Andrew Wight and is being executive produced by Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron (also known as God).

Majority of the film has been shot on the Gold Coast at Warner Roadshow Studios and Grierson says the post-production will be done in Melbourne.
“Heading into the editing room, adding the visual effects and all the sound, it’s my favourite part of the filmmaking process,” he says.

He says they will deliver the finished film to the studio in October, with a late 2010 theatrical release most likely.

Despite having a budget of only $30 million, James Cameron says he thought Sanctum would be able to utilise his 3D technology better than Avatar.
“Avatar is much more expansive, but the thing that most people don’t understand with 3D is that it works best in a very claustrophobic environment,” he said.
“With Sanctum you can really feel that those rock walls in the cave are only a few feet away.
“It works exceptionally well in creating a sense of claustrophobia.
“There will accelerated heart rates, tight breathing and white knuckles when they (audiences) go through a lot of the experiences in this film as a result of the 3D putting them right there in these constricted places.”

Just found this on the official Broken Hill website (I know it’s old news!) about the Australian cinema release of Broken Hill.

Congrats to Julian Shaw for winning an award for Clearing the Air at the Byron Bay Film Festival! Good on you :)

Another Accolade for Aussie Filmmaker
by Cara Nash | March 16, 2010 12:50 | Edited March 16, 2010 12:51

Young filmmaker Julian Shaw was awarded the Best Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year at the Byron Bay Film Festival for his dramatic short film

Julian Shaw was recently awarded the prestigious Best Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Award by the Byron Bay International Film Festival and Sydney International Film School for his powerful short film, Clearing the Air, a project which saw him team up with old school friend and rising star, Rhys Wakefield.

The pair, who attended Sydney’s McDonald College of Performing Arts together, decided to collaborate when they were re-united at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, where Shaw was accompanying his award winning documentary Darling! And Wakefield The Black Balloon, in which he starred. “We decided it would be a lot of fun to do something together,” Shaw reflects.

Clearing the Air is set in a single hotel room overlooking Sydney International Airport, capturing an exchange between an estranged father (AFI Winner Marcus Graham) and son (Wakefield).

Shaw was quick to praise Wakefield’s efforts calling him the “heart and soul of the film.” Having performed in the highly acclaimed The Black Balloon, Wakefield has been selected to star in the new 3D movie, Sanctum, which James Cameron is executive producing. Shaw quips, “I’d like to think that I beat Mr. Cameron to it – because I spotted Rhys when he was about 11-years-old at the McDonald College and thought ‘this kid could be bloody brilliant.’”

This honour marks Shaw’s first major award for a fictional piece of filmmaking with the young Australian observing, “This award means so much to me personally – to be recognised for a fictional work that I’ve written and directed.”

However Shaw has also garnered praise and recognition in other areas including accolades from around the globe for his documentary Darling! The Pieter Dirk-Uys Story, including a British Film Institute gong. An AFI Award-winning film journalist, Shaw has also authored the groundbreaking photo novel Modern Odysseus which has earned enthusiastic reviews.

A young Australian with many creative talents, Shaw is keen to explore all. “People are always keen to pigeon-hole you, and while I’ve been on an amazing journey in the world of documentary, I do think I have more to offer. Clearing the Air is a lean and simple character study – but for me it is also the first step toward doing a fictional feature film.”

For more on the Byron Bay International Film Festival see www.bbff.com.au. For more on Sydney International Film School see www.ifss.edu.au For more on Julian Shaw, visit his website.

Source: Film Ink

Finally a new appearance for Rhys! Will be great to see some new pictures :)

Film festival kicks off

5th March 2010

THE Byron Bay International Film Festival kicks off tonight with a gala red carpet and opening party.

Celebrating the centenary of film in Byron Bay, this year’s festival runs until Saturday, March 13.

“Opening night sold out yesterday,” festival director J’aimee Skippon-Volke said.

“We have film-makers and special guests arriving from around Australia and the world to join us here in Byron Bay. It’s very exciting.

“A real highlight of the festival will be the session of work from young Australian film-makers.

“This session will be attended by Rhys Wakefield (Home and Away), from The Black Balloon, as well as a number of young directors.”

With Byron Bay such a popular celebrity hang-out, every year rumours abound as to which famous faces will turn up to the festival. Previous years have seen Jack Johnson, Stephen Curry and Chris Haywood attend.

Screening tonight are two highly-acclaimed films Dark Horse, a short film by Australian director Marc Furmie, and BAS! Beyond the Red Light, a study of child trafficking by former Byron Shire resident Wendy Champagne.

Source:  Northern Star

Clearing the Air will screen at the festival on Saturday March 13th at 4pm. It’s in that occasion Rhys will attend. It’s session 30 “Young Australian Filmmakers”. You can buy your tickets over the phone by calling 02 66 856 807 or in person at the Byron Community Centre, Byron Visitors Centre or The Bookshop Mullumbimby. Tickets for this session is $6.50.