2008 FILMINK AWARDS RED CARPET INTERVIEWS

BRENDAN COWELL (Noise, Love My Way)

Matthew Pejkovic: Congratulations on scoring hosting duties tonight. Any pre-show nerves?

Brendan Cowell: Not a lot, actually. I thought it would be a hell of a lot worse, but I'm actually calm.

MP: Excellent. Excluding Noise, what was your favourite film released in the past year?

BC: Probably Noise.

(Laughter)

BC: Actually, I really liked Boxing Day. I thought that was a cracking movie. As well as The Jammed and Home Song Stories.

MP: Any particular award category you are looking forward to tonight? Could be one of the more interesting ones, like Best Hair or Best Nude Scene …

BC: Well I am a man, so I am interested in best nude scene. Let's face it. Best Sort & Best Blow In of all of the awards I can't wait to hear about at this of year. I mean every award is exciting at the Filmink Awards. I'm not up for any, which is probably the main problem with the awards tonight. But other than that it should be a great night.

MP: Thank you very much.

BC: It's a pleasure.

KEISHA-CASTLE HUGHES (The Whale Rider, Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger)

Matthew Pejkovic: Hi Keisha. How are you?

Keisha Castle-Hughes: Great, thanks!

MP: Last week I saw Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger and I quite liked it. I just wanted to ask about the making of the film, how you came to be apart of the film, etc?

KCH: I first read the script when I was 13, before it had any financing, and I immediately fell in love with it. I wanted to be apart of it, waited until we had funding, and 2 ½ - 3 years later, we finally shot the film! So it was quite simple, but now we are here, and the movie will be released next week, and it's kind of bitter sweet because I have been so passionate about it for such a long time.

MP: Cathy (Randall, writer/director) had begun writing the script in 2002?

KCH: Yeah, Cathy had been writing the script and developing it for such a long time. The movie is completely different to the script that I had first read. It holds the same essence, but it is really a different script.

MP: Well I quite liked the film, and I thought that your performance in it was great.

KCH: Thank you!

MP: Thank you very much for your time.

DANIELLE CATAZARITI (Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger)

Matthew Pejkovic : I have watched Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger last week, and I quite liked it. I spoke to Cathy (Randall, writer/director) about the film yesterday, and we were talking about the preparation that you went through for your role. Was it fun preparing for this role?

Danielle Catazariti: Oh yeah! It was a heap of fun. We had four weeks of rehearsals, and through that I had to do break dancing lessons, and Jewish lessons. I had hair extensions put in because I had a little afro. So their were different stages we had to go through to create the character of Esther.

MP: Well it was a fantastic performance.

DC: Thank you very much!

ROGER WARD (Mad Max, Not Quite Hollywood)

Matthew Pejkovic: What was your favourite film released in the last year?

Roger Ward: No Country for Old Men I thought was very good.

MP: Is their a particular award category you are looking forward to tonight?

RW: Well, I am presenting the Best Monster Film. I was going to do best hair (motions to his bald head). I don't know why they would want me to do that! Otherwise, Best Nude Scene.

MP: It's always a favourite! If you create an award category of your own, what would it be?

RW: Best Script, I think. I write as well, so I would be interested in that.

MP: A film is nothing without its screenplay.

RW: Exactly. Nothing can happen without it.

MP: Thank you very much for your time.

RW: Thank you.

DIANA GLENN (Blackwater, The Oyster Farmer)

Matthew Pejkovic : Hi Dianna. How are you tonight?

Diana Glenn: I am very well, thank you. How about you?

MP: I am well, thanks. Blackwater is due for release this year…

DG: 24th of April!

MP: … and by all accounts it sounds like it could be one scary film. Could you talk me through the making of the film?

DG: Sure. We had a 4 week shoot. We shot it in the Big Georges River, and made it look like far north Queensland. I spent most of the time in mud or up a tree, with my two fellow actors (Maeve Dermody and Andy Rodoreda). There was a lot of screaming involved. It was great. It was filmmaking at its most barest and its most exciting.

MP: Exactly the ingredients needed for a good horror film.

DG: That's right. Everyone worked very, very had, and it was nothing luxurious about the shot what so ever. But it was fun and the final… I am constantly astounded about the magic of filmmaking. I know how deep that water was, and we were pretending it was neck high when it was really waste high, and it works! They pulled it off! Even though we may have been walking on our knees a lot of the time, they pulled it off. And it looks great, I think.

MP: Excellent! What was your favourite film released in the past year?

DG: Australian film?

MP: Any film.

DG: I loved Noise and I loved The Jammed. I really loved No Country for Old Men, and I really loved The Darjeeling Limited too. And also Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. And of course Daniel Day Lewis was extraordinary in There Will Be Blood. It has been a good year for film.

MP: It has been a very good year. A lot of great performances. If you could create your own Award Category, what would it be?

DG: (Pause). Best Unrecognised Audition, for people who don't get the job but do a great audition.

MP: Maybe when they win the award they could get another audition?

DG: Exactly. That's right. Because I think a lot of people who don't get the jobs are still incredible actors, and I would like to honour them in some way.

MP: That is nice. You are quite the good Samaritan. Have a good night.

DG: Thank you very much.

PETA WILSON (Beautiful, La Femme Nikita)

Matthew Pejkovic : Your new film Beautiful is currently in post production and is due for release this year. Could you please give me a quick insight into what the film is about, and also talk about the making of the film?

PW: It was the best experience I have ever had on a film. The director Dean O'Flaherty is hands down the best director I have ever worked with. The film is very European. It has a tone like American Beauty or The Ice Strom, that kind of tone. It is a combination of many things. I think the director was really inspired by small towns in Australia, who kind of do these things…. Remember when bus shelters used to have those terrorists posters that read 'Be Careful of Your Neighbour"? He was inspired by that. I mean, what terrorists are in small town Australia? Some people create a boogie man, kind of thing. So the film is about a town that gets riled up because there is nothing else much to do, expect use your imagination. And then something really terrible happens which is caused by people creating gossip.

MP: So there isolation breeds fear, and that fear creates consequences?

PW: Excellent! That is why you're the reporter. That would be it, I'd say. It is a very good analogy.

MP: Well it sounds very interesting. And you were working with a great cast…

PW: They were all great! Thayna Tozzi…they were all wonderful! All of the actors are really good. And of course it was myself and Aaron (Jeffrey), so that was really great. He is a great actor and it was fun to do that. It was just a really wonderful experience, and I am actually working with them again, the same company.

MP: Excellent. It sounds great.

PW: Thank you!

MP: Thank you very much! Have a great night.

JOEL EDGERTON ($9.99, Kinky Boots)

Matthew Pejkovic : How are you tonight?

Joel Edgerton: Pretty good. How are you?

MP: Not bad, thanks. You have two films due for release this year. There is $9.99, which is a stop motion animation movie. And also The Square which you co-wrote and your brother Nash (Edgerton) directed…

JE: Yeah!

MP: …could you give me an insight into both of these films, and also the making of them?

JE: There is another one as well actually called Acolytes, which Jon Hewitt made which I am apart of as well. $9.99 is an animated film, but it is sort of stop animation. It is not computer graphics…

MP: Old school.

JE: Yeah. So it's like a clay-mation type of thing. It stars myself and Claudia Karvan, Ben Mendelsohn, Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush all providing voices to it. So when you do a job like that, it is very little involvement. But with The Square I had a lot of involvement, co-writing and I am in the film. So I have been seeing that through since the very beginning and I will see it all the way through to the very end. And the Acolytes is Jon Hewitt's movie, were I get to play a serial killer which is really fun. Scary, but fun.

MP: I am really looking forward to these films. They sound very interesting. Especially $9.99, because you just don't see anything like that.

JE: And also what is interesting about it is, not that it is not for children, but it is not specifically aimed for children. It is sort of aimed for a slightly older demographic. It contains some adult themes. There is quite a bit of darkness to it. It is almost like if it were a proper film it would be a drama. There is a lot of humour in it, but more aimed for an older audience.

MP: I am looking forward to it. Have a good night tonight.

JE: Cool, man.

ANDY WHITFIELD (Gabriel)

Matthew Pejkovic : How are you tonight?

Andy Whitfield: Very hot. (Motions to sweaty brow).

(Laughter)

MP: Excluding Gabriel, what was your favourite film released in the past year?

AW: Australian movie?

MP: Any.

AW: There Will Be Blood. On my God, that was incredible! It was something… it just had a different feel, a different tone... it was unbelievable.

MP: If you could create your own award category, what would it be?

AW: Most Sweatiest Interview!

NASH EDGERTON (The Square)

Matthew Pejkovic : How are you?

Nash Edgerton: Good thanks.

MP: Excellent. I spoke to your brother Joel earlier about The Square, which is due for release this year. Could you give some insight into the film, and what it was like to direct your brother?

NE: We get on really well, so it is a pretty easy working relationship.

MP: Can you give me some insight into the making of the film? Joel co-wrote it…

NE: Yeah, Joel is the originator of the idea and he wrote the script with a friend of ours, Matthew Dabner. It's a thriller, and I am currently editing it…

MP: Will you be getting final cut?

NE: As far as I know I am! But let's see what happens.

MP: Well I am looking forward to it. Have a good time tonight.

NE: Thanks.

COLIN FRIELS (Malcolm, Blackjack)

Matthew Pejkovic : Congratulations on being bestowed with the Peter Finch Lifetime Achievement Award. It must be a real honour.

Colin Friels: It is. Very sweet. Very gratifying.

MP: What has been your favourite film of the past year?

CF: I actually haven't seen a film for a long time. For the first time I saw The Battle for Algiers, which is sensational. And I watched Lassie with my daughter, and it was fantastic. The one that Charles Sturridge directed. They were brilliant.

MP: If you could create your own award category, what would it be?

CF: Most Decent Person, I would think. Most Honourable Person.

MP: You know, if their were more awards of that calibre, than more people would try a little harder to be decent.

CF: Just more honour and more decency. What more can you have? That would be it I would think.

MP: Thank you very much.

CF: It has been a pleasure.

ANNALISE BRAAKENSIEK (Fat Pizza)

Matthew Pejkovic : How are you tonight?

Annalise Braakensiek: I am very well, thank you. And how are you?

MP: Great, thanks. What has been your favourite film of the past year?

AB: That is a tricky question, because I am such a film buff. I recently saw Death Defying Acts. But I would have to say the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I think that was definitely the most recent film that really touched my heart, and I thought that it had incredible cinematography and was shot very well.

MP: It had a very interesting take, the POV perspective…

AB: Yeah. It was amazing.

MP: If you could create your own award category, what would it be?

AB: Most Down to Earth Person.

MP: I think you might be in the running for that.

AB: Thank you!

MP: Have a good night.

AB: Thank you, and take care.

(RE-PUBLISHED WITH KIND PERMISSION FROM MEDIASEARCH.COM.AU)