Kidnapping, werewolves and 1970s Kalgoorlie lead WA films to get world premieres at Sydney Film Festival

Samara Weaving, Greta Scacchi and British actors Billy Howle and Tom Bateman headline three WA films selected to make their world premiere at the 71st Sydney Film Festival next month.

In the first tangible results of the State’s current screen production boom, thriller He Ain’t Heavy, Goldfields drama Kid Snow and animated family feature 200% Wolf will all get the red-carpet treatment at one of the world’s longest-running film festivals.

Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall said the result was an endorsement of the State’s screen sector.

“WA is home to a talented and vibrant screen industry, it is great to see their work being shared,” Ms Bestall said.

Shot in Gosnells, He Ain’t Heavy is the debut feature film from WA writer/director David Vincent Smith, and is a product of Screenwest’s West Coast Visions initiative.

It tells the story of a Jade (played by Animal Kingdom star Leila George), who kidnaps her brother, Max (The Dry’s Sam Corlett) and forces him into home-made rehab to save the family from his violent drug addiction.

This drastic action unravels with the arrival of her mother, who is played by George’s real-life mum, Aussie screen legend Greta Scacchi.

Kid Snow, on the other hand, imported its leads from the UK, tapping Under the Banner of Heaven star Billy Howle to play a washed-up Irish boxer who has a chance to redeem himself.

Set in the 1970s and shot in Kalgoorlie, the latest feature from Paul Goldman (Suburban Mayhem) also stars British actor Tom Bateman, who played Bouc opposite Sir Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

Bateman is married to fellow Brit Daisy Ridley, who was recently in WA to shoot the Albany zombie flick We Bury the Dead.

Animated film 200% Wolf comes from Mt Lawley-based production company and post-production house Siamese, and is the sequel to 2020’s 100% Wolf.

Produced in partnership with NSW’s Flying Bark Productions, the film brings more adventures of Freddy Lupin, a lovable and plucky fellow, who is half poodle, half werewolf.

Featuring voice performances by Samara Weaving and comedian Akmal Saleh, the kid-friendly comedy has already spawned a spin-off series on ABC ME, 100% Wolf: Legend of the Moonstone, with a second season currently in production.

After premiering at SFF, Kid Snow and 200% Wolf will hit cinemas in August, while He Ain’t Heavy is expected to get a theatrical release later this year.

The Sydney Film Festival runs June 5-16.