Beneath Clouds
Encyclopedia
Beneath Clouds is a 2002 film by Australia
n director Ivan Sen
.
Lena has an absent Irish father she longs to see and an Aboriginal mother she finds disgusting. When she breaks away, she meets up with petty crim Vaughn who's just escaped from low security prison to reluctantly visit his dying mother.
Blonde and light-skinned, Lena remains in denial about her Aboriginal heritage; Vaughn is an angry young man with a grudge against all whites. An uneasy relationship begins to form as they hit the road heading to Sydney, taking them on a journey that's as emotional as it is physical, as revealing as it is desperate.
Initially the two reluctant travelling companions are suspicious and wary of each other, but their journey, mostly by foot and the odd lift, builds an understanding between them.
The film follows its creator's (Ivan Sen's) own experiences growing up in Inverell, NSW with an Aboriginal mother and a European father who was not around.
Beneath Clouds is the feature film debut by the two lead actors. Damian Pitt was approached by Sen on the streets of Moree
, New South Wales
, and had never acted before. Dannielle Hall was cast through a more traditional method, via an audition tape. Much of the support cast were local residents from Pitt's hometown of Moree.
The film was financed by the New South Wales Film Commission and the Australian Film Finance Corporation.
The film won the Best Direction
and Best Cinematography awards at the 2002 Australian Film Institute Awards
. It also won the Best First Movie award and Best New Talent award (for Danielle Hall) at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, and the Best Direction award at the 2002 Inside Film Awards
. Actor Damian Pitt died in a car crash 30 km from the north coast town of Grafton, NSW on 25 August 2009.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n director Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen is an Australian filmmaker. Throughout the late 1990s Sen worked on numerous short films, before making his feature film debut with Beneath Clouds in 2002. He studied filmmaking at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where he produced his first short films, working with the...
.
Lena has an absent Irish father she longs to see and an Aboriginal mother she finds disgusting. When she breaks away, she meets up with petty crim Vaughn who's just escaped from low security prison to reluctantly visit his dying mother.
Blonde and light-skinned, Lena remains in denial about her Aboriginal heritage; Vaughn is an angry young man with a grudge against all whites. An uneasy relationship begins to form as they hit the road heading to Sydney, taking them on a journey that's as emotional as it is physical, as revealing as it is desperate.
Initially the two reluctant travelling companions are suspicious and wary of each other, but their journey, mostly by foot and the odd lift, builds an understanding between them.
The film follows its creator's (Ivan Sen's) own experiences growing up in Inverell, NSW with an Aboriginal mother and a European father who was not around.
Beneath Clouds is the feature film debut by the two lead actors. Damian Pitt was approached by Sen on the streets of Moree
Moree, New South Wales
Moree is a large town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River in the centre of the rich black-soil plains....
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, and had never acted before. Dannielle Hall was cast through a more traditional method, via an audition tape. Much of the support cast were local residents from Pitt's hometown of Moree.
The film was financed by the New South Wales Film Commission and the Australian Film Finance Corporation.
The film won the Best Direction
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction
The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards.-Previous winners:*1971 – Homesdale *1972 – Stork...
and Best Cinematography awards at the 2002 Australian Film Institute Awards
Australian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
. It also won the Best First Movie award and Best New Talent award (for Danielle Hall) at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, and the Best Direction award at the 2002 Inside Film Awards
Inside Film Awards
The Inside Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, a format created by Australian Producer Andrew Dillon...
. Actor Damian Pitt died in a car crash 30 km from the north coast town of Grafton, NSW on 25 August 2009.