An epic journey over a very short distance
This intimate two-hander pairs a couple who, at first glance, appear to be opposites in every way. Old Australia meets new Australia. Ali is not a citizen, he drives a taxi on another man’s license and relies on the GPS to negotiate a city he doesn’t know. Esther is an old woman gets into his taxi and forgets where she is going. She can’t remember, and he can’t forget the tragedies of his native land that have brought him here. Over a long night’s journey through memory and survival, they will realise that they are more alike than they thought. Both are alone in the cold, bright city, and their fates are inevitably interconnected. Produced and shot in Adelaide, Madeleine Blackwell heads a local creative team full of names you will recognise. Lead actor Ali Al Jenabi is an asylum seeker from Iraq and subject of the award-winning book, The People Smuggler.
Madeleine Blackwell
Madeleine Blackwell graduated from both NIDA and AFTRS. She works across a range of theatre and screen projects as a writer and director. Her first short film Father screened at festivals in Tehran and Sydney. Her next film So Close to Home (2003) was nominated for an AFI screenwriting award. Her 2014 short Elsewhere screened at the Fajr Film festival in Iran.
