Kriv Stenders’ The Illustrated Family Doctor premiered at AFF05, though the big surprise was his quick follow-up, Blacktown, which created a lot of excitement about the possibilities for low-budget improvisational digital filmmaking in Australia. Boxing Day revisits this style, telling its story through a series of improvised long takes, each rehearsed, refined and re-shot in an intensive production atmosphere. It tells the story of a father’s impassioned struggle to reunite his estranged family over the course of a single afternoon. Living alone on home detention, Chris is preparing Christmas lunch for his teenage daughter when an old friend turns up and exposes the disturbing truth about his ex-wife’s new boyfriend. The film documents in painstaking detail, the harrowing journey of a family teetering on the brink of disintegration. As the situation escalates inexorably we are drawn into the compelling story of a father who must finally decide to expose the dark and disturbing secret that threatens to tear his family apart. Boxing Day was shot completely in Adelaide and produced by Smoking Gun Productions, the partnership between local stalwarts, Kristian Moliere and Shane McNeil ( The 13th House, AFF03).
Festivals: Adelaide FF; Sydney FF; Dungog FF; REVelation FF; Australia- Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE) (Israel); Brisbane FF 2007; Melbourne FF 2007; Pusan FF 07; Festival du Cinema Nouveau (Montreal) 07; London Australian F F; OzFlix Australian Film Weekend (Toronto & Vancouver) 08; New Zealand Film Festival’s 2008; World Cinema Showcase 08; Bradford International Film Festival, UK 2008; Eilat International Film Festival, Israel 2008; Bucharest Film Festival, 2008; IndieLisboa Film Festival, Portugal 2008; Festival de Cinema des 3 Ameriques, Canada 2008; Wisconsin Film Festival, USA 2008; Berkshire International Film Festival, USA 2008; Adelaide Produces showcase Museum of Modern Art NY 2011
Awards:
- Winner: Best Actor- Festival du Nouveau Cinema 07(Montreal) (Richard Green)
- Special Jury Mention (Louve d’Or)- Festival du Nouveau Cinema (Montreal)
- Winner: Kriv Stenders – Australian Directors Guild / Directors Guild of America Finders Screening Award
- Nominated: FIPRESCI Award – Brisbane FF
- Nominated: Best Director – IF Awards 07
- Nominated: Best Actor- IF Awards 07
- Runner up in SPAA’s inaugural SPAAtan Award for Best Australian Digital Feature