Beneath Clouds

Beneath Clouds
DVD cover
Directed by	Ivan Sen
Written by	Ivan Sen
Produced by	Teresa-Jayne Hanlon
Starring	Dannielle Hall Damian Pitt
Cinematography	Allan Collins
Edited by	Karen Johnson
Music by	Ivan Sen Alister Spence
Release date	23 May 2002 (2002-05-23)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$2.5 million
Box office	A$548,416 (Australia)

Beneath Clouds is a 2002 film by Indigenous Australian director Ivan Sen. It 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.

Plot synopsis

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 criminal 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.

Production

The film was financed by the New South Wales Film Commission and the Australian Film Finance Corporation.

Reception

Only two film critics have posted reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes, both positive. Urban Cinefile Critics commented "Displaying about equal amounts of naiveté, passion and talent, Beneath Clouds establishes Sen as a filmmaker of considerable potential". Andrew Howe of eCritic.com called it "One of the few feature films to canvass the issues facing the Aboriginal community from an adolescent perspective".^[1]

Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz wrote six years later "I think this is one of the great Australian films of recent years".^[2] In her original TV review on SBS Television co-presented with David Stratton, The Movie Show, she gave it 4.5 stars and he gave it 4.^[3]

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject	Result
AACTA Awards (2003 AFI Awards)	Best Film	Teresa-Jayne Hanlon	Nominated
	Best Direction	Ivan Sen	Won
	Best Original Screenplay		Nominated
	Best Actress	Dannielle Hall	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Allan Collins	Won
	Best Original Music Score	Alister Spence	Nominated
		Ivan Sen	Nominated
Berlin International Film Festival	First Movie Award		Won
	Golden Berlin Bear		Nominated
	New Talent Award	Dannielle Hall	Won
FCCA Awards	Best Female Actor		Nominated
	Best Director	Ivan Sen	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Allan Collins	Nominated
	Best Music Score	Alister Spence	Nominated
		Ivan Sen	Nominated
Inside Film Awards	Best Direction		Won
	Best Actress	Dannielle Hall	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Allan Collins	Won
	Best Editing	Karen Johnson	Nominated

Box office

Beneath Clouds grossed $548,416 at the box office in Australia.^[4]

See also

• List of Australian films
• Cinema of Australia

References

1. Beneath Clouds (2002), retrieved 10 June 2021
2. Pomeranz, Margaret (31 December 2008). "Beneath Clouds: A superb Australian film". SBS. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
3. "What Margaret and David say about 500 Oz Movies". Ozflicks. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
4. "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2010.

External links

• Beneath Clouds at IMDb
• Beneath Clouds at Oz Movies
• Samantha Fordham: Struggling to find their place: Indigenous youth, identity, and storytelling in Beneath Clouds and Samson & Delilah. Refractory: a Journal for Entertainment Media. Vol 18, May 2011, Screen and Cinema Studies, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology, ISSN 1447-4905
• Beneath Clouds at the National Film and Sound Archive