• 11101 Sat, 05 Aug 2023 18:30:00 @ Forum
• 22311 Wed, 09 Aug 2023 21:00:00 @ IMAX Melbourne
• 17471 Sat, 12 Aug 2023 21:30:00 @ Comedy Theatre
• 38502 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 13:00:00 @ Theatre Royal Castlemaine
• 33512 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:30:00 @ Peninsula Cinemas Rosebud
• 34512 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:00:00 @ Star Cinema Bendigo
• 31512 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:00:00 @ Capitol Cinema Warrnambool
• 32512 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:00:00 @ Paramount Cinemas Echuca
• 36512 Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:45:00 @ Sun Cinema Bright

Key Cast: Hugo Weaving, John Waters, Phoenix Raei, Rhys Mitchell
Director: Mark Leonard Winter
Producer: Geraldine Hakewill, MahVeen Shahraki
Screenwriter: Mark Leonard Winter
Cinematographer: Craig Barden
Composer: Stefan Gregory

Viewer Advice: Strong impact mental health and suicide themes.

Hugo Weaving and Phoenix Raei play a hermit and a cop who form an unlikely connection amid crisis in this wonderfully weird sucker-punch of tenderness.

Dan (Raei, Below, MIFF Premiere Fund 2019; Clickbait) works in a remote police outpost in regional Victoria, but when a childhood friend is discovered dead following an incident at the local high school, his judgement and credentials are thrown into question. Consumed with guilt and suspended from the force, Dan decides to camp out in the forest, where he encounters a cranky jazz-listening, shotgun-toting, ping-pong-obsessed misanthrope (Weaving, Lone Wolf, MIFF Premiere Fund 2021; Measure for Measure, MIFF Premiere Fund 2019). At first transactional, this bond soon becomes transformative for the broken men. But, surrounded by trees, far away from any trace of civilisation, is everything really as it seems?

Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, the feature debut from actor turned writer/director Mark Leonard Winter (The Dressmaker; Little Tornadoes, MIFF Premiere Fund 2021) is a delicate, at times droll, dramatisation of masculinity, mental health and the solace found in companionship. Winter’s storytelling talents are on display in a film that is unafraid to make bold choices: the enigmatic commingles with the everyday, painterly compositions depict both rural isolation and the natural sublime, and the eerie sound design maintains an air of intriguing unease. With Weaving and Raei welded by a tremendous chemistry, The Rooster unfurls as a distinctive, unforgettable tale of two individuals confronting life’s challenges and discovering what hides behind the bravado.

PRESENTED BY

SUPPORTED BY

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Director Mark Leonard Winter and actor Hugo Weaving will both be in attendance for the screenings on Saturday 5 and Wednesday 9 August, while Winter will attend the  screening on Saturday 12 August.