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Adelaide Film Festival Interview: Actor Dacre Montgomery on Went Up the Hill
Director Samuel Van Grinsven returns to our screens with his sophomore feature film, Went Up the Hill, a powerful drama about an abandoned child, Jack (Dacre Montgomery), attending the wake of a mother he never knew, and encountering her grieving widow, Jill (Vicky Krieps). As Jack and Jill navigate the fractured existence they find themselves in, Elizabeth's spirit emerges in curious and strange ways by possessing each character, resulting in a narrative that flows into the realm of being a possession drama, while never truly immersing itself in the genre expectations that one might have when they hear that this a film with a 'grief driven possession narrative'.
Like Samuel's first film, Sequin in a Blue Room, there's an unexpected nature to Went Up the Hill which comes from a foundational level, and is realised in the films sound design, its choice of location - a remote farm in Aotearoa/New Zealand - and the notion that this is a triple hander film delivered by two powerful, impactful performances from Dacre and Vicky.
There's an emotional vulnerability to the film that reveals itself as it progresses in a way that feels real and lived-in. How that emotional vulnerability was achieved is what's explored and discussed in the following conversation with Dacre Montgomery, recorded ahead of the films Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival on Saturday 26 October, where Dacre will be in attendance, and Sunday 3 November.
In the following interview, Dacre talk about his studies at WAAPA, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, before discussing the tangible aspects of his performance that helped Vicky and himself ground their characters in the moment, while also being able to immerse themselves in the role of Elizabeth as she possesses their characters.
Went Up the Hill is another towering achievement of emotional filmmaking from Samuel Van Grinsven, a filmmaker who is defiantly making his mark on global cinema with stories that feel deeply personal, yet completely universal at the same time.
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2025 AACTA Award Nomination Rundown
29:13|Join Andrew as he gives his candid thoughts on the 2025 AACTA Award nominations.14. In the Trenches Director Benjamin Scotford on Documenting the Muddy Battlefields of Esperance
53:46||Season 14, Ep. 14With his feature documentary debut In the Trenches: The Making of Before Dawn, Benjamin Scotford has made a rare achievement within the Australian film industry: a behind the scenes documentary which follows the muddy and tough production of Before Dawn, Jordan Prince Wright's equally rare achievement, an indie war flick shot in the remote West Aussie landscape. Benjamin dives into the ditches of this WW1 epic, taking audiences behind the scenes for the highs, the lows, and the difficulties that the production faces with pulling off the impossible on a micro-budget.Benjamin is given unparalleled access to the production, capturing honest and open discussions from cast and crew that shows off the strength that it took to bring Before Dawn to life. From freezing cold rain to escaping sheep to earthquake level explosions, In the Trenches captures it all.In the following discussion, Benjamin talks about his entry point into documentary filmmaking, how working as a wedding videographer and on corporate gigs with local legends like Tony Galati aka the Spud King informed his guerilla style filmmaking, and the kinds of behind the scenes docos that inspired his work.In the Trenches is currently available on Bluray and DVD via CaptureBehindTheScenes.com.au.For those who are also keen to check out Before Dawn, head over to Umbrella Entertainment where you can buy it on physical media, or to Netflix where it's available to stream. Before Dawn recently took home the award for Best Sound at the WA Screen Culture Awards, where the film also received nominations for Narrative Feature Film with budget over $1m, Best Cinematography or Visualisation, Best Performance for Myles Pollard, and Best Original Music.13. Nugget is Dead Director Imogen McCluskey on Bringing a True Blue Suburban Aussie Xmas to Life on Screen
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