Press release
Little Sparrows takes flight with confirmation of its world premiere in Sydney
After generating much international interest amongst several high-profile sales agents, Bolderpictures today announced that it has granted Urban Media International (Umedia) worldwide sales rights – outside Australia/New Zealand – for its debut feature, Little Sparrows.
Bolderpictures is also proud to announce that Little Sparrows will make its world premiere next month at the Sydney Film Festival.
Festival Director Clare Stewart says she has welcomed Little Sparrows’ inclusion in the Sydney Film Festival’s Love Me pathway, calling it a “beautifully nuanced film.”
“Simple and sincere, this intelligently conceived film exhibits a depth and attentiveness that mark West Australian director Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen as a talent on the rise,” said Stewart.
Umedia is a leading international sales agent that specialises in arthouse cinema from around the world. The Paris-based company acquires only seven new films each year and Little Sparrows is the first Australian film to ever catch the attention of the company’s managing director and founder, Frédéric Corvez.
According to Corvez, Little Sparrows is an impressive debut feature film.
“Little Sparrows is sensitive, smart, and respectful. The actors are amazing and the distance of the camera is just perfect. It is definitely a feminine film, and as a director, Camille shows an obvious respect and love for her characters. It is all the more appreciable as it is not the trend in arthouse cinema nowadays," said Corvez.
Umedia plans to launch the film on the international market this fall. Formerly known as Façade, Little Sparrows ) tells the story of Susan, her three daughters and the choices they confront as Susan’s breast cancer spreads. It is a truthful and affective drama shedding light on both the fears and desires of men and women as they find the need to love and be loved.
With offices in Australia and China, Bolderpictures is an independent film production company that brings together the best filmmaking resources the region has to offer with the aim of producing quality feature films that appeal to both Western and Asian markets.
According to Director and Producer, Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen, the name change was a natural development.
“As the story was shaped in the editing process, it became apparent that Little Sparrows was a more appropriate title. The theme of façades has now transpired into an even stronger message of compassion, understanding and individual freedom under the new title.”
“The outcome is a leaner, more lucid and precise film than the one I set out to make, and I am confident that the integrity of film remains – something which, in my opinion, is the utmost responsibility of any filmmaker. I cannot wait for audiences to experience the film in movie theatres,” said Ms Chen.
Little Sparrows features a number of stage and screen veterans – James Hagan (Phantom of the Opera, Francis Ford Coppela’s Wind, All Saints, GP, Police Rescue, The Dodger, Stark, Backburner; Headstart); Simon Lockwood (Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code, Two Fists, One Heart, 24 Hours in London, The Bill, Eastenders, video clips for Basement Jaxx); Nicola Bartlett (Ship To Shore II, The Gift, Parallax, Rapture of the Deep); Melanie Munt (The Director’s Cut, Esoterica, Alex, Sea Patrol, All Saints, Lockie Leonard); Scott Jackson (Air Australia, 3 Acts of Murder, Bitter Art); – as well as a up-and-coming stars, Arielle Gray (Esoterica); Nina Deasley; Whitney Richards; and Nick Candy.
It was shot entirely in Western Australia on RED ONE format.