[FILM NEWS] SWEET AS To Get Australian Cinema Release

Roadshow Films acquires ANZ distribution rights for Nyul Nyul / Yawuru director Jub Clerc’s directorial feature debut, SWEET AS.

Described as The Breakfast Club meets the Outback, SWEET AS follows 16-year-old Murra (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) who is on the verge of lashing out due to problems on the home front. That is, until her policeman uncle (Mark Coles-Smith) curbs her self-destructive behaviour with a lifeline: a “photo-safari for at-risk kids”. Murra isn’t entirely convinced, but she soon joins cantankerous Kylie (Mikayla Levy), happy-go-lucky Elvis (Pedrea Jackson), uptight Sean (Andrew Wallace) and team leaders Fernando (Carlos Sanson Jr) and Mitch (Tasma Walton) on a transformative bus trip through the Pilbara. On the trail, the teens learn about fun, friendship and first crushes, as well as the forces of ‘reality’ that puncture the bubble of youth.

Clerc’s feature debut is an effervescent story of growth, acceptance and the journey towards finding oneself. With postcard-perfect shots of remote Western Australia and a road-trip-worthy soundtrack of all-Indigenous artists, SWEET AS, is sure to take you along for its thrilling cinematic, life-affirming ride.

Joel Pearlman, CEO Roadshow Films said, “It is an incredible thrill to be joining with the Arenamedia team to bring SWEET AS to local audiences. Jub Clerc’s directorial debut is an extraordinary coming of age story that audiences are going to adore. Watching it with an audience at The Melbourne International Film Festival, it earned a standing ovation and we believe audiences are simply going to fall in love with this incredible movie. Australian teenage audiences deserve films that are specifically made for them.”

Producer Liz Kearney said, “Jub and I are beyond excited to be working with Roadshow Films. SWEET AS is such a special film to us – it’s a film full of joy and hope and it was so much fun to make. We know Roadshow Films is the best partner to bring SWEET AS to Australian audiences and we can’t wait for people to see it!”

Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Total Control, Firebite) stars alongside First Nations actors Tasma Walton (Mystery Road, Cleverman), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, Last Cab to Darwin),

Ngaire Pigram (Mystery Road, Mad Bastards), Pedrea Jackson (Robbie Hood, Blueback) and Chilean-Cuban-Australian actor Carlos Sanson Jr (Bump), along with first time actors Mikayla Levy and Andrew Wallace.

SWEET AS world premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival where it won the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award, had its West Australian premiere at CineFest Oz over the weekend, and has been selected to premiere internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

SWEET As is the first Australian feature written and directed by a Western Australian Indigenous filmmaker and is an Arenamedia production. It was made possible thanks to Screenwest’s West Coast Visions Initiative, and with major investment from Screen Australia’s First Nations Department in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest and the Western Australian Screen Fund. Financed with support from Soundfirm, the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund and VicScreen. ANZ Distribution by Roadshow Films and Rest of World by Sphere Films.

SWEET AS will be released in Australian and New Zealand in 2023 and is the seventh production that Roadshow Films has released in ANZ in partnership with Arenamedia.