Western Australian film We Bury the Dead starring Daisy Ridley has been chosen to premiere in March at international film festival South by Southwest in the United States.
The survival-thriller was filmed in Albany and across the Great Southern region last year and will be showcased for the first time in Austin, Texas.
Written and directed by Western Australian Zak Hilditch, We Bury the Dead is set after a military experiment decimates the people living in Tasmania.
The film follows the story of a woman, played by Daisy Ridley of Star Wars sequel-fame, as she searches for her husband who went missing in the aftermath of the incident.
We Bury the Dead was co-produced by Penguin Empire and Campfire Studios.
Mr Hilditch said it was an honour to have the film selected for this year’s SXSW festival.
“It’s such a cool festival and the perfect place to help launch We Bury the Dead in 2025,” he said.
“I also can’t wait to showcase Albany on the big screen over there in Austin.
“The town went out of their way to welcome us during the shoot, and this is such an awesome way to pay homage to everyone who helped us along the way.”
WA film The Surfer starring Nicholas Cage will also be premiered at SXSW, marking its first screening in America after premiering at an international film festival last year.
The Surfer was shot in Yallingup by a majority Western Australian crew and premiered in May at the Festival de Cannes 2024 in France.
Screenwest chief executive Rikki Lea Bestall said this was a significant achievement for the WA film industry.
“We are thrilled to see two Western Australian productions selected for such an iconic international festival,” Ms Bestall said.
“Both films were filmed entirely in WA with a majority WA crew, and We Bury the Dead was also written and directed by a WA writer/director, Zak Hilditch.
“Congratulations to both teams.”
Another major production filmed in WA and premiered in the past 12 months was Stan original series Population 11 starring Ben Feldman, which premiered in March last year in Perth.
We Bury the Dead was supported by the state government’s $20 million WA Production Attraction Incentive, which was launched in August 2022 to attract screen productions to the state and is being administered by Screenwest.
The SXSW festival runs from March 7 to 15 and celebrates film, technology, music, education, and culture.
