Main Cast: Danielle Hall, Damian Pitt, Jenna Lee Connors, Simon Swan, Mundurra Weldon
Release Year: 2002
Country: AU
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
The cinematic debut of Aboriginal filmmaker Ivan Sen, Beneath Clouds finds light-skinned Abiriginal girl Lena Danielle Hall) making her way towards Sydney as she searches for her Irish father and contends with an escaped convict named Vaughn (Damian Pitt) along the way. An embittered youth who at first clashes with Lena, the couple must learn to put aside their differences as they navigate their way through the treacherous landscape over the course of twenty-four hours. Confronted by such obstacles as prejudiced shop owners and racist policemen, time begins to run short as tempers flare and the duo searches for transportation and sustenance. Despite the fact that each represents everything about society that the other finds reprehensible, it isn't long before Lena and Vaughn begin to find their feeling for one another developing in a manner that neither had anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Danielle Hall - Lena
Damian Pitt - Vaughn
Jenna Lee Connors - Ty
Simon Swan - Jimmy
Mundurra Weldon - Liam
Athol French - Kevy; Judy Duncan - Jen; Kevin Pitt - Smiley; Arthur Dignam - Old Man
Credit
Katrina Pickering - Costume Designer, Claire Richardson - First Assistant Director, Ivan Sen - Director, Karen Johnson - Editor, Douglas Cummins - Executive Producer, Ivan Sen - Composer (Music Score), Alister Spence - Composer (Music Score), Peter Baxter - Production Designer, Allan Collins - Cinematographer, Teresa-Jayne Hamilton - Producer, John Patterson - Sound/Sound Designer, Ivan Sen - Screenwriter
Lena has an absent Irish father she longs to see and an Aboriginal mother she finds disgusting. When she breaks away, she meets up with petty crim Vaughn who's just escaped from low security prison to reluctantly visit his dying mother. Blonde and light-skinned, Lena remains in denial about her Aboriginal heritage; Vaughn is an angry young man with a grudge against all whites. An uneasy relationship begins to form as they hit the road heading to Sydney, taking them on a journey that's as emotional as it is physical, as revealing as it is desperate. Initially the two reluctant travelling companions are suspicious and wary of each other, but their journey, mostly by foot and the odd lift, builds an understanding between them. The film follows creators (ivan Sens) own experiences growing up in Alice Springs with an Aboriginal mother and a European father who was not around.
Beneath Clouds is the feature film debut by the two lead actors. Damian Pitt was approached by Sen on the streets of Moree, New South Wales, and had never acted before. Dannielle Hall was cast through a more traditional method, via an audition tape. Much of the support cast were local residents from Pitt's hometown of Moree.
The film was financed by the New South Wales Film Commission and the Pacific Film & TV Commission.
The film won the Best Direction and Best Cinematography awards at the 2002 Australian Film Institute Awards. It also won the Best First Movie award and Best New Talent award (for Danielle Hall) at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, and the Best Direction award at the 2002 Inside Film Awards.Actor Damien Pitt passed away in a car crash 30km for the north coast town of Grafton, NSW on the 25th of August 2009.
