Kriv Stenders Movies
- 2009
A father who is running from the evils of the larger world finds they've arrived on his doorstep in this drama from Australian filmmaker Kriv Stenders. Nat (Aden Young) is a former schoolteacher and widower who idealistically has left the city and traveled with his children Tom (Toby Wallace) and Sarah (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) to remote area in the bush, where he's taken up farming. Unfortunately, Nat has almost no practical knowledge of agriculture, and while 12-year-old Tom fervently believes in his father, Sarah is older, wiser and certain Nat has made a terrible mistake. One day, three strangers arrive at the farm on horseback, a trio of soldiers returned from the Boer War -- restless adventurer Maj. Henry (Pip Miller), moody and hard-drinking Carver (Neil Pigot), and Jimmy (Eamon Farren), who is innocent, good looking and clearly ill. Nat, who needs help on the farm, regards the arrival of the travelers as a gift from God, while Tom is fascinated by their tales of heroics and Sarah is clearly drawn to Jimmy as she helps nurse him back to health. But Nat discovers one of the reason his children are charmed by the soldiers is they have a cache of stolen gold, and the father believes the love of money is tainting the minds of his children. Lucky Country received its world premiere at the 2009 Adelaide Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2007
A man who is trying to escape his past as a criminal must decide who he can trust in this gritty independent drama from Australia. It's the day after Christmas, and Chris (Richard Green) is an ex-convict who is waiting out the last part of his jail sentence under house arrest at the suburban home he shares with his teenage daughter Brooke (Misty Sparrow). While Chris wants to turn his back on his life of crime, his old friend Owen (Stuart Clark) isn't as determined, and tries to persuade Chris to let him stash drugs at his place. As Chris struggles to convince Owen this is a bad idea, Chris finds he has guests -- his former wife Donna (Tammy Anderson) has stopped by with her new boyfriend in tow, Dave (Syd Brisbane). After the four chat for a while, Owen takes Chris into the other room and tells him he's met Dave before -- they were both in jail, where Dave was doing time for child molestation. While Owen is an old friend, Chris isn't certain how far his word can be trusted; at the same time, shouldn't Donna know if there's reason to doubt Dave's character and good intentions? Shot in a series of long, uninterrupted takes, Boxing Day was directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Stenders and Richard Green, who also plays Chris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
