''Cedar Boys'' is an edgy and tense Australian film about the life of 3 young adults in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Written, directed and co-produced by

Serhat Caradee Serhat Caradee is an Australian filmmaker, writer and actor based in Sydney, New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivis ...

and produced by Matthew Dabner, Ranko Markovic, and Jeff Purser, ''Cedar Boys'' had its world premiere at the 2009

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

. It opened in theatres on 30 July 2009 and was made available on DVD on 7 December 2009. The film has a dedication at the end to Caradee's mother, who died of cancer 19 days after the film was completed. The film won the Audience Award during the 56th 2009 Sydney Film Festival and was nominated for "Best Film" category at the 2009

Inside Film Awards The Inside Film Awards (now known as the IF Awards) is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, developed by the creators of Inside Film Magazine, Stephen Jenner and David Barda, and originally produced fo ...

. It was an official selection in many festivals, including

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

Dubai Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announc ...

, and the 2010 London Australian Film Festival.

Plot

Tarek a young working class man living in Sydney's tough western suburbs, wants to help his imprisoned older brother, Jamal but cannot afford the costs. His mate Nabil, a cleaner, persuades Tarek to steal drugs from a drugs depot, and their drug-dealing friend Sam helps in distribution. Meanwhile, Tarek has met Amie, an

Anglo-Australian English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians, are Australians whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2021 census, 8,385,928 people, or 33% of the Australian population, stated that they had English ancestry (wheth ...

young woman who likes to party and to snort cocaine.

Cast

Rachael Taylor Rachael May Taylor (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Her first lead role was in the Australian series ''headLand'' (2005–2006). She then made the transition to Hollywood, appearing in films including ''Man-Thing'' (2005 ...

as Amie *

Martin Henderson Martin Henderson (born 8 October 1974) is a New Zealand actor. He is known for his roles on the American medical drama series '' Off the Map'' as Dr. Ben Keeton (2011), the medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' as Dr. Nathan Riggs (2015–20 ...

as Mathew * Les Chantery as Tarek *

Daniel Amalm Daniel Amalm (born 16 February 1979) is an Australian actor and musician. Early life Amalm's mother is Maltese and his father is Swedish. Amalm's father introduced him to guitar from an early age. Amalm's first performances were as a busker ...

as Cassar * Serhat Caradee as Zac *

Bren Foster Bren Foster (born 2 November 1976) is an Australian actor and martial artist. He is best known for his role in '' The Last Ship'' on TNT. Foster holds black belts in taekwondo, hapkido, hwarangdo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Career Foster has appe ...

as Jamal * Waddah Sari as Sam * Buddy Dannoun as Nabil * Matuse Terror as Hamdi * Ian Roberts as Bell Room Door Man * Drew Pearson as Camera News Man * Erica Lovell as Brigid *

Fayssal Bazzi Fayssal Bazzi is an Australian actor. He was nominated for the 2018 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards ...

as Assad * Hani Malik as Walid * Taffy Hany as Yousaf Ayoub * Yasser Assadi as Ali * Vico Thai as Police Officer * Jake Wall as Simon * Dan Mor as Danny * Hunter McMahon as Craig * Jayb Hoyt as Brian * Eddie Idik as Bell Room Doorman 2 * Helen Chebatte as Huda

Film festivals

2009 *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

2009 *

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

2009 *

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announce ...

2009 *

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival ( tr, Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festivali), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most impor ...

2009 * London Australian Film Festival 2010

Accolades

Audience Award - Serhat Caradee - Won *

Australian Directors Guild The Australian Directors' Guild (ADG) is an industry guild representing the interests of film, television, commercials and digital media directors, including documentary makers and animators, throughout Australia. With its headquarters in Sydney ...

, Best Direction - Serhat Caradee - Nominated * Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, Best Original Screenplay - Serhat Caradee - Nominated * Australian Writers Guild (

AWGIE The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...

) - Serhat Caradee - Nominated * Inside Film Awards, Best Film - Serhat Caradee - Nominated

Production

''Cedar Boys'' cost $1.3M to make.

Reception and box office

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It grossed $354,160 at the box office in Australia,''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
but did extremely well on the DVD for Sony Home Entertainment, Apple iTunes, and VOD markets. It has a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

following in the suburbs of Sydney,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

due to its "outsiders" subject matter and multiple screening on Australian television and cable via Showtime and Movie Classics channel.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, tt1229345 *
Serhat Caradee IMDb

Bonafide Pictures 2009 films Australian drama films Films set in Sydney Films shot in Sydney 2009 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films

Plot

Cast

Film festivals

Accolades

Production

Reception and box office

See also

References

External links