''Christmess'' is a 2023 Australian Christmas film written and directed by
Heath Davis
Heath Te-Ihi-O-Te-Rangi Davis (born 30 November 1971) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played five Tests and eleven One Day Internationals in the 1990s. He played his provincial cricket for Wellington.
Early and personal life
Davis was ...
.
Premise
Three recovering addicts try to get through the festive season without relapsing, in
Campbelltown, a suburb in
western Sydney, Australia.
Cast
*
Hannah Joy
Middle Kids are an alternative rock, alternative indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. The band consists of Hannah Joy (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Tim Fitz (bass, backing vocals, production) and Harry Day (drums, backing vocals). Since formi ...
as Joy
*
Steve Le Marquand as Chris Flint
*
Darren Gilshenan
Darren Gilshenan is an Australian actor and writer. He is best known for his in television series ''The Moodys'', ''Maximum Choppage'', ''Chandon Pictures'' and '' Full Frontal''.
Early life
Darren was first introduced to acting while he was a ...
as Nick
* Aaron Glenane as Jeff
* Nicole Pastor as Noelle
*
George Burgess as a Doorman/bouncer
Production
An independent Australian film, ''Christmess'' is written and directed by Heath Davis. Davis began writing an “authentic” Christmas film after Christmas 2020 when he spent time in isolation during the
COVID-19 pandemic without work or family, and watched a lot of “bad Christmas films”.
It is produced by Daniel Fenech, Cindy Pritchard, and Matthew McCracken. Funding for the film partially came from crowd-funding.
Casting
The film marks the feature film acting debut of Hannah Joy, the lead singer with rock band
Middle Kids
Middle Kids are an alternative indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. The band consists of Hannah Joy (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Tim Fitz (bass, backing vocals, production) and Harry Day (drums, backing vocals). Since forming in 2016, the b ...
. Joy wrote several original songs for Christmess, including ''Empty Chair'', ''Deadbeat Dads'', and ''Boxing Day'' and performs all three songs in character during the film.
Filming
Principal photography got underway in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
in June 2022 with a three-week filming schedule.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...
on 29 October 2023. It was released in Australia on 30 November 2023.
Reception
Nadine Whitney in ''
The Curb'' described the film as "painful, hopeful, gentle, and funny as hell".
Luke Buckmaster in ''
The Guardian'' described it as "a very absorbing film, tenderly written and directed".
Other films by Heath Davis
Heath Davis directed ''
Book Week '', released in 2018.
This film was nominated for the
AACTA Award for Best Indie Film
The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018.
The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, ...
in the
9th AACTA Awards
The 9th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (generally known as the AACTA Awards) is an award's ceremony to celebrate the best of Australian films and television of 2019. The main ceremony was held at The Star (Sydney), The St ...
in 2019.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmess
2023 films
2020s English-language films
2020s Australian films
Films shot in Sydney
Australian Christmas films
2020s Christmas films