''The Wilding'' is a 2012 Australian

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Grant Scicluna Grant Scicluna (born in 1980) is an Australian film director and writer. best known for his work on ''The Wilding'' which won the Iris Prize in 2012, and the feature film Downriver. He is a graduate of RMIT, RMIT University School of Media and ...

and funded through Springboard, an initiative of

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

. The film stars Reef Ireland, Shannon Glowacki, Luke Mullins and Frank Sweet and had its world premiere in competition at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

on 9 February 2012 and was nominated for the

Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival (the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay a ...

. The film competed at number of film festivals including

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 ...

, Show Me Shorts,

Melbourne Queer Film Festival The Melbourne Queer Film Festival is an annual LGBT film festival held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Held in November, the festival is regarded as the largest queer film event in the Southern Hemisphere. The festival a ...

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

and

St Kilda Film Festival St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19 ...

and earned good reviews before winning the prestigious

Iris Prize The Iris Prize, established in by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBT film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex au ...

in 2012.

Premise

Malcolm, a hardened

borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...

inmate, is in love with his cellmate Tye. As Malcolm faces an opportunity for parole, a feud with other inmates escalates, with Tye being targeted as Malcolm's weak spot. Malcolm is forced to choose between his own freedom and protecting the one he loves.

Cast

*Reef Ireland as Malcolm *Luke Mullins as Adam *Frank Sweet as Gavin *Shannon Glowacki as Tye *Richard Anastasios as Simmo *Lachlan Ward as Bosey

Reception

Critical response

The film received mainly positive reviews with Adrian Naik of ''big gay picture show'' praising Scicluna's direction and said "This is raw Australian filmmaking at its best. Combining the visceral brutality of Romper Stomper and the gritty terror of Chopper, The Wilding holds its own against films of this caliber, while still shocking those numb to their effects."

Accolades

Filming locations

The film was shot in Sunbury in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and its surrounding suburbs.

Feature film

In 2014

and

Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victoria State Government, Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and ev ...

announced investment in a feature film based on the short film, titled ''

Downriver Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit, along the western shore of the Detroit River. The place is sometimes referred to as South Detroit. Etymology The name ...

'' and will feature Ireland in the lead role.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilding 2012 films Australian drama short films Films set in Australia 2012 short films Australian LGBT-related films Films shot in Australia Australian independent films LGBT-related short films 2012 LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 2010s English-language films