Lucky Miles

Synopsis

An Indonesian fishing boat abandons a group of Iraqi and Cambodian men on a remote part of the Western Australian coast in 1990. Told there is a bus over the dunes, the men are abandoned to a desert the size of Poland. While most are quickly rounded up, three men with little in common but their history of misfortune elude capture and begin an epic but confused journey drawn on by their hopes amplified by the empty desert. Pursued by an army reservist unit more concerned with playing ball sports and music, the three protagonists wander deeper into trouble, searching desperately among the harsh beauty of the Pilbara for evidence of a Western, liberal democracy or the promised bus, which only one of them finds.

Cast

Production

Shot on location in South Australia and Cambodia Lucky Miles is the feature debut from Adelaide-born Michael James Rowland, who has been a filmmaker to watch since his Russian space film, Flying Over Mother marked his graduation from the Australian Film Television and Radio School. With a script developed by Rowland's company Puncture, Lucky Miles is produced by Jo Dyer and Lesley Dyer, co-written by Helen Barnes, shot by veteran Cinematographer Geoff Burton, edited by Henry Dangar, music supervision by WOMAD's Artistic Director Thomas Brooman, scored by percussionist Trilok Gurtu and executive produced by Michael Bourchier. Lucky Miles is presented by Film Finance Corporation Australia, Short of Easy, The South Australian Film Corporation and the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival. Languages; French, Indonesian, Khmer, Arabic, Gumatj and English

Release

Lucky Miles premiered on opening night of the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival. A few weeks later, Lucky Miles won the audience award for Best Film at the 2007 Sydney Film Festival. Other awards won by Lucky Miles include the Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, Best Screenplay at the Vladivostok International Film Festival (an award that carries with it a Russian publishing deal), the Black Pearl for Best New Director at the Middle East International Film Festival (an award that carries with it an AED300,000 cash prize), the Grand Prix at the 9th Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes in Saint-Tropez and Best Film at the 3rd Asian Festival of First Films in Singapore. It was also nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Lucky Miles also screened at world cinema festivals including Jerusalem, Womad, Pusan, Chicago, AFI (USA) and the Amazonas Film Festival in Manaus. Lucky Miles opened in Australia mid-July and was released internationally during 2007. CineClick Asia is the film's global releasing company and Lucky Miles is distributed on DVD (Region Four) by Madman, released on 7 December 2007. Lucky Miles was shown in the 10th 2008 Philippines Cinemanila International Film Festival at Malacañan Palace's Kalayaan Hall. Its "Arun," Kenneth Moraleda won the Vic Silayan Award for best actor.

The film was scheduled to be released in 2007-2008 by Dendy (Australia) and CineClick Asia (Worldwide).

Reception

Reviews of the film were featured in Variety, The Age and The Advertiser.

Box office

Lucky Miles grossed $678,110 at the box office in Australia.