The Nun and the Bandit

Plot summary

In the 1940s, two outlaw brothers kidnap their wealthy 14-year-old second cousin, but things get complicated when her chaperoning nun refuses to abandon her charge.

Production

The film was made with finance from Film Victoria and the FFC. It was shot near Bacchus Marsh, Maldon in Victoria.

Release

Cox called the movie "minimal filmmaking":

It's the very first time I read a book that I wanted to film, because I normally don't believe the film has much to do with the novel. I wasn't at the screening at the Melbourne Film Festival but I never want to screen a film at a festival again. That screening actually killed the release. It got bad reviews in a few places, so Roadshow wouldn't even release it. I think that as an Australian bush film, it is a very, very original film, a highly original piece. The forest, the beauty of the land, that's the altar, and the sacrifice is the innocence and youth. You have a sacrifice on an altar. But it gave me enormous satisfaction because the finished film is very nicely tuned, minimal when you look at the way it's crafted... But that's not what the reviewers want, a bush film like this. That's not very Australian, is it?