SERENADES

Key Cast

Jila Alice Haines
Johann Aden Young
Shir Sinisa Copic
Pastor Hoffman Billie Brown
Rainman David Gulpilil
Mullah Jalal-Shah Nico Lathouris
Abdullah Rodney Afif
Jila - 7 years Katayla Williams
Johann - 12 years Ben Winsor
Joseph David Ngoombujurra

Key Crew

Story by Christine Stephens and Mojgan Khadem
Based on research from "Tin Mosques and Ghantowns" and "White Man's Dreaming" written by Christine Stephens
Screenplay by Mojgan Khadem
Producer Sandra Levy
Director Mojgan Khadem
Director of Photography Russell Boyd A.C.S.
Composer Davood A.Tabrizi
Editor Tim Wellburn
Production Designer Colin Gibson
Costume Designer Louise McCarthy
Casting Ann Robinson - Mullinars Consultants
Line Producer Barbara Gibbs

Financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation
Developed and produced with the assistance of the South Australian Film Corporation
Developed with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission
Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Palace Films
Worldwide Sales Southern Star Film Sales

Recommended for Mature audiences 15 years and over


1890, Central Australia.
On a Christion mission at the edge of the desert,
a girl is born of an Aboriginal mother
and an Afghan father.
A dark skinned, green eyed, forbidden beauty -
she is a reluctant traveller
between the worlds of her parents.
This is the story of Jila.
Conceived against her mother's will,
born between worlds,
abandoned by love,
cheated by death,
removed from her faith
and from her place.

Given no choice, no say.
All her life men decided
how she would live,
what she would dream,
who she would worship,
who she would marry.
Yet no husband or lover could comprehend
the depth of her passion.

Only the landscape could give her comfort.
Only the music would serenade her soul.

 



From a review by Louise Keller

Jila (Alice Haines), the daughter of a young Aboriginal woman and an Afghan cameleer, grows up on a mission after her mother's death, and is sold for marriage by her father, Shir Mohammed (Sinisa Copic) to Mullah Jalal-Shah (Nico Lathouris). When Johann (Aden Young), the young German boy she met at the mission all those years ago retums, her hopes are lifted that he may free her from the forced marriage.

SERENADES is a very different type of Australian film that recounts an intriguing tale about forbidden love set on a backdrop of culture, religion and tradition. Embracing not only our own aboriginal culture, but adding Middle Eastern and European cultures to the mix, the juxtaposition is bewitching. The set up and premise engage, and there's a strong sense of place. The friendship between the young children is well established and we are enchanted by the little girl with saucer eyes, hair as wild as a tree whose leaves are dancing in the wind. The colours and textures of cultural identities, customs, superstitions and beliefs are as varied as life itself.

Russell Boyd's superb cinematography captures remote Australian locations and draws us into a melee of cultures where the exotic collides with the conservative. The opening scenes of camels crossing the desert are quite extraordinary. What astounding creatures camels are, their eyes peering into the camera suspiciously, while their uneven bodies fascinate by their irregularities. Watch out for the scene where the camel is dressed and decorated for the wedding - this is visual exotica to dream about.


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