Sequin in a Blue Room, the film made by director Samuel Van Grinsven as his graduate project in the Master of Arts Screen program at AFTRS, will have a national cinema release from 20 August 2020.
This theatrical release follows the film’s success at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and its selection at international film festivals including Palm Springs, TIFF Next Wave and BFI Flare. Van Grinsven has been nominated in this year’s Australian Directors Guild Awards and in 2019, Sequin in a Blue Room was nominated for an AACTA Award in the Best Indie Film Category.
The cinema film season kicks off with a Q&A screening at Dendy Newton cinemas on Wednesday 19 August, at 6.45 pm. AFTRS Head of Directing Rowan Woods (The Boys, The Kettering Incident, Rake), Samuel’s mentor during his time at AFTRS, will lead the conversation after the screening. Tickets are available here.
The film will then be released on August 20 at Dendy cinemas in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra and at Luna Palace in Perth on 3 September.
A queer coming-of-age tale, Sequin in a Blue Room, was a Masters graduate project from 2018. The film was directed by Samuel Van Grinsven and produced by Sophie Hattch a graduate of AFTRS Bachelor of Arts (Screen). Their collaborators on the film include fellow AFTRS students –
Associate producer: Linus Gibson (Bachelor of Arts (Screen), 2017)
Cinematographer: Jay Grant (Graduate Certificate in Cinematography Fundamentals, 2014)
2nd unit DP/1st AC: Carina Burke (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017)
1st AC: Dan Abbot (Graduate Certificate in Cinematography, 2014)
Editor: Tim Guthrie (Master of Arts Screen, 2018)
Composer: Brent Williams (Master of Arts Screen, 2016)
Costume designer: William Tran (Bachelor of Arts (Screen), 2017)
Sound supervisor: Audrey Houssard (Graduate Diploma in Sound, 2014)
H&M: Oliver Lefi-Malouf (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production, 2018)
Simon Croker (Bachelor of Arts (Screen), 2017) stars as Tommy.
“This film being released theatrically has gone beyond all of my wildest dreams. Not only as an independent film but, as an Australian queer film, I never imagined it would be embraced as it has been by both industry and audiences,” said director Samuel Van Grinsven.
“We are so thankful to Australian festival and cinema programmers who have championed this film and allowed our cast and crew to show what they can do. And kicking off our cinema run with a Q&A screening with Rowan Woods, who mentored me through the development, feels like everything has now come full circle.”
Producer Sophie Hattch said: “From the beginning, this film has been a labour of love, so to now have it screening in cinemas around Australia is an unbelievable achievement for an indie film of this scale. We are so proud and excited to share the film with cinemagoers.”
The AFTRS Master of Arts Screen is available in 10 disciplines. A full-time course over two years, it’s designed to fast-track future industry leaders. AFTRS also offers a Master of Arts Screen: Business program, a Graduate Diploma in Radio and a Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production.
AFTRS CEO Nell Greenwood said: “This is an extraordinary achievement for Sam and the team. The film demonstrates an incredibly sophisticated, high level of collaborative creativity – and as a first feature, it’s all the more outstanding. We are so proud.”
