Aussie Classic 'Wake in Fright' Rediscovered & Restored: Drafthouse Acquires for US Release this October

News

by Sophia Savage
July 19, 2012 2:31 PM
1 Comment

wake in fright

"Wake in Fright" goes to Drafthouse Films for US theatrical release after many thought it was lost. The thriller is considered a landmark film in the development of modern Australian cinema; it first debuted at Cannes in 1971 where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. In 2009, guest-curator Martin Scorsese brought a restoration back to the fest. Directed by Ted Kotcheff ("Rambo: First Blood"), the film will be released fully restored at New York's Film Forum on October 5 and Los Angeles' Nuart Theater October 19. It will expand and be available on VOD in early 2013.

The story follows a British schoolteacher's "descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged derelicts while stranded in a small town in outback Australia." Drafthouse's Evan Husney states that Kotcheff's "masterwork" is one of their favorites, calling it a "stunning and dreadfully creepy film inspired a generation of accomplished Aussie filmmakers."

More on its restoration below:

Believed to be lost for many years, Wake In Fright was restored after an exhaustive decade-long search for original film elements. Fortuitously, the negative was unearthed in Pittsburgh, PA, in canisters marked for destruction just one week away from its impending incineration. The materials were then restored frame-by-frame at Sydney's AtLab Deluxe with the aid of the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia.

News

More: Alamo Drafthouse, News, Classics, Foreign

1 Comment

| Reply
test | July 19, 2012 2:54 PMReply

testing your commenting tool. thanks

Aussie Classic 'Wake in Fright' Rediscovered & Restored: Drafthouse Acquires for US Release this October

1 Comment

Email Updates

Monthly Archives

Most "Liked"

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories

Aussie Classic 'Wake in Fright' Rediscovered & Restored: Drafthouse Acquires for US Release this October

1 Comment

Follow Me

Email Updates

Monthly Archives

Most "Liked"

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories