“Together we have infused so much warmth, humour and emotional generosity into the material. The fact that something born of isolation has brought together the most extraordinary cast and crew to work on it is a tremendous victory in its own right,” said Mark Leonard Winter.

“ The Rooster was written as an offering exploring the strange and lonely place a mental health crisis can take you. Principal photography has just been completed on Dja Dja Wurrung country in the region of the Hepburn Shire in Victoria, Australia. The Rooster also features Helen Thomson ( Elvis, Top of the Lake), Rhys Mitchell ( Cake, Upper Middle Bogan), Bert La Bonte ( Surviving Summer, Five Bedrooms), John Waters ( Offspring, Mystery Road), Camilla Ah Kin ( Wakefield, Holding the Man), Robert Menzies ( Little Tornadoes, Glitch) and Deirdre Rubenstein ( Force of Destiny, Superwog). It confronts themes around shame and masculinity with unexpected humour, whilst keeping the audience in suspense. The Rooster is a gripping story about friendship and how hope can come from unlikely places, anchored by riveting performances from its two leads. When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan seeks answers from a volatile hermit (Hugo Weaving), who was the last person to see his friend alive. The Rooster follows small-town cop Dan (Phoenix Raei). The film will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Jonathan Page for Bonsai Films.

Mark Leonard Winter makes his feature filmmaking debut with The Rooster, which is produced by Logie-nominated actor Geraldine Hakewill ( Wanted, Ms Fisher ’ s Modern Murder Mysteries), and AACTA award-winning producer MahVeen Shahraki ( Ellie and Abbie, The Translator) for her company Thousand Mile Productions.Įxecutive producers on the project include Susie Montague-Delaney ( Ride Like a Girl, Pawno), Patrick James ( Ellie and Abbie) and Michael Kantor ( The Boy Castaways). Rising talent Phoenix Raei ( Clickbait, Stateless, The Night Agent), and Hugo Weaving ( Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Love Me), star in The Rooster, a mystery-drama written and directed by award-winning actor Mark Leonard Winter. Help us continue to cover more Australian films by making a donation to Cinema Australia below. Phoenix Raei as Dan and Hugo Weaving as Mit in The Rooster.

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