Filming has commenced this week on RAMS starring Sam Neill and Michael Caton down in the great southern region of Western Australia this week! Rams will be helmed by director Jeremy Sims, working once again with Caton after their success on Last Cab to Darwin.
An English-language adaptation of the successful Icelandic film Hrútar, winner of the 2015 Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes Film Festival, Rams tells the story of two estranged brothers on adjoining sheep farms who haven’t spoken to each other in 40 years. When a rare disease threatens their sheep, the brothers must find a way to work together to save their flock, their small town and their family’s legacy. Far from a ‘remake’, Rams is a fresh interpretation of the original film and will give a universal story a distinctly Australian context.
The film also stars Wayne Blair (Black Comedy, Mystery Road, Tim Winton’s The Turning and director ofThe Sapphires), Leon Ford (The Letdown, The Light Between Oceans, Ruben Guthrie) and Travis McMahon (Cactus, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Birthday) alongside Asher Keddie (Offspring, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Love My Way), Hayley McElhinney (The Babadook, Doctor Doctor), Kipan Rothbury(Sacred Heart) and Perth-based newcomers, 17-year old Asher Yasbincek and WAAPA’s Will McNeill.
Director Jeremy Sims – “I am excited to have the chance to take this elegant and powerful tale and set it in the place that I spent my summers growing up. This is a story about family, connected through land and community, and the relationships at the heart of those communities. Regional WA is a vast and complex place, and the Great Southern has such a unique flavour that audiences deserve to see it on the big screen. It is of course a privilege to work again with Michael Caton, and Sam Neill is one of my favourite actors and a legend of world cinema. I can’t wait to bring them together and see what happens.”
RAMS will be distributed in Australia via Roadshow films. Will update you with more info when we get it.
