Bill Bennett on location of UNINHABITED
A deserted island, a young couple and a vengeful ghost are the ingredients for Australian cult filmmaker Bill Bennett’s new feature, screening at the market at the Cannes film festival next week. Ruby and team will be catching the film (and the filmmaker)but, after a glimpse of the trailer (below) and reading on his site that the film was inspired by a 1970s ghost experience of Bennett’s… we couldn’t wait that long to find out more. Bennett tells Ruby TV the story behind his latest thriller, reveals his hopes for Cannes and offers a practical tip for new producers and directors packing their bags for Croisette courtships.
Ruby TV: I’ve just seen the trailer for Uninhabited and have still got the goose bumps. Has this ghost story been haunting you since the event? When and why did you decide to make the experience and story the base of a film?
Bill Bennett: The story has been simmering since 1974 when I first went to the North West Island about 20kms from where we shot Uninhabited. What happened to us (my brother and our girlfriends at the time) really freaked us out. It never occurred to me that it would or could be the basis of a film. But I would regularly tell people the story of us camping on this uninhabited island and discovering a ghost. Everyone I told would be creeped out. And then, only a few years ago, did I think that perhaps, it could make the basis of a movie…
You didn’t shoot on the same island for practical purposes… do you think it would have been a lot creepier if you had?? Were there any spooky moments in the making?
The islands are virtually the same. (The original island) was impractical though because it was so much further out. It wouldn’t have been creepier shooting on the original island necessarily, except if we were actually visited by the original ghost! The scariest thing that happened to us during the shooting? Getting chased by sharks while we we were out spear fishing!
After fifteen features… how is the learning curve these days? What did you learn while making Uninhabited?
You learn off every movie, no matter the size of the budget. I’m now very confident and at ease with actors and various departments, but still every film is daunting. You have the potential to make a god awful mess of a film, or a masterpiece. It’s all in your hands, and that is humbling.
What are your hopes and expectations for Cannes?
I hope that international buyers respond positively to the film. It’s more of a thriller than a horror film, and so I’m a bit anxious that it might now fit easily into a “box”. It’s more Hitchcockian than say “Wolf Creek”
As a veteran of Cannes… what are a couple of tips… or faux pas for the up and coming producers and directors heading to the market this year?
This will be my sixteenth year at Cannes. I have had two films in Un Certain Regard in the past and several films screened in the market and so I know the highs of official selection and the lows of the common marketplace. The best tip I can give is what Stephen Spielberg told Robert Zemeckis when Zemechis, on the eve of directing his first feature, asked for advice. Spielberg told him: “Wear comfortable shoes.” That’s my advice to anyone going to Cannes.
Ah oui! Thanks for reminding us… and for femmes preferring talons- comfy but nice open sandals (it still is France… and it can get hot) in the handbag can make those races down the croisette to the next rendez vous precious minutes quicker!
Uninhabited will be screening at the market at midday on 14th May in Olympia 5. For more on the 2010 Cannes film festival visit the official site and stay tuned here for Ruby’s blog and for videos on SBS Australia.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyZLTWN2u2Q[/youtube]
