Toomelah

The tiny community of Toomelah is made up of Gamilaroi and Bigambal people living in an old Aboriginal mission north of Mooree. This is the country where director Ivan Sen's (Beneath Clouds, Dreamland) mother grew up and his deep personal connection to the place is palpable throughout this confronting, brutally honest dramatic feature that draws its acting talent from within the community. Ten-year-old Daniel (Daniel Connors) is a good little boxer like his dad Buster (Michael Connors) used to be. Impatient with the other kids at school - except for his sweetheart Tanitia (Danieka Connors) - he starts hanging out with Linden (Christopher Edwards), the local dealer, who trains him up to be a gangster. When a thug named Bruce (Dean Daley-Jones) returns to town after a stint in jail, he threatens Linden's territory and Daniel is suddenly propelled towards violence. Raw, intimate, and laced with mob humour, Toomelah seamlessly intertwines issues like the Stolen Generation, substance abuse and cultural erasure with an everyday story about one boy caught in the downward spiral of a neglected community. Selected for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, Sen's provocative film "tastes like dust in the mouth [and] strikes like iron in the mind." (from The Back of Beyond)

Selected for Un Certain Regard, 2011 Cannes Film Festival 

Filmmaker Guests Ivan Sen, David Jowsey cast and crew

• Director's Bio Ivan Sen was raised in Inverell, NSW. He studied photography at Griffith University and filmmaking at AFTRS. His feature-film debut, Beneath Clouds, won a Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and Best Director at the 2002 AFI Awards. His other films include Dreamland.