UTS alum film ‘Lonesome’ in Australian cinemas

Lonesome is a poignant and timely queer love story, and one that emerges unexpectedly amid the transactional world of casual hook-up culture.

Craig's talent as a director allows him a lightness of touch to find the comic in the tragic, while losing none of the authenticity and tenderness at the film's heart.

Ben Ferris (Producer)

Republished from Breathless Films' press release

SYNOPSIS: Casey, a country lad running from a small-town scandal, finds himself down and out in the big smoke of Sydney. When he meets Tib, a young city lad, struggling with his own scars of isolation, both men find something they have been missing but neither of them knows quite how to negotiate it. Lonesome is a new feature film by award-winning Australian director and UTS film graduate Craig Boreham, which explores sexuality, loneliness, and isolation in a world that has never been more connected.

Lonesome will screen at the 2023 Mardi Gras Film Festival (15 Feb 2023 – 2 Mar 2023) and in cinemas across Australia on 23 February 2023.  Click here for more information.

About the production

Back in 2021, Craig Boreham was approached by producers Ben Ferris and Ulysses Oliver, who wanted to create Breathless Films with the aim to produce a slate of low-budget indie feature films from exciting directors. Ulysses recalls the reason they decided to choose Craig's story;

We loved the story, Craig has an amazing track record, and we were looking for points of difference, which Lonesome has.

Boreham enlisted his longtime collaborator Dean Francis to the project to come on board as a producer and the Director of Photography. They first met each other at the Berlinale Talent campus many years ago.

We have been creative sounding boards for each other ever since and have always wanted to work on a film together... Having such a long creative relationship was a real asset to the filmmaking. We know what each other likes and there was a real ease to the working relationship.

Francis says, "we’ve seen each other’s sensibilities develop over a long period of time. This meant we could work quickly from an intuitive shared understanding of the film’s vision. It was an advantage being a producer as well because I could really be in Craig’s corner when it came to protecting his vision from some of the practical challenges the production faced along the way."

The filming of Lonesome took place over four weeks all around Sydney in July 2021 between Covid lockdowns. Craig and Dean had decided to embrace the light of the cooler months to give the film a cinematic quality that is harder to achieve in the summer months, which of course came with its own challenges. Recalling the difficulties on-site, Craig mentions filming a series of summertime scenes in cold weather;

It was really cold during filming which makes it pretty difficult when you are filming a movie set in summer that involves a lot of swimming and hanging out on beaches at night! The cast and crew were complete troopers and we pushed through. 

Producer Ulysses Oliver says, "I’m really excited about Craig’s vision and the great talent we have on board with Josh Lavery and Daniel Gabriel and the other supporting cast. I can’t wait for people to experience this part of Sydney or Australian culture that maybe they haven’t seen before with real authenticity."

Producer Ben Ferris says "Lonesome is a poignant and timely queer love story, and one that emerges unexpectedly amid the transactional world of casual hook-up culture. Craig's talent as a director allows him a lightness of touch to find the comic in the tragic, while losing none of the authenticity and tenderness at the film's heart."

About Craig Boreham (BA Communications, 1998)

UTS graduate Craig Boreham is an award-winning Sydney-based writer and director. Boreham’s films have screened at over 200 international festivals: including the Berlin International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Cannes, Palm Springs, Frameline and Outfest.

Craig’s debut feature film Teenage Kicks premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2016 to critical acclaim. Teenage Kicks was nominated for Best Direction in a feature film at the Australian Directors Guild Awards, and for Best Feature at the Iris Prize Festival, where lead actor Miles Szanto won Best Male Performer. Other nominations include Best Original Score at the AACTA Awards. Craig made MTV’s list of hot Australian ‘filmmakers to watch’ and Teenage Kicks was billed as one not to be missed by Empire Magazine. (Visit Craig's website).

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Lonesome will screen at the 2023 Mardi Gras Film Festival (15 Feb 2023 – 2 Mar 2023) and in cinemas across Australia on 23 February 2023.  Click here for more information.