The Survival of Kindness

Last updated

The Survival of Kindness
The Survival of Kindness poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Rolf de Heer
Written byRolf de Heer
Produced by
  • Rolf de Heer
  • Julie Byrne
Starring
  • Mwajemi Hussein
  • Deepthi Sharma
  • Darsan Sharma
Cinematography Maxx Corkindale
Edited byIsaac Coen Lindsay
Music byAnna Liebzeit
Production
companies
Distributed by Umbrella Entertainment
Release dates
Running time
96 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The Survival of Kindness is a 2022 Australian drama film written, produced and directed by Rolf de Heer. It had its world premiere at Adelaide Film Festival on 23 October 2022, and its international premiere in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2023, where it competed for Golden Bear and won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film.

Contents

Premise

An allegory for racism, the film follows BlackWoman, who is abandoned in a cage on a trailer in the middle of the desert. Her escape leads to a city, recapture and tragedy. [1]

Cast

Production

The film is produced by Julie Byrne and Rolf de Heer under the banner of Triptych Pictures and Vertigo Productions, and bankrolled by Screen Australia, Screen Tasmania, Adelaide Film Festival, and South Australian Film Corporation. Umbrella Entertainment is taking care of distribution in Australia. [1] Elise Archer, Minister for the Arts, Tasmania, wrote on her website, "We have invested $90,000 in the film (The Survival of Kindness), through Screen Tasmania, which was filmed in both Tasmania and South Australia. [2]

Release

The Survival of Kindness had its world premiere at Adelaide Film Festival on 23 October 2022. [3]

It had its international premiere in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2023, [4] where it competed for Golden Bear and won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film. [5] [6]

The film was selected in country focus section 'Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema' at the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival and will be screened on 6 December 2023. [7]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. [8] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "Generally Favorable Reviews". [9]

David Rooney, reviewing for The Hollywood Reporter at Berlin Film Festival, praised the performance of Mwajemi Hussein, writing, "Hussein’s unflinching performance speaks volumes, mostly without words". Rooney found the film rather too lengthy: "there’s a grim inevitability to The Survival of Kindness that becomes wearing, making its 96 minutes feel longer." Calling it a outback gothic, he stated, "Some will find it immersive and others distancing; many will find it unrelentingly bleak, even infuriating in its ability to be simultaneously opaque and obvious." [10] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film with 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "It is an elegant reverie about the violence and the stoicism beneath the surface of ordinary life." [11] Wendy Ide for ScreenDaily wrote that the filmmaking is "striking, thought-provoking, although it rather runs out of steam and ideas in the third act." [12] Pat Brown for Slant Magazine rated 2.5 out of 4 and praised Hussein as "magnetic as BlackWoman". Brown opined, "An epic adventure in the guise of an arthouse flick, The Survival of Kindness makes up in visual power and moral clarity what it lacks in subtext." [13]

Accolades

AwardDateCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Berlin International Film Festival 25 February 2023 Golden Bear The Survival of KindnessNominated [14]
FIPRESCI Award Best FilmWon [6]
Screen Music Awards 9 November 2023 Feature Film Score of the YearAnna LiebzeitNominated [15]
AACTA Awards 10 February 2024 Best Indie FilmThe Survival of KindnessNominated [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Alexandras Project</i> 2003 Australian film

Alexandra's Project is a 2003 Australian drama thriller film written and directed by Rolf de Heer and starring Gary Sweet and Helen Buday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide Film Festival</span> Film festival in Adelaide, South Australia

The Adelaide Film Festival is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October. Subject to funding, the festival has staged full or briefer events in alternating years; some form of event has taken place every year since 2015. From 2022 it takes place annually. It has a strong focus on local South Australian and Australian produced content, with the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF) established to fund investment in Australian films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolf de Heer</span> Dutch-Australian film director, writer, producer

Rolf de Heer is a Dutch Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old. He attended the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. His company is called Vertigo Productions and is based in Adelaide. De Heer primarily makes alternative or arthouse films. According to the jacket notes of the videotape, de Heer holds the honor of co-producing and directing the only motion picture, Dingo, in which the jazz legend Miles Davis appears as an actor. Miles Davis collaborated with Michel Legrand on the score.

<i>The Sound of One Hand Clapping</i> (novel) Novel by Richard Flanagan

The Sound of One Hand Clapping is a 1997 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan. The title is adapted from the famous Zen kōan of Hakuin Ekaku. The Sound of One Hand Clapping was Flanagan's second novel. The Novel tells the story of Slovenian immigrants.

<i>The Sound of One Hand Clapping</i> (film) 1996 film

The Sound of One Hand Clapping is a 1998 Australian drama film directed by Richard Flanagan, based on the 1997 novel of the same name. It was entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was shot in Hobart, Tasmania.

<i>Charlies Country</i> 2013 film

Charlie's Country is a 2013 Australian drama film directed by Rolf de Heer. It was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival where David Gulpilil won the award for Best Actor. It was also screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and awarded the Best Fiction Prize and the Youth Jury Prize at the 2015 International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Geneva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">65th Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the president of the jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The first seven films of the festival were announced on 15 December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Adelaide Film Festival</span>

The 3rd Adelaide Film Festival took place in Adelaide, South Australia, from 22 February to 4 March 2007. Katrina Sedgwick was again Festival Director. Rolf de Heer received the 2007 Don Dunstan Award for his contribution to the Australian film industry.

<i>Nakom</i> 2016 film

Nakom is a 2016 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Kelly Daniela Norris and T. W. Pittman. The film had its world premiere at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section and was invited to have its North American premiere at the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York.

<i>The Other Side of Hope</i> 2017 film

The Other Side of Hope is a 2017 Finnish comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. The film was produced by Kaurismäki's Finnish company Sputnik. In December 2016, it was selected to play in competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. The story is about a Finnish businessman who meets a Syrian asylum-seeker looking for his missing sister. At the time of its release, Kaurismäki noted that this film would be his last as a director, although he went on to make a new film a few years later.

<i>Synonyms</i> (film) 2019 film by Nadav Lapid

Synonyms is a 2019 international co-produced drama film directed by Nadav Lapid, from a screenplay by Lapid and Haim Lapid. It stars Tom Mercier, Quentin Dolmaire and Louise Chevillotte. It had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2019, where it won the Golden Bear, and the FIPRESCI Award (Competition). It was released in Israel on 28 February 2019, in France on 27 March 2019, by SBS Distribution and in Germany on 5 September 2019, by Grand Film. The film received positive reviews from critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70th Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival board: business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">72nd Berlin International Film Festival</span> German film festival

The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 10 to 20 February 2022 in person. On 15 December 2021 the first film of the festival was announced.

<i>Monolith</i> (2022 film) 2022 Australian film

Monolith is a 2022 Australian science-fiction thriller film directed by Matt Vesely from a script written by Lucy Campbell, and produced by Bettina Hamilton. Described as high-concept science fiction, it stars Lily Sullivan, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery.

<i>Limbo</i> (2023 film) 2023 Australian film directed by Ivan Sen

Limbo is a 2023 Australian independent mystery-crime film directed by Ivan Sen and starring Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen and Nicholas Hope. The film had its world premiere in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, on 23 February 2023, where it competed for Golden Bear.

<i>The Shadowless Tower</i> 2023 Chinese drama film

The Shadowless Tower is a 2023 Chinese drama film written and directed by Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lü and stars Xin Baiqing, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Huang Yao. The film depicts the warm story of people healing and accompanying each other exhibiting family bond and love.

<i>Favoriten</i> (film) 2024 Austrian documentary film

Favoriten is a 2024 Austrian documentary film directed by Ruth Beckermann. It is a film about teaching and learning and the often very surprising experiences somewhere in between.

<i>Architecton</i> 2024 Germany –French documentary film

Architecton is a 2024 documentary film written and directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. It is an extraordinary journey through the material that makes up our habitat: concrete and its ancestor, stone.

<i>Sons</i> (2024 film) 2024 film by Gustav Möller

Sons is a 2024 psychological thriller co-written and directed by Gustav Möller. The film starring Sidse Babett Knudsen and Sebastian Bull is about an idealistic prison officer Eva Hansen, who faces the dilemma of her life when a young man she knows from before is transferred to her prison.

References

  1. 1 2 Ramachandran, Naman (7 February 2023). "Rolf de Heer's Berlinale Competition Title 'The Survival of Kindness': Watch First Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  2. ↑ Archer, Elise (26 January 2023). "Tasmania on show at the Berlin Film Festival". Elise Archer. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Survival of Kindness". Adelaide Film Festival . 23 October 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Berlinale | Programme - The Survival of Kindness". berlinale.de. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Rosser, Michael (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival reveals 2023 competition line-up". Screen Daily. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 Roxborough, Scott (25 February 2023). "Berlin: 'The Survival of Kindness,' 'Here' Win Critics' Fipresci Awards". The Hollywood Reporter .
  7. ↑ "Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema". Kolkata International Film Festival. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "The Survival of Kindness (Drama 2022)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "The Survival of Kindness". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Rooney, David (17 February 2023). "'The Survival of Kindness' Review: Rolf de Heer's Grim Tone Poem Tracks a Black Woman's Odyssey Out of Captivity". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  11. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (17 February 2023). "The Survival of Kindness review – an elegant reverie about violence and stoicism". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  12. ↑ Ide, Wendy (17 February 2023). "The Survival Of Kindness': Berlin Review". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Brown, Pat (19 February 2023). "The Survival of Kindness Review: A Powerfully Unsubtle Anti-Colonial Parable". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman; Vivarelli, Nick (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival Reveals Competition Lineup (Updating Live)". Variety . Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "2023 Screen Music Awards Nominees Revealed". APRA AMCOS. AGSC. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  16. ↑ Dervisevic, Hanan (10 February 2024). "The New Boy and The Newsreader lead AACTA 2024 award nominations". ABC News. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.