Noise (Psychological Thriller / Completed)

This is a story about the wrong person in the right place at the wrong time. Two heinous crimes have left a suburban town reeling. Police quickly connect them but are desperate for witnesses as the local community enfolds itself in a shroud of secrecy, borne from fear and an untrammeled mistrust of authority.

A young police constable, Graham McGahan, suffers from a chronic hearing problem and applies for worker's compensation. To his chagrin, he is stationed at a police caravan near the crime scene. Living on the periphery of the investigation, McGahan crosses paths with the various people affected by the tragedies and uncovers an unraveling nightmare of guilt and suspicion.

Writer/director Matthew Saville utilizes exquisite sound and production design to bring to life his astonishing script. Saville shifts the police thriller genre away from the familiar and onto the fringe with a fascinating effect. Rather than following the killer or the investigating officers, Noise looks at the ramifications of the events on the everyday people. This perspective creates a far richer exploration of what it means to be a hero or a victim. Noise fuses art and genre as well as any film in recent memory to construct a humanistic portrait of a flawed man searching for a thread of hope.

Cast: Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas, Henry Nixon, Nicholas Bell

Writer / Director: Matthew Saville

Producer: Trevor Blainey

Executive Producer: Bryce Menzies

Sundance Film Festival (2007):

- Nominated, Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema - Dramatic (Matthew Saville)

Leeds International Film Festival (2007):

- Won, Special Mention (Matthew Saville)

Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards (2007):

- Best Film (Trevor Blainey)
- Best Director (Matthew Saville)
- Best Actor (Brendan Cowell)
- Best Cinematography (Laszlo Baranyai)
- Best Editing (Geoff Hitchins)
- Best Music Score (Bryony Marks)

Australian Film Institute Award Nominations (2007):

- L'Oreal Paris AFI Award for Best Film (Trevor Blainey)
- AFI Award for Best Direction (Matthew Saville)
- AFI Award for Best Lead Actor (Brendan Cowell)
- Macquarie Private Wealth AFI Award for Best Screenplay, original or adapted (Matthew Saville)
- AFI Award for Best Cinematography (Laszlo Baranyai)
- AFI Award for Best Editing (Geoff Hitchins)
- AFI Award for Best Sound (Emma Bortignon, Doron Kipen & Philippe Decrausaz)
- AFI Award for Best Original Music Score (Bryony Marks)
- AFI Award for Best Production Design (Paddy Reardon)

IF Awards (2007):

- Best Editing (Geoff Hitchins)
- Best Sound (Emma Bortignon, Doron Kipen, Phillipe Decrausaz)

Australian Film Critics Association Awards (2007):

- Best Australian Film

Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter:

"Kicks off with a wallop, then constantly confounds expectations by approaching its subject matter from fresh directions"

Mark Beirne, YourMovies.com.au:

"One of the year's best movies... suspenseful, beautifully directed and laced with humour"

Julie Rigg, ABC Radio National:

"Noise is about all our lives... gripping cinema. Welcome Matthew Saville, an original Australian talent."

View the NOISE trailer

Visit the official NOISE web site

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