Australia / 2016 / 110 min / DCP / colour / Thriller
Director and writer : Ivan Sen
Cinematography : Ivan Sen
Editing : Ivan Sen
Music : Ivan Sen
Production : Greer Simpkin, David Jowsey
Cast : Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham, David Gulpilil, Tom E. Lewis
Sydney Festival 2016
Aboriginal detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on the trail of a missing person. He is immediately arrested for drunk driving by young local cop Josh. When Jay’s motel room is blasted with gunfire, it becomes clear that something larger is at play in the district. Jay and Josh struggle to overcome their mutual distrust to uncover the unpleasant truth. What seems like a simple light duties investigation opens into a web of crime and corruption in the establishment that controls the town, the local mine and the local Aboriginal land council. Jay must pull his life together and bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.
Ivan Sen
Throughout the late 1990s Sen worked on numerous short films, before making his feature film debut with Beneath Clouds in 2002. It won Sen global acclaim, winning a Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, Best Director at the 2002 Australian Film Institute Awards and screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Sen has subsequently written and directed a number of award winning documentaries. His documentary Yellow Fella screened in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. In 2009 Sen completed his experimental second feature Dreamland, shot on location in Nevada, USA. It screened in the Brisbane and Melbourne Film Festivals and premiered internationally in competition at the 2010 Busan Film Festival. Dreamland was screened first in 2009 and in a new version in 2010 at the Festival des Antipodes in Saint-Tropez. In 2011 Sen completed his third feature Toomelah, set in the regional community of Toomelah, where his Aboriginal roots and family come from. Toomelah was selected in Un Certain Regard at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Daniel Connors received a Mention at the Festival des Antipodes, Saint-Tropez 2011. In 2012 Ivan Sen was honoured with the prestigious Byron Kennedy Award at the Australian Film Industry Awards (AACTAS). In 2013 Sen completed his third feature Mystery Road that premiered with a special presentation at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival. Tasma Walton won Best Actress and Mystery Road a Mention at the Festival des Antipodes, Saint-Tropez 2013 and went on to win a number of awards including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film at the 2014 Australian Film Critics Awards. Completed in 2016, Goldstone is Ivan Sen’s fourth feature.