LOVELAND
Australia / 2022 / 102min / DCP / Comedy drama

Director : Ivan Sen

Script : Ivan Sen
Cinematography, Editing : Ivan Sen
Music : Ivan Sen
Production : David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn, Greer Simpkin, Ivan Sen

Cast : Ryan Kwanten (Jack), Jillian Nguyen (April), Hugo Weaving (Dr Bergman), David Field (Sam)

A hardened assassin, Jack, meets a mysterious nightclub singer, April, and falls for her.  Jack finds there are dark forces swirling around April but as his obsession for April grows, his health suffers. Jack seeks medical assistance, which leads him to DR Bergman, an infamous scientist, who confides in Jack that he was responsible for the breeding of genetically enhanced children. Dr Bergman runs some tests and reveals Jack is one of these enhanced children, designed to be a clinical killer devoid of human emotion. As the dark forces tighten around them, they must face the ultimate choice of who they might become…

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 fifth feature. A sequel to Mystery Road, Goldstone was selected to Toronto International Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival. Loveland is Ivan Sen’s latest film.