Australian Feature Film "Dying Breed" to Premiere at Tribeca

Media Release
Tuesday 18 March 2008

Sydney - New Australian movieDying Breed is on the verge of a major international breakthrough - securing its world premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

Produced by Ambience Entertainment, the horror/thriller Dying Breed will play in the popular Midnight Section of the festival which is seen as a "chance to catch new talent working in a variety of genres" said David Kwok, Tribeca's Director of Programming.

Dying Breed stars Australians Leigh Whannell (co-creator/writer and actorSaw 1, producer, co-writerSaw 2 &3) Nathan Phillips (Snakes on a Plane, Wolf Creek) and was filmed on location in the isolated and rugged bushland of northern Tasmania, Australia, in August and September 2007.

Dying Breed - directed by Jody Dwyer - interweaves two icons of Tasmania's history: cannibal Alexander Pearce and the Tasmanian Tiger into a modern day horror/thriller. The film is inspired by the legend of Irish convict Alexander Pearce - (aka "The Pieman") who broke out of prison, ventured out into the Tasmanian wilderness and ate his fellow escapees. When he was caught, he had both human and pork flesh in his pockets and was subsequently hung for cannibalism in 1824. The story starts when a group of four sets out on a quest to prove the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) still lives in the Tasmanian forests. The group becomes prey when they wander into the domain of the living decedents of the 'Pieman', who retain their ancestors taste for human flesh.

"There were over 2,300 feature film submissions put forward this year and only 122 feature films being presented so being accepted into Tribeca, is a great coup forDying Breed and it's a fantastic opportunity to showcase an Australian film in an internationally-renown festival," saidDying Breed producer Michael Boughen.

Dying Breed will be distributed by HOYTS locally in the second half of 2008.

The Tribeca Film Festival - which was co-founded by Robert De Niro - will run from April 23 until May 4, 2008 in Lower Manhattan.