The Furnace

Name: The Furnace
Genre: Western, Drama
Released: 2020
Duration: 116 min

Director: Roderick MacKay

Rights:

Highlights

Landed its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival
As part of its tour across the Arab world, the film was successfully released in Egypt, UAE, and KSA
Received production support from a number of institutes, including Screen Australia, in association with ScreenWest, LotteryWest, and the Western Australian Regional Film Fund
Written and directed by the renowned Roderick MacKay
Stars Ahmed Malek along with some well-known Australian actors

2020/ Australia116 min/ Western, Drama

Available on:

SYNOPSIS

1897 Western Australia. To escape a harsh existence and return home, a young Afghan cameleer partners with a mysterious bushman on the run with two 400oz Crown-marked gold bars. Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace - the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.

CAST

Ahmed Malek
David Wenham
Jay Ryan

CREW

Screenwriter: Roderick MacKay
DOP: Mick McDermott
Editor: Merlin Eden

Production Company(ies)

Southern Light Films

Producer(s)

Timothy White

Venice International Film Festival, Italy

El Gouna Film Festival, Egypt

Australian Screen Industry Network Awards, Australia

Australian Writers' Guild

Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards

Australian Screen Sound Guild

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Best Editor at Australian Screen Industry Network Awards, Australia

SA & WA Gold Award at The Australian Cinematographers Society

Reviews

Jay Weissberg – Variety

Nikki Baughan – Screen Daily

Xan Brooks – The Guardian

David Rooney — The Hollywood Reporter

Eric Kohn — Indiewire

Jane Freebury — Canberratimes

Quotes

"An enjoyably absorbing experience"
Jay Weissberg — Variety

"Brutish western is tough as old leather and good as gold"
Xan Brooks — The Guardian

"The strength of MacKay's film is in its meticulously researched depiction of the mix of cultures and religions which helped to shape Western Australia during this time of unfettered expansion."
Nikki Baughan — Screen Daily

"The Furnace is a handsomely mounted film of an ambitious scale for a first feature, and there's much to admire in its measured approach, echoed in the brooding strings of Mark Bradshaw's score."
David Rooney — The Hollywood Reporter

"The Furnace marks the latest compelling entry to this emerging subgenre, and while writer-director Roderick MacKay's first feature hews to plenty of formulaic twists, it brings new faces to the traditional Outback survival tale, giving it fresh urgency in the process."
Eric Kohn — Indiewire

"The Furnace is an impressive, engrossing, and compelling tale. An ambitious undertaking, yes, with many players and conflicting angles."
Jane Freebury — Canberratimes