Somersault (film)

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Somersault
Somersault film poster
Directed by	Cate Shortland
Produced by	Anthony Anderson Jan Chapman
Written by	Cate Shortland
Starring	Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington Erik Thomson Anne Louise Lambert Leah Purcell
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures (USA)
Release date(s)	May 17, 2004
Running time	106 min
Country	Australia
Language	English
IMDb profile

Somersault is an Australian independent movie, written and directed by Cate Shortland and released in September 2004. The movie was selected for the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, and swept the field, winning every single feature film award - thirteen in total - at the 2004 Australian Film Institute Awards.

Exploring the themes of teenage sexuality and emotion, Somersault is about a sixteen-year-old girl called Heidi (played by Abbie Cornish) who runs away from home for a short time to the ski fields of Jindabyne in New South Wales. There she meets Joe (played by Sam Worthington), the son of a local farmer and she tries to form a relationship with him, despite his difficulty in expressing his emotions.

The soundtrack is written and performed by Australian band Decoder Ring.

[edit] Awards

In the 2004 AFI Awards held on October 29 at Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Somersault made history by winning a record 13 awards, out of its 15 nominations. The film picked up the following awards: Best Feature Film - producer, Anthony Anderson; Best Direction - Cate Shortland; Best Original Screenplay - Cate Shortland; Best Actress in a Leading Role - Abbie Cornish; Best Actor in a Leading Role - Sam Worthington; Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Lynette Curran; Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Erik Thomson; Best Editing - Scott Gray; Best Cinematography - Robert Humphreys A.C.S.; Best Sound - Mark Blackwell, Peter Smith and Sam Petty; Best Original Music Score - Decoder Ring; Best Production Design - Melinda Doring; Best Costume Design - Emily Seresin.

While the film was praised by critics, some have suggested that its sweep at the AFI Awards is an indicative of a slump in the Australian film industry.

Somersault was also a big winner at the 2004 Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) Annual Awards where it picked up five awards: Best Film; Best Director (Cate Shortland); Best Actress (Abbie Cornish); Best Cinematography (Robert Humphreys); Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lynette Curran).

The film also dominated the publicly voted Lexus IF Awards, taking out six of its eight nominations. It won awards in the following categories: Best Director (Cate Shortland), Best Music, Best Cinematography, Best Script, Best Feature Film and Best Actress for Abbie Cornish.