A Lion Returns

2020 Australian film
  • Tyler De Nawi
  • Danny Elacci
  • Jacqui Purvis
  • Taffy Hany
  • Buddy Dannoun
  • Helen Chebatte
  • Maha Wilson
CinematographySimon KoloadinEdited bySerhat Caradee
Sabin Gnawali
Devyn HeusmannMusic byMatt Rudduck
Production
company
Bonafide Pictures
Distributed byBonsai Films
Release dates
22 April 2020 (Gold Coast Film Festival)
5 November 2020 (Australia)
Running time
92 minutesCountryAustraliaLanguagesEnglish
Arabic

A Lion Returns is a 2020 Australian drama film directed by Serhat Caradee, starring Tyler De Nawi, Danny Elacci, Jacqui Purvis, Taffy Hany, Buddy Dannoun, Helen Chebatte and Maha Wilson.

Cast

  • Tyler De Nawi as Jamal Alamein
  • Danny Elacci as Omar Alamein
  • Jacqui Purvis as Heidi Alamein
  • Taffy Hany as Yusef Alamein
  • Buddy Dannoun as Yahya Alamein
  • Helen Chebatte as Manal Alamein
  • Maha Wilson as Maya Alamein
  • Maddox Elachi as Khalil Alamein
  • Mohammad Mick Farroukh as Hesham
  • Oliver Trajkovski as Mahmood
  • Serhat Caradee as Ahmed
  • Frances Duca as Auntie Fadia

Release

The film premiered at the Gold Coast Film Festival on 22 April 2020. The film opened in theatres in Australia on 5 November.[1]

Reception

Erin Free of FilmInk called the film a "volatile, extraordinarily well-crafted treatise on the dangers of extremism, and how the bonds with the ones that you love can bring it undone", a "mini-miracle of local filmmaking" and an "excellent piece of cinema outside of its incredible production history." Free also praised the performances, calling them "uniformly excellent", and wrote that Caradee "displays a resolute command of his material from beginning to end".[2]

Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that while the script is "probably too verbose" and largely "predictable", the film's story is "told with such conviction" and the actors "pack" their dialogue with "such a charge that there’s a wealth of family history in every word."[3]

Awards and nominations

A Lion Returns was nominated for the 2020 AACTA Award for Best Indie Film in the 10th AACTA Awards.[4]

References

  1. ^ Duffield, Simon (14 October 2020). "A LION RETURNS". FilmInk. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  2. ^ Free, Erin. "A Lion Returns". FilmInk. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  3. ^ Hall, Sandra (4 November 2020). "When an IS soldier returns to Sydney's western suburbs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Winners & Nominees". AACTA. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

External links

  • A Lion Returns at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • A Lion Returns at Rotten Tomatoes Edit this at Wikidata