Saturday, May 13, 4:30 PM, Charles Theatre 4

Director: Sarah Watt

Cast: Justine Clarke, William McInnes, Anthony Hayes, Lisa Flanagan, Andrew S. Gilbert, Daniela Farinacci

Country: Australia
Year: 2005
Running Time: 100:00 minutes
Format: 35mm

The winner of four Australian Film Institute Awards (the “Australian Oscars”) including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, Look Both Ways is the story of the criss-crossing lives of a group of individuals who are linked through a tragic accident one summer weekend in Melbourne. Meryl is an anxious young woman who sees disaster everywhere. When she witnesses an accident she is introduced to Nick, a newspaper photographer who is covering the incident and has recently received his own bad news. They find a common bond in their anxiety and comfort in each other. Their extended friends and acquaintances are also impacted as in the light of recent events, they re-examine their lives and realize that they have come to a critical turning point.

Sarah Watt’s film is something of a melancholy romantic comedy as its title phrase of “look both ways” is both a standard warning of caution but also an instruction to look at life from multiple angles. Her screenplay is full of quirky characters brought to life by great performances and marked with animated and musical interludes that bring us deeper into the characters’ hearts and minds. And while its core is based on a somewhat gloomy premise it manages to look at it with an offbeat, humorous tone.

-- Dan Krovich

Presented By: Mike Schmidt

Mike Schmidt was raised among the rolling hills of southeastern Iowa in the small town of Atlantic (pop. 7,257). He attended the University of Iowa, where he graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in both Communication Studies and Theatre Arts. In 2001, Schmidt took a position at film distributor Kino International, where he is now Assistant Director of Theatrical Sales.