COMING TO AUSTRALIAN CINEMAS 12 MAY
Introverted Leo is a metalworker at his small town’s local plant. After his wife vanishes, leaving him to care for their two young children, he is bereft – barely able to cook a decent meal or keep the household running. So when a recently-arrived Italian colleague suggests that his sister, Maria, act as surrogate homemaker, Leo reluctantly accepts. But can one woman’s warm, nurturing presence fill the void left by another, and can Leo yield to the winds of change? The film distils the many upheavals of 1970s Australia – from immigration and post-war resettlement, to urbanisation, anti–Vietnam War protests and the women’s liberation movement – into a narrative about one man’s struggle to adapt. LITTLE TORNADOES is a portrait of a country at a turning point and the human desire for connection.
THIS IS A SPECIAL Q&A SCREENING WITH THE WRITER & DIRECTOR
Aaron Wilson – Director/Writer/Producer
Aaron was born in rural Australia and has lived and worked in and around his neighbouring South-East Asian region. He works as a director and writer across film, VR, multi-platform and installation. He is drawn to narratives that explore human vulnerability, and connection between peoples across neighbouring country and cultural divides.
In 2006, he was selected to take part in a filmmaker residency program with The Objectifs Centre for Filmmaking and Photography in Singapore where he developed the script for his debut feature, CANOPY (TIFF 2013). LITTLE TORNADOES is his second feature.
Christos Tsiolkas is one of Australia’s preeminent novellists. LOADED,
was made into the feature film HEAD ON, and DEAD EUROPE won the
2006 Age Fiction Prize and 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. He
won Overall Best Book in the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009, was
shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, longlisted for the
2010 Man Booker Prize and won the Australian Literary Society Gold
Medal for his novel, THE SLAP (adapted for TV in 2011). MERCILESS
GODS was adapted for the stage in 2019. His recent novels include
BARRACUDA (adapted for TV in 2017) and DAMASCUS (released in
2019). Christos is also a playwright, essayist and screenwriter.
