A71’s Newest Release in Canada – JUDY AND PUNCH

VICE Studios

and

Screen Australia

present

In association with Film Victoria

and Create NSW

A Blue-Tongue Films and Pariah Production

Written and Directed by Mirrah Foulkes

Starring Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman

Produced by Michele Bennett, Nash Edgerton and Danny Gabai

Run Time: 105 Minutes

A71 Canada Release:

EST and VOD Release: June 5th

SYNOPSES

Short Synopsis

In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy’s superior puppeteering, but Punch’s driving ambition and penchant for whisky lead to an inevitable tragedy that Judy must avenge.

Long Synopsis
In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy’s superior puppeteering, but Punch’s driving ambition and penchant for whisky lead to an inevitable tragedy that Judy must avenge.

In a visceral and dynamic live-action reinterpretation of the famous 16th century puppet show, writer director MIRRAH FOULKES turns the traditional story of Punch and Judy on its head and brings to life a fierce, darkly comic and epic female-driven revenge story, starring MIA WASIKOWSKA and DAMON HERRIMAN.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

JUDY AND PUNCH is a dark, absurd fable treading a line between fairy-tale, fantasy and gritty realism, all of which work together to establish a unique tone while upsetting viewer expectations.

When Vice Studios’ Eddy Moretti and Danny Gabai approached me with the idea of making a live action, feminist revenge film about Punch and Judy, they encouraged me to let my imagination go wild and take the story wherever I felt it needed to go. It was a rare opportunity to write freely without a prescriptive sense of where the narrative might eventually lead. The great challenge lay in taking an iconic but loose and messy historical story based on stock characters, and giving it a muscular structure that worked as a feature film.

I was drawn to using this strange, misogynistic puppet show to explore our contemporary obsession with violence. In doing so, I wanted to reappropriate and revivify its meanings and resonances with our current climate.

My hope is that this epic female driven vengeance story incubates a wholly original and unique world, speaking volumes through its feminine inversion of the traditional hero’s journey. JUDY AND PUNCH is bat-shit-crazy and fun!

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