Get your fix of Aussie cannibals in the R2 DVD of VAN DIEMEN'S LAND

A dark and grimy debut feature from Jonathan auf der Heide, Van Diemen's Land certainly has its fans, winning the New Visions Award at the 2009 Sitges International Film Festival and the Best International Feature Award at the 2009 Lund International Fantastic Film Festival (Sweden). It's a harsh and foreboding movie, that takes its time, and offers a more realist portrayal of notorious convict Alexander Pearce, as he escapes into the wilderness now known as Tasmania.

"A point of no return for convicts banished from their homeland for repeated crimes, Van Diemen's Land was a feared and dreaded penal settlement situated in the most remote and unexplored region of the British Empire. The entrance to its station of secondary punishment, Macquarie Harbour, was named 'Hell's Gates' by its prisoners, with the legend "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" posted on a sign at the harbour's mouth as a warning to all the souls sent there.

 In 1822, eight convicts escaped Macquarie Harbour in a fateful bid for freedom. Led by ex-sailor and experienced navigator Robert Greenhill, this band of Irish, English and Scottish thieves was immediately hurled into chaos as their plans to escape the island by boat failed and they were thrust into the heart of a harsh and unforgiving terrain. With little in the way of food or equipment, the men struggled to survive in the barren land. As their limited supplies began to run out, exhaustion and hunger combined to drive the men to madness, leading them to contemplate the unthinkable."

Van Diemen's Land is out on UK DVD from 24th May 2010 through High Fliers.