Melbourne 2017: MIFF 66 Opens With World Premiere of Daniel Radcliffe Lost In The JUNGLE
UPDATED: Watch the first trailer for Jungle below.
The world premiere gala screening of Greg McLean’s (Wolf Creek) new film Jungle starring Daniel Radcliffe will open the 66th Melbourne International Film Festival.
Artistic Director Michelle Carey had this to say about the film; “Greg McLean’s Jungle is bold, hugely entertaining and a thrilling ride... an impressive showcase of Australian and international talent behind and in front of the camera.”
Of course, picking this film to kick-off the fest makes sense as McLean hails from Melbourne, and his new genre piece is one of the bigger budget features to open MIFF, following a few years of smaller, independent and for some reason time-travel centric efforts (Predestination, The Life and Death of Otto Bloom).
Jungle is "an amazing story of survival and the power of the human spirit" according to McLean, "and launching it in Melbourne is an honour and I truly can't wait to share this film with audiences.” From the bestselling novel of the real-life story of adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg, the film is set in the early 1980s, 22-year-old Israeli backpacker Yossi Ghinsberg (Radcliffe) and two friends – Swiss teacher Marcus Stamm and American photographer Kevin Gale – set off from the Bolivian city of La Paz on what was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime, but their dream trip soon turned into a wilderness nightmare.
McLean whose most recent feature The Belko Experiment (our glowing review here) contains his trademark track record of the gory genre, moves to take on an altogether different kind of fear in Jungle – all the more potent for being true.
The Opening Night Gala this year will be held at the magnificent Regent Theatre and Plaza Ballroom.
Tickets for MIFF Opening Night Gala are now on sale via miff.com.au/openingnight2017.
The 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival runs 3 – 20 August The full program will be launched 11 July 2017 General public individual session tickets on sale 14 July 2017. Stick to Screen Anarchy for more on MIFF as it develops.
