TENDER HOOKS

Director Mary Callaghan / 1989 / Australia

Winning the Australian Writers Guild's award for best original film, this clear-headed, warm-hearted romance offers a vibrant, Dogs in Space-esque slice of 1980s inner-city Australian life.

After demonstrating her keen eye for young lives lived on the fringes in acclaimed short Greetings from Wollongong (MIFF 1982), writer/director Mary Callaghan unravelled a tale of persevering against the odds, finding love in unexpected places and weathering the ups and downs of a marginalised existence in what remains her only solo feature directorial effort.

When Mitch (Jo Kennedy) moves to Kings Cross, she knows that she's left the comfortable confines of suburbia far behind – and she's eager, if not completely prepared, for everything that follows, including a sudden but urgent connection with freewheeling, fresh-out-of-jail petty thief Rex (Nique Needles).

'A film of exceptional charm and assurance and an unfailing lightness of touch.' – The Australian

Back To Index