Canberra-made zombie flick Theatre of the Dead. Photo: Supplied
The zombie genre divides audiences, some love it, others would rather die.
A new independent film made by Canberrans suggests that one of the only things harder to survive than critics, for those working in the arts, might just be zombies.
Theatre of the Dead, premiering on Thursday at Canberra's Dendy cinema, is a film about actors who unwittingly survived a zombie apocalypse while locked in to rehearsals for a play.
Two years in the making, the Canberra Feature Film Coalition is proud to deliver something much more than your average zombie flick.
Producer Daniel Sanguineti said during the making of the film he felt at times like he had joined the living dead.
“I think everyone agreed that we had turned into zombies due to lack of sleep, he said.
“We shot every day for 17 days, sometimes more than we really should have. I think we had people sleeping in the theatre at times during the shoot. I know I was one.”
Mr Sanguineti said although the zombie genre was great fun for the cast and crew, director Pat Gallagher incorporated an examination of the theatre world in the work, influenced in style by legendary director George Romero.
“It was a film about a group of actors putting on a musical show, but there happens to be zombies there, Mr Sanguineti said.
“Pat has created a commentary of the theatre world in the film. He was inspired while working on stage.”
Tim Stiles, who is a lead with his character Jake, said he enjoyed being able to engage with a script that had emotional depth, not something he had associated with the zombie genre before.
“If you took the zombie aspect away from it, it would be a very real slice-of-life drama with many facets to it. That's where the real conflict is.”
Mr Stiles is not new to the stage and recently starred in the stage production of Hair with The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, a role that tested his resolve.
“There is the scene where everyone strips buck-naked on the stage," he said.
“The challenge of taking off all your clothes in front of 300 every night for three weeks was more scary than making a zombie film.”
The premiere screening will reunite a cast and crew that worked as volunteers on the project. Mr Sanguineti said independent films take a lot of work but deliver great rewards for those involved.
“Our goal with Theatre of the Dead was to see more filmmaking and that has been successful,” he said.
“The premiere is not an ending for me. We will be sending the film out to as many international film festivals as possible.”
Mr Sanguineti plans to film a zombie comedy film next year entitled Me and my mates vs the zombie apocalypse but said he is proud of this locally-made film.
“It's a Canberra film and that's special but it is really just good entertainment.”
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