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All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane

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All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane is a 2007 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Louise Alston and written by Stephen Vagg. It follows Anthea, a 25-year-old girl who hates her job and has to sit back and watch as all her friends move away from her hometown, Brisbane, to make a better life. In 2013, The Guardian referred to it as a "cult film" inspired by "a typically Brisbane lament... the departure of people in their late 20s to Sydney, Melbourne, London or New York."[1]

All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane
Official Production Poster
Directed byLouise Alston
Written byStephen Vagg
Based onplay by Stephen Vagg
Produced byLouise Alston
Jade van der Lei
StarringCharlotte Gregg
Matt Zeremes
Cindy Nelson
Ryan Johnson
Romany Lee
Gyton Grantley
Sarah Kennedy
CinematographyJudd Overton
Edited byNicola Scarrott
Music byCaitlin Yeo
Distributed byAccent Film
Release date
  • October 2007 (2007-10) (AUS)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$42,000

Plot

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Anthea (Charlotte Gregg) is undergoing a crisis of confidence: overworked, no boyfriend, and now all her friends are leaving Brisbane. She is tempted to leave herself, but is opposed by her longtime best platonic male friend Michael (Matt Zeremes).

Michael thinks people who leave Brisbane are copycats who follow the crowd; he is quite happy to stay in Brisbane, he is in a stable job and a stable very low-maintenance "sex-with-the-ex" relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie (Sarah Kennedy). In short, he is in a rut.

Anthea's temptation to leave Brisbane increases with the impending departure of her flatmate Kath (Cindy Nelson). However, she then hears that her ex-boyfriend Jake (Gyton Grantley) is coming back to Brisbane to live. To Michael's annoyance, she dreams of a great future with him.

Michael is then thrown out of his comfort zone by starting a new relationship with a girl he meets at work; Simone (Romany Lee). Slightly "alternative" and good natured, Simone is totally different from the sorts of girls he normally deals with, and he finds himself in a relationship over which he does not have total control.

On her last day in Australia, Anthea and Michael finally resolve their feelings for each other.

Cast

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Production

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Originally, All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane was a stage performance at the University of Queensland's Cement Box Theatre, where director Louise Alston first saw it. She could see that the story would make an ideal feature film and worked with writer Stephen Vagg on developing a script.

Producer Jade van der Lei then became interested in the film and was able to raise a budget of A$42,000. The film was shot in the middle of a Queensland summer, January 2006, over a three-week period. Afterward, The filmmakers successfully applied for post-production funding from the Australian Film Commission, which enabled additional shooting. The film completed post-production in early 2007 and made its world debut at the 2007 Brisbane International Film Festival.[2]

The film was shot on location in the Brisbane suburbs of New Farm, Paddington, Kangaroo Point, Brookfield, and Toowong.[3] It features Brisbane landmarks the Story Bridge and the Royal Exchange Hotel, and refers to Brisbane artists such as Powderfinger, Nick Earls, and John Birmingham. The soundtrack includes a cover version of "Streets of Your Town" from Brisbane band The Go-Betweens by Brisbane singer Dave McCormack.[4]

Release

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All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane was released on 27 May 2008 in Australia through Accent Film.[5]

Box office

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All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane took $42,524 at the box office in Australia.[6]

Adaptation

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Stephen Vagg wrote an adaptation of the original play which relocated the action to Adelaide. Retitled All My Friends Are Leaving Adelaide, it premiered at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe.[7]

Awards

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All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane was part of the Official Selection at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2007. The film received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2008 AFI Awards.[8]

Connection to Jucy

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Many of the cast and crew were used by Louise Alston on her next feature film, Jucy (2011), including actors Cindy Nelson, Francesca Gasteen, Ryan Johnson, and Charlotte Gregg.

Sequel

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Vagg wrote a sequel for the stage All My Friends Are Returning to Brisbane which was given a public reading in 2022 and had its world premiere in 2023.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Luke Royes, "Are all my friends leaving Brisbane?", The Guardian 13 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013
  2. ^ Milfull, Tim. "Cinema Interview: All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane". M/C Reviews. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2010. Interview with Louise Alston.
  3. ^ "All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane - press kit" (PDF). allmyfriendsmovie.com. Bunker Productions. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  4. ^ "All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane Movie :: Bunker Productions". allmyfriendsmovie.com. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  5. ^ "All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane". Accent Film. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  6. ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ 'All My Friends Are Leaving Adelaide', Adelaide Theatre Guide
  8. ^ 2008 AFI Award Nominees Archived 14 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "All My Friends Were Leaving Brisbane; Now They Are Returning". Filmink. 20 October 2023.
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