Broke follows the story of a homeless gambling addict and ex-local hero rugby league football star Ben “BK” Kelly, as he attempts to turn his life around. BK is taken in by Cec, an old football fan, and his family. He robs them and hocks their possessions to a pawnbroker and crimelord. But Cec doesn’t press charges, and helps BK turn his life around, coaching a football team.
Writer and director Heath Davis said it was a character-driven film, made with handheld cameras. It was performance based, he said, and it came down to using actors he liked. BK is played by Steve Le Marquand and Cec by Max Cullen.
Mr Davis liked J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood and Sydney Lumet’s book on directing Making Movies.
Lumet directed Long Day’s Journey into Night and The Verdict, among other films in his 40 year career. The book is a memoir as well as a guide to the craft and business of making movies.
Cameron Cairnes and his brother Colin Cairnes made 100 Bloody Acres. Cameron liked Eye Marty, the autobiography of Marty Feldman, which he said was really good on the craft of writing.
100 Bloody Acres is about a group of young people going to a music festival in the bush. Their car breaks down and they get picked up by a fertilizer merchant and his older sinister brother. The enterprising but somewhat sadistic brothers decide to put the youngsters through a mincer for blood and bone fertiliser. During the making of 100 Bloody Acres, Wolf Creek came out, which had a similar premise. So the directors added ludicrous and farcical elements to 100 Bloody Acres to differentiate it from Wolf Creek.
They relied on film festivals which were important for film makers without big studio backing.
100 Bloody Acres was written in 2004-5 and was shot in 2012. From the script to producing the film took seven years. It involved a lot of travel between Beechworth and Melbourne. By the fourth week it was “a bit of a slog”, and they never had enough time. It’s important to be prepared, they said of film making. Suspensful sequences were mapped out on story boards. Funding was through Film Victoria.

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