Bran Nue Dae is a 2009 Australian musical comedy-drama film directed by Rachel Perkins and written by Perkins and Reg Cribb. A feature film adaptation of the 1990 stage musical Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi, the film tells the story of the coming of age of an Aboriginal Australian teenager on a road trip in the late 1960s.

Plot

In Broome in 1969, Willie Johnson (Rocky McKenzie) is having trouble wooing his girl Rosie (Jessica Mauboy), who ends up with a bandleader named Lester (Dan Sultan). His mother Theresa (Ningali Lawford) sends him back to boarding school in Perth to continue his education for the priesthood. One night, he and several others steal food from the college kitchen but are caught. Willie admits to being the thief, but runs away before he can be punished. He spends the night on the streets of Perth before meeting up with Uncle Tadpole (Ernie Dingo), who offers to help him get home. They go to Fremantle where Tadpole allows himself to be run over by a Kombi van, hoping that the two hippies inside will help him. Not realising how far it will be to Broome, the hippies, Slippery the German (Tom Budge) and Annie (Missy Higgins), his girlfriend, agree to drive them.

Father Benedictus (Geoffrey Rush), head of the college, has seen Willie s potential and determines to locate him; through Tadpole s homeless friends, he learns that Willie is heading to Broome. The travellers drive north, stopping at a roadhouse where Willie meets the tarty Roadhouse Betty (Magda Szubanski). Tadpole steals some food, a bottle of wine, and an audio tape, nearly causing them to get shot by Betty, but they manage to escape. Slippery becomes disillusioned, and leaves Willie and Tadpole behind in the middle of nowhere; Tadpole curses the hippies by pointing a bone, and the van promptly breaks down.

Willie then gets a ride with a passing truck carrying the members of a football team. They end up in Port Hedland where he meets flirty Roxanne (Deborah Mailman), who takes him to the condom tree and offers to show him a good time , but her boyfriend turns up and a fight ensues. Willie is rescued by Tadpole, who says that all young men end up there at some point. The next morning, they are driving along a desert road when a hung-over Roxanne emerges from the back seat, startling everyone. While smoking some pot, they are discovered by police and arrested, despite Annie s attempts at stopping the police from arresting them. At the police station, Slippery reveals that his real name is Wolfgang Benedictus. The police then put them in a jail cell for a night.

They are released next morning, and drive on to Broome, where they go to the bar where Rosie is performing. Willie tries to win her back, but ends up in a fight with Lester, only to be disrupted by a church temperance march, which invites everyone to the beach to testify. Willie tells Rosie he loves her, and they kiss. At the beach, Willie s mother reveals that she had a son to another man, who turns out to be Father Benedictus. Wolfgang is their son. Tadpole is spotted by Willie s mother, and she tells Willie that he is Tadpole s son.

Cast

• Rocky McKenzie as William Willie Johnson, the film s protagonist; a rebellious teenage boy who escapes the Catholic Mission in Perth to return to his home in Broome.
• Jessica Mauboy as Rosie, an aspiring singer and the love of Willie s life. Mauboy, who was runner-up in the fourth season of Australian Idol, makes her acting debut.
• Ernie Dingo as Stephen Uncle Tadpole Johnson, a drunk who accompanies Willie on his adventure. Dingo played the role of Tadpole in the original production of the stage play Bran Nue Dae in 1989.
• Missy Higgins as Annie, Slippery s spiritual girlfriend who is travelling with him to Perth. This is Higgins acting debut.
• Geoffrey Rush as Father Benedictus, the film s antagonist; as a strict German priest who runs the Catholic Mission in Perth training young men to become priests, he pursues Willie who ran away from the school. The role was offered to Rush by director Perkins.
• Tom Budge as Slippery, a German hippie tourist travelling with his girlfriend Annie in a Kombi van.
• Deborah Mailman as Roxanne.
• Ningali Lawford as Theresa, Willie s mother. Ningali is one of the cast members from the original 1989 stage production of Bran Nue Dae.
• Stephen Baamba Albert as Pastor Flaggon. Stephen is also one of the cast members from the original 1989 stage production of Bran Nue Dae.
• Dan Sultan as Lester, the local band leader who finds himself in love with Rosie.
• Magda Szubanski as Roadhouse Betty, the frisky owner of a Roadhouse.

Release

Bran Nue Dae premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on its closing night on 8 August 2009. The film made its international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival at the Scotiabank Theatre on 12 September 2009. It was also among the lineup of out-of-competition films to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, and screened at the Antipodean Film Festival in Saint Tropez, France, in October 2010.

The film made its official theatrical premiere at the Sun Pictures theatre in Broome, Western Australia on 8 December 2009, where the stars of the film walked a red dirt carpet. In the lead up to the premiere on the day, stars of the film Mauboy, Sultan, Higgins, and Dingo put on a public performance with the Kuckles band in Broome s Chinatown.

Box office

The film was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010 and had an opening weekend rank of No. 6, averaging $6,977 at 231 screens for a gross of $1.6 million, $3.7 million in its first two weeks and eventually grossing more than $7.5 million. The film … has since become one of the Top 50 Australian films of all time at the local box office.

Critical reception

The film received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 56% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 61 reviews with an average score of 5.9/10. The website s critical consensus is: It s original and high-spirited, but Bran Nue Dae is also uneven and sometimes overly kitschy. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews .

Dennis Harvey of Variety said It retains that dated once-almost-hip look – like Up with People , but it contained blandly stereotypical characters in a trite road-trip narrative and in regards to younger audiences, claimed There s scant real dancing, mostly forgettable, showtune-type songs and no ethnic authenticity. Craig Mathieson of SBS Films commented that Bran Nue Dae has a daffy, garish energy that s reflected in brisk pacing and up-tempo tunes . On director Perkins, he stated Visually, Perkins is not a natural fit for this material , comparing it to her 1998 feature Radiance, but here she enthusiastically takes to the moments of farce and productions numbers. Mathieson added that the frames feel cluttered, with an occasional echo of the amped-up musical melodrama but concluded approvingly that Bran Nue Dae was similar to the 1982 Australian musical film Starstruck in that it carries the day with energy and self-belief. The Age s Philippa Hawker praised the cast, stating Dingo was terrific as Uncle Tadpole , for Rush who brings an idiosyncratic physical energy and an extravagant German accent to the role and newcomer Jessica Mauboy brought sweetness and confidence to the role of Rosie .

Accolades

The following is a list of awards that Bran Nue Dae or the cast have been nominated for or won:

• Melbourne International Film Festival awardsAudience award for Best Feature
• Audience award for Best Feature

• 2009 Toronto International Film FestivalPeople s Choice Award
• People s Choice Award

Award	Category	Subject	Result
AACTA Awards (2010 AFI Awards)	Best Supporting Actress	Deborah Mailman	Won
	Best Original Music Score	Cezary Skubiszewski Jimmy Chi Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat Garry Gower Michael Manolis Mavromatis Stephen Pigram	Nominated
	Best Sound	Andrew Neil Steve Burgess Peter Mills Mario Vaccaro Blair Slater David Bridie Scott Montgomery	Nominated
	Best Costume Design	Margot Wilson	Nominated
	Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay	Reg Cribb Rachel Perkins Jimmy Chi	Nominated
FCCA Awards	Best Music Score	Cezary Skubiszewski	Won
	Best Supporting Actress	Deborah Mailman	Nominated
	Best Director	Rachel Perkins	Nominated
	Best Film	Robyn Kershaw Graeme Isaac	Nominated

Soundtrack

Bran Nue Dae-Official Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	15 January 2010
Genre	Rhythm & Blues Pop Rock and Roll
Length	58:25
Label	Sony Music Australia
Producer	David Bridie Cezary Skubiszewski

The official soundtrack was released on 15 January 2010. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 the soundtrack was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album.

All tracks are written by Jimmy Chi and Kuckles.

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	Bran Nue Dae	Dan Sultan	2:06
2.	All The Way Jesus	Jessica Mauboy	2:34
3.	Seeds That You Might Sow	Dan Sultan	2:19
4.	Feel Like Going Back Home	Ernie Dingo & Missy Higgins	2:19
5.	Light a Light	Jessica Mauboy & Brendon Boney	2:46
6.	Nothing I Would Rather Be	Bran Nue Dae Cast	1:55
7.	Nyul Nyul Girl	Dan Sultan	2:42
8.	Broome Love Theme	Bran Nue Dae Gypsy Orchestra	2:06
9.	Long Way Away from My Country	Ernie Dingo	2:34
10.	Is You Mah Baby	Ernie Dingo	2:37
11.	Six White Boomers	Rolf Harris	3:22
12.	Zorba s Dance	David Bridie	2:12
13.	Afterglow	Missy Higgins	3:13
14.	Listen to the News	Ernie Dingo	4:43
15.	Black Girl	Dan Sultan	4:10
16.	Stand by Your Man	Jessica Mauboy	2:56
17.	Nothing I Would Rather Be	Brendon Boney and Geoffrey Rush	1:52
18.	Road Movie Medley	Bran Nue Dae Gypsy Orchestra	1:54
19.	Child of Glory	Bob Faggetter	1:58
20.	Going Back Home	Stephen Pigram	3:42
21.	Bran Nue Dae (Millya Rumarra Recording)	Jimmy Chi	4:25

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	29

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2010-01-14
RuntimeMins	85
RuntimeStr	1h 25min
Plot	An Aboriginal student on the west coast of Australia in the late ’60s runs away from a Catholic boarding school with his cruel headmaster in hot pursuit, meeting eccentric characters along the journey back to his home town.
Awards	Awards, 3 wins & 17 nominations
Directors	Rachel Perkins
Writers	Jimmy Chi, Kuckles, Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat
Stars	Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Ernie Dingo
Produced by	Glennie Allan,Catherine Bishop,Andrea Distefano,Graeme Isaac,Robyn Kershaw,Taryne Laffar,Christopher Mapp,Matthew Street,David Whealy,Irma Woods,Mark Woods
Music by	Cezary Skubiszewski
Cinematography by	Andrew Lesnie
Film Editing by	Rochelle Oshlack
Production Design by	Felicity Abbott
Art Direction by	Sophie Nash
Set Decoration by	Tania Einberg
Costume Design by	Margot Wilson
Makeup Department	Mandy Cahill,Kartika Christophers,Tina Coate,K.T. Crocker,Tisa Crocker,Alba Iommazzo,Paula Marzo,Pauline McLaughlin,Danni Miller,Annette Scaffidi,Tahnya Stevenson,Romy Van Den Burg,Heather Wyles
Production Management	Kim Bostock,Julie Sims,Marc van Buuren,Chris Veerhuis
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Drew Bailey,Claire Blake,Breeze Callahan,Emma Goodland,Genevieve Grieves,Luke Hardman,Richard McGrath,Stuart Morrice,Toby Pease,Adrian Wills
Art Department	Jeanne Browne,Sophie Burkett,Craze Collective,Christopher Fin Douglas,Sue Elphinstone,Tania Ferrier,Chris Hill,Terrance Jack,Peter Kodicek,Ken Lau,Peter Malatesta,Michael Mulholland,Cameron Stanton,Eloise Stuart,Malcom Ward,Glen Webster
Sound Department	Steve Burgess,Helen Field,Louis Isaac,Peter Mills,Scott Montgomery,Andy Neil,Ralph Ortner,Liesl Pieterse,Blair Slater,Michael Thompson,Ian Thomson,Lee Ucich,Mario Vaccaro
Special Effects by	Jabin Dickins
Visual Effects by	Chris Betteridge,Chris Bonzon,Paul Cross,Franco Diciero,Dominic Hellier,Tom Keneally,Jarett Lee,Kevin Lynch,Ineke Majoor,Glenn Melenhorst,Ross Mitchell,Kate Moon,Michael Nix,Matt Omond,Simon Rosenthal,Josh Simmonds,Georgia Smith,Sarah Sparnenn,Nicholas Tripodi,Jason Turpin,Peter Webb,Kaspar Zwirner,Chris Dwyer,Matthew Pascuzzi
Stunts	Rob Greenough,Michael Smith,Peter West
Camera and Electrical Department	Tim Alewood,John Batt,Steve Binns,Paul Booth,Gavin Cole,Inaki De Ubago,Colin Deane,Michael Filippidis,Grant Fletcher,Ave Gassman,Nigel Gaunt,Timothy Goodacre,Steve Gray,Warren Grieef,Simon Harding,Gavin Head,Arnheim Hunter,Campbell Hynam-Smith,Lee Jankowski,Psembi Kinstan,Douglas Kirkland,Fran Lanigan,Clint Lawrence,Christian Luxton,Terrance McCoy,Mark McCumber,Michael McDermott,Devina McPherson,Andrew Merrifield,Chris Eon Mitskinis,Dan Mitton,Matt Nettheim,Melissa Ozich,David Dare Parker,Eugene Perepletchikov,Michael Rich,Corey Smith,Gregory Stirling,Ingetje Tardos,Fabian Ulrich,Damian Watkiss,Mark White,Grant Wilson,Matthew Wolters
Casting Department	Jub Clerc,Robyn Kershaw,Taryne Laffar,Mikka Poelina,Rebbecca Sariago,Mandela Yu
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Lyn Askew,Julie Bryant,Mary Lou Da Roza,Kate Goodsuell,Renee Kristensen,Helen Mather,Lauren Trivett,Lauren Widdicombe
Editorial Department	Ian Anderson,Christine Cheung,Karen Gall,Ian Letcher,Jane Maguire,Jeff Parker,Andrew Soo,Kimberley West
Location Management	Tim Burns,Neil McKenzie,Mike Montague,Nicole Ostini
Music Department	David Abuiso,Dean Addison,The Ashton Smith Singers of Australia,David Ashton-Smith,Aaron Barnden,Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat,The Bran Nue Dae Gypsy Orchestra,David Bridie,Paul Cartwright,Tim Cole,Lea Cullens,Dave Foley,Ken Gardner,Matthew Habben,Ross Hannaford,Adam Hutterer,Robert John,Andrea Keeble,Xani Kolak,Attila Kuti,Michael Manolis Mavromatis,Manny Mavromatis,Daryl McKenzie,Francesca Mountfort,Helen Mountfort,Susie Ng,Greg Patten,Alan Pigram,Stephen Pigram,Adam Rhodes,Anthony Short,Cezary Skubiszewski,Jan Skubiszewski,Dan Sultan,Erkki Veltheim,Phil Wales,Sharni Williams
Script and Continuity Department	Louise Gough,Chris O Connell
Transportation Department	Justin Griffiths,Daniel Prockter
Additional Crew	Alice Ansara,Cath Banks,Maureen Barron,Sermsah Suri Bin Saad,Alison Bird,Dianne Brown,Anni Browning,Victoria Buchan,Kartika Christophers,Linda Coates,Catherine Connor,Nicholas Copping,Michael Corpus,Biatta Czerkies,Poppy Dowle,Jimmy Edgar,Tracey Evans,Danielle Fernandes,Tony Gibbs,Peter D. Graves,Rob Greenough,Jo Hillaert,Brian James,Anson Jan,Sheila Jayadev,Liz Kearney,Bob Looker,Craig Mathieson,Anna McDonnell,Neil McKenzie,Bill Miller,Chris Mitchell,Sue O Neill,Stephen Page,Lockie Patterson,Aleks Radovic,Christine Robson,Ronnie Roe,Kari Scruby,Narelle Simpson,Jeff Skinner,Kat Slowik,Nina Stevenson,Budda Tangwei,Will Thomas,Shama Vanvaria,Deborah Vincent,Kelly Vincent,Peter West,Kiran Wilson,Lesley Beglan-Pagotto,Rick Pagotto,Robert Trew
Thanks	Harry Bardwell,Manisha Goyal,Scott Meek,Marion Pilowsky
Genres	Comedy, Drama, Musical
Companies	Robyn Kershaw Productions, Mayfan, Film Victoria
Countries	Australia
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6.2
ImDbRatingVotes	1927
MetacriticRating	54
Keywords	hair,gasoline station,german,jealousy,movie theater