THERE'S A HIPPOPOTAMUS ON OUR ROOF EATING CAKE

Six Upcoming Screenings at ACMI and Sydney Opera House

After international acclaim at the Edinburgh, Tacoma and Austin Film festivals, the live-action short film There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake is finally returning to Australia for a limited season in June/July.

First premiering to record attendance at the Astor Theatre as part of the 2011 St Kilda Film Festival, the 15min short will bring six Australian screenings to ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and the Sydney Opera House, as part of Little Big Shorts 2012.

Custom Built Hippopotamus & Renowned Australian Cast

The film features an endearing animatronic hippopotamus designed and constructed by The Creature Technology Company, creators of worldwide arena spectacular Walking With Dinosaurs.

Film entirely in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, the adaptation stars young talent Portia Bradley (My Year Without Sex), Angus Sampson (Where The Wild Things Are), Bridie Carter (McLeod's Daughters), Terry Camilleri (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), and Rob Alec (Eraser Children).

What came to fruition is a reflective, beguiling take on the original story; celebrating all children's right to grow up at their own pace.

Special Q&A at Sydney Opera House

Director Jaime Snyder and Producer Joel Sharpe will also hold a private educational Q&A at the Sydney Opera House, to disucss the process of lifting a hippopotamus out of a picture book and dropping him on a real life roof.  This is a follow up to several talks given by the filmmakers in Edinburgh to Scottish media students, discussing the adaptation process, and inspiring newcomers to also follow their own grand ambitions.

Classic Australian Picture Book Adapted

Since its first 1980 release through Penguin Publishers, the Australian Picture book (of which the film is based) has sold over a million copies worldwide, ABC viewers voted it one of their 150 favourite books of all time, and was an official Australian Government birthday gift to Danish Princess Isabella.  Reaching its 30th Anniversary in 2011, the Pocket Bonfire adaptation is the first live-action cinematic re-envisioning, dedicated to the original fans of the book.

The project first began in 2008, when the then Swinburne students sent a proposal to author Hazel Edwards, who enthusiastically backed the project.  After earning the trust of both Edwards and Penguin Publishers, Pocket Bonfire were granted the opportunity to adapt one of Australia's most endearing stories.

ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)

General Admission Sessions:

11:30am 9 June, 12:30pm 10 June, 3:15pm 11 June, 11:30am 13 June.

Sydney Opera House

General Admission Session: 9:45am 27 July

Educational Session, with Q&A: 3:00pm 29 July.

Sponsors

The Creature Technology Company

The Shire of Yarra Ranges

Bendigo Bank

Adam Lowe Group

Fine.Ark

Latenite Films

Links

Official Film Website (inc. teaser trailer) www.pocketbonfire.com/hippo