Ellis Park
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“I never found the right tune”
Overview
In this fly-on-the-wall documentary by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Nitram), multi-instrumentalist and Australian music maverick Warren Ellis, a key member of iconic bands The Dirty Three and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, permits a look behind the curtain on the artist’s life and his “Ellis Park” wildlife conservation project. Co-founded by Ellis and spearheaded by the indomitable Femke den Haas and a team of dedicated conservationists, the Sumatran sanctuary rescues trafficked and mistreated animals, devoting years to nursing them back to health. Amidst the project, Ellis reflects on the life that lead him to this point.
“Richly cinematic... moves to a strange and interesting melody. This film will stay with you”
“One of the most impactful Australian documentaries of recent years”
“Takes the intrinsically self-indulgent form of the memoir and uses it for good as the documentary becomes less about him and more of an inter-species study of sentimentality, belonging, rescue and deliverance”
Why You Should See This Film
Remarkably, Justin Kurzel transcends what could easily be a music memoir or a spotlight on a rockstar’s philanthropy by digging deeper. Fans of the Bad Seeds, The Dirty Three, and all of Ellis’ music will be satisfied as the artist spills personal insights on a life of performance, hedonism, addiction and redemption. Kurzel, one of our greatest local filmmakers working today, intertwines this story with the important work of a wildlife sanctuary, the lives of the rescued animals and the rescuers themselves. It almost shouldn’t work, and yet Ellis Park emerges as an inspiring, insightful and deeply empathetic portrait of kindness, healing and connection; we are all social and emotional animals.
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