Anthony LaPaglia, Toni Colette, Russell Crowe, Liev Schreiber To Step Behind the Cameras for 'Sydney Unplugged'

SYDNEY- Anthony LaPaglia and Toni Collette are to make their directorial debuts as part of a group of filmmakers who will each direct one of 12 stories that will make up the new Sydney Unplugged feature project.

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Director John Polson, founder of the Sydney based Tropfest short film festival, and Arclight Films' Gary Hamilton are producing Sydney Unplugged as an ode to their home city in the vein of  Paris Je T’aime and New York Stories.

Directors Alex Proyas (Knowing), David Michôd (Animal Kingdom), Ivan Sen (Toomelah), John Curran (The Painted Veil), Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here), Liev Schreiber (Everything is Illuminated), Rachel Ward (Beautiful Kate), Ray Lawrence (Lantana) and Russell Crowe (Texas) will also helm one of each of the short films.

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Polson hatched the idea for the Sydney film, which will be part funded by Screen Australia, when he met Gary Hamilton at the Cannes Film Festival in May. 

Shooting is due to take place here in the second half of 2012.

”It’s no secret some hugely talented directors, actors and others either live here or are from here. It’s about time this talent got together to tell stories that showcase one of the world’s most beautiful cities. The people that have stepped up to take part in this project are beyond our wildest dreams,” said Polson announcing the talent line up on Monday, following the 20th anniversary of Trofest on Sunday.

Sydney Unplugged will be released in Australia by Icon Film Distribution in 2013, and sold internationally by Arclight Films.