The Babadook director Jennifer Kent has begun production on her latest film, The Nightingale, and cast Italian-born/Dublin-raised Irish actress Aisling Franciosi in the lead.
Set in Tasmania in 1825, The Nightingale follows a beautiful 21-year-old Irish female convict who witnesses the brutal murder of her husband and baby by her soldier master and his cronies. Unable to find justice, she takes an Aboriginal male tracker with her through the hellish wilderness to seek revenge on the men and gets much more than she bargained for.
Franciosi (The Fall, Jimmy’s Hall) is joined in the lead by Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games), as well as by Damon Herriman (Quarry), Ewen Leslie (Top of the Lake), Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge), Aboriginal Djuki Mala dancer Baykali Ganambarr, and East Arnhem Land indigenous model Magnolia Maymuru.
Kristina Ceyton and Bruna Papandrea produce The Nightingale, with Aaron L. Gilbert, Andy Pollack, Jason Cloth and Brenda Gilbert as executive producers for Bron Creative; Ben Browning and Alison Cohen as executive producers for FilmNation; Steve Hutensky as exec producer for Made Up Stories. Jeanne Snow oversees for Made Up Stories, who co-finance, with major production investment from Screen Australia and in association with Screen Tasmania and the South Australian Film Corporation.