Who Plays Who?

Sacha Horler Matt Day Jonathan Segat Portia Bradley Roy Davies Catherine Hill Sonya Suares Petru Gheorghiu Eddie Baroo Travis Cotton Fred Whitlock Sean Rees-Wemyss Lauren Mikkor Chloe Guymer Katie Wall Daniella Farinacci Rachel Maza Libby Stone Roger Oakley

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Natalie Ross Louis Ruby Old Man Newsreader Rosie Singh Con Tim Donnelly Howard Greg Blake Georgia Chloe Winona Clinic Doctor Intensive Care Nurse Natalie's Mother Natalie's Father

What Do The Critics Say

"This film arrives amid much muttering about Australian films being overly bleak and not overly entertaining. While "My Year Without Sex" tackles life and potential death issues head on, it is, put simply, bloody funny. My Year Without Sex is about the frustrations of marriage, the longevity of love, the thrills and spills of bringing up kids, major illness, and how recovering from an aneurysm can play havoc with one's sex life - but it's laced with a humour that's universal. Writer/director Sarah Watt (Look Both Ways) finds the humour in life's pain, but she does it without diminishing or belittling her characters' experiences." Annette Basile FILMINK "Horler remains a tremendously appealing actor, largely due to her total lack of vanity. The narrative consists entirely of brief, whimsical vignettes, with colourful titlecards to punctuate the flow. Watt strives to cram a great deal into a small space, but her special triumph is that the strain never shows. My Year Without Sex stands as the most accomplished Australian film so far this year." Jake Wilson THE AGE "My Year Without Sex’s great strength, as with Watt’s "Look Both Ways", is that it abounds with life and unforced black humour that keeps the characters and us afloat. Like Justine Clarke before her, Sacha Horler embraces with gusto an earthy, feisty and vulnerable role, and has a strong chemistry with Matt Day as the quiet-spoken hubby whose own fears and frustrations simmer away. With this, Watt consolidates her reputation as an artistic chronicler of daily life lived both in fearful acknowledgment and resolute defiance of death. We look forward to seeing which way she looks next. Funny, moving, tense and entertaining, it's a strong follow-up to the sublime Look Both Ways." Michael Adams EMPIRE MAGAZINE

"Performances are uniformly tops. Horler doesn't put a foot wrong as the woman forced to take stock of just about everything, and Day nails the male angle as a nice guy straining under the pressure of added responsibilities and his own insecurities. Graeme Wood's lensing is clean and appropriately unfussy, and skillful editing by Denise Haratzis ("Look Both Ways") maximizes comic impact without compromising the serious messages. Working just fine without an original score, the pic uses a handful of well-positioned pop songs and a lovely final sing-along to good effect. Other tech work is on the money." Richard Kuipers VARIETY "Horler shines as the wilting mum and wife, Day is solid as the dad trying to hold it together, and the kids add cute laughs. It’s their honest, natural performances and the way most average Aussies will relate to their sorry situation that makes My Year Without Sex all worth it." Shannon J Harvey SUNDAY TIMES PERTH "There's a strong sense that raising a family now comes with unforeseen difficulties. A year without sex is actually one of the lesser challenges that Watt tackles, with stout heart and a rich instinct for human comedy. It was clear from "Look Both Ways" that Watt was an original talent. It's clearer now that she's an exceptional talent. Her ability to write complex comedy about complex characters is uncommon in Australian cinema." Paul Byrnes SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "This lovely film has compassion at its core as it chronicles a year in the life of this ordinary family beset by difficulties. The humour is wry and infectious. Performances are tops, with Sacha Horler and Matt Day making a welcome return to the big screen after too long an absence. There’s a lovely assurance to Sarah Watt’s screenplay and direction, she knows her characters well and her affection shows." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES

The Inside Story SACHA HORLER Horler (Natalie) is an award-winning film and television actor, having won two AFI awards in the same year (1998): Best Actress for her performance in John Curran’s "Praise" and Best Supporting Actress for Christina Andreef’s "Soft Fruit". She also won a Best Supporting Actress AFI for Kathryn Millard’s "Travelling Light" (2003). Since graduating from NIDA in 1993, Sacha has regularly performed for the Sydney Theatre Company and for Company B at Belvoir Street. She played a small role in Sarah watt’s "Look Both Ways". Her other films include "My Mother Frank" (2000), "Walk The Talk" and "Russian Doll" (2001). Her television credits include "Secret Bridesmaid's Business", "Love My Way" and "Grass Roots". MATT DAY (Ross) has established a reputation as one of Australia’s leading film and television actors. His film credits include "Muriel's Wedding" (1994), "Dating The Enemy", "Love And Other Catastrophes" (1996), and "Kiss Or Kill" (1997) for which he received an Australian Film Critics’ Circle Award Nomination and an AFI Award Nomination. Playing Ross is Matt’s first film role since returning from many years living in the Uk. His television credits in the UK include guest roles in "Hotel Babylon", "Secret Diary Of A Call Girl", "The Chase", "The Message" and "Spooks". Day's Australian television credits include "Water Rats", "Hell Has Harbour Views", "The Informant" and most recently "Tangle". On stage, he has appeared in "Scarlett O'Hara" for the melbourne Theatre Company and "Six Degrees Of Seperation" with the Sydney Theatre Company. BRIDGET IKIN (Producer) has produced many films through her company Hibiscus Films, establishing its position as a leading producer of quality specialist cinema. She produced Sarah watt’s debut feature "Look Both Ways" which received many international awards, as well as Best Film at the 2005 AFI Awards. She produced Jane Campion’s "An Angel At My Table" (Silver Lion Venice Film Festival 1990), Alison maclean’s feature "Crush" (In Competition, Cannes, 1992) followed by Clara Law’s "Floating Life" (Silver Leopard, Locarno, 1996). Additionally, the company has produced many distinctive short films, most notably the memorable Special Jury Prize winner (Short Narrative Category) Golden Gate Awards, San Francisco 1989 "Kitchen Sink" (director Alison maclean, In competition Cannes, 1989). For four years (1996 – 2000), she was the General manager of SBS Independent, responsible for commissioning more than four hundred hours of distinctive Australian drama and documentary. She was the Associate director Film of the 2002 Adelaide Festival, whose artistic director was the maverick American director, Peter Sellars. In a world first, the arts festival commissioned four new feature films, for which Bridget was the executive director: "The Tracker" (starring Gary Sweet, David Gulpilil & Grant Page); "Australian Rules" (starring Nathan Phillips, Tom Budge & Kevin Harrington); the critically acclaimed Berlin International Film Festival Teddy Award winner "Walking On Water" (starring Vince Colosimo, Maria Theodorakis & Nathaniel Dean) for which Dean and Theodorakis both won AFI Awards; and "Kabbarli" (starring Lynne Murphy). Ikin was a feature film Evaluation manager at the Film Finance Corporation (now Screen Australia) from 2004-6. SARAH WATT is a writer, director and animator whose first feature film "Look Both Ways" premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2005 and was invited to screen in more than thirty film festivals around the world. It was invited to New Films/New directors in New York and received a Special Screening at International Critics’ week in Cannes. Among the film’s many acknowledgements were the discovery Award at the Toronto Film Festival; Best Film at the AFI Awards; the FIPRESCI Award at the Brisbane International Film Festival; and Critic's Awards at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the NatFilm Festival in Denmark. Sarah also received the Best Screenplay and Best director Awards at the IF, AFI and Australian Film Critics’ Awards. Before "Look Both Ways", Sarah’s short animated films had attracted widespread international attention. "Small Treasures" (1995) may have been only fifteen minutes long, but it won (amongst many awards) the Baby Lion for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival that year. "Local Dive" and "Living With Happiness" followed, both of which screened widely at festivals and theatrically, winning many international and Australian awards. In 2009, Lothian Children’s Books (an imprint of Hachette Australia) will publish "Clem Always Could", a book for children, which Sarah has written and illustrated. D.O.P. GRAEME WOOD has worked as a cinematographer on feature films, television series, documentaries and television commercials. Wood was nominated for a Film Critics’ Circle Award for his work on 2000's "The Dish" which starred Sam Neill and Roy Billing. Wood's other film credits include Tony martin’s "Bad Eggs", Esben Storm’s "Subteraneo", Richard Lowenstein’s "Say A Little Prayer" and John hillcoat’s debut "Ghosts Of The Civil Dead". For Production Designer SIMON McCUTCHEON, "My Year Without Sex" marks his feature film debut as production designer. The film continues his association with Sarah Watt, having worked on "Look Both Ways" as art director. He has since production designed his second film with, director Ana kokkinos: "Blessed". His other credits as art director include the mini-series "The Pacific", as well as feature films "Romulus My Father" and "The Book Of Revelation", and a number of the television series. Associate Producer and Script Editor Barbara Masel has a long association with script development and production, with a background as a film and television script editor, commissioning editor and dramaturg. She was associate producer and script editor on Sarah watt’s, "Look Both Ways" (2005). More recently she was dramaturg and script editor on Tony Ayres’ feature film, the AFI winning "Home Song Stories" (2007). She script edited "Naked - Stories Of Men" for Jan Chapman productions and the ABC, and co-produced and created the television series, "Seven Deadly Sins". Awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study script development methods and practice in the UK, she has worked as a Lecturer in writing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, served on its governing Council, and been a script assessor for federal and state funding agencies. "Sarah sees humour and drama in places others might overlook; her politics and aesthetic frame these observations and give them meaning," she said. "I was interested in how we get through our days and whether they are any better or worse for having been examined. About whether our perception of control: or lack of it, makes any difference to our actual control. I was interested in whether we earn our good or bad luck, or whether it’s random. we’ve been told for many years that we earn it, and if we earn it, then we deserve everything, from luxury cars, and upgrades of everything, to complete and constant happiness. To explore these ideas I invented a non-ruling class family in an average suburb who could encapsulate all the anxieties and joys that our mostly muddled society has to offer. I wanted the audience to be able to connect with these people and their sadness and happiness. I love the big-ticket life questions writ upon the small domestic stories. And I wanted the film to be entertaining, to be warm, to use colour as music and music as editorial. I wanted it to be kind of a love story between family and friends. And hopefully a little bit funny." Sarah Watt. "Sarah was keen to reflect the arc or trajectory of the story through a changing colour palette. The structure of the film is quite ordered and clear: thirteen months, each with its own title. We thought that changing the colours of each chapter would be one way to enhance this. To a large extent, the different months and their different colours are representing different emotional states. But I didn’t want that to be what everyone notices about the film, it should be in the background, subliminal." Simon McCutcheon Production designer. Within months, Bridget had raised the film’s budget with investors Screen Australia, Film Victoria, the Adelaide Film Festival, the South Australian Film Corporation and Showtime Australia. Katrina Sedgwick, director of the Adelaide Film Festival (whose Investment Fund had also previously commissioned "Look Both Ways") was an eager early investor, offering "My Year Without Sex" its premiere in the 2009 Adelaide Film Festival. The film’s executive producers were John Maynard, Andrew Myer, Joanna Baevski, Andrew Barlow and Paul Wiegard. Sarah began the process of casting, auditioning actors for the roles of Natalie and Ross and their children, Louis and Ruby. "My Year Without Sex" was shot over seven weeks from the end of march through April 2008 in Melbourne, Victoria, at locations around Altona and Williamstown and a few days additional shooting on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The challenge was to create the effect ofthe story taking place over a twelve-month period, with its seasonal, as well as emotional, shifts. The film was edited in melbourne, with sound and digital post-production moving to Adelaide. The film’s playful title sequences were created by Maryjeanne Watt and Petrina White, with visual material sourced from the Getty Images library. Sarah saw these still and moving elements has being critical to the film’s mode of address. The soundtrack draws on an eclectic mix of mostly Australian songs, featuring performers such as Bob Evans, El perro del mar and Bombazine Black as well as some familiar international tracks such as Bananarama). "I love the energy that songs can bring. I didn’t want to underscore the emotion with music, I wanted to provide an editorial over the top of the film. It’s more declared this way," Sarah Watt. The Verdict "One doesn't have to be an Albert Einstien to work out that the Australian feature film industry hasn't had too much to crow about of late. That's because in recent times, our floundering local film industry has dished up some pretty dark films. So dark in fact, that many cinemagoers have left theatres feeling as though they'd like to slash their wrists or throw themselves under the nearest tram. Thankfully, a mild change is in the air. No, not a big, bold, southerly buster, but rather a little zephyr named "My Year Without Sex". Blowing into cinemas across the nation, this little crowd pleaser which wowed audiences at this years Adelaide Film Festival looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, looks can fool, so don't get too excited, because Sara Watts's latest feature film is pretty tame stuff. It's not a write-off, it's just that this tale about a year in the life of your typical 'aussie battler' family from the 'burbs', never reaches great heights. Despite having an adequate mix of charm and humour, it's no blockbuster. How can I best put it. It's like comparing the original cast performing the broadway hit "The Producers" to a sellout audience with say, uhm, your local amateur church group doing the "Sound Of Music" on a saturday night to a small audience, made up of three pensioners (who are only there for the free suppa afterwards) and all the casts relatives (who feel as though they are being tortured like the inmates at Guantanamo Bay). While that may sound a little ominous and lower your expectation, it's a good ploy. For "My Year Without Sex" it's: expect less and get more. Worth having a look at. 3 STARS." Synopsis

In the middle of a Pap smear, happily married thirty-something Natalie collapses with a brain aneurysm. She's lucky to have survived and after surgery, emerges with half her head shaved, bruised face, impaired motor skills that will take time to recover from, and doctor's orders to abstain from sex for a while. After all, the increased blow flow from an orgasm, may just spark another brain aneurysm, so let's not go tempting fate. Released from hospital, Natalie returns home to convalesce with audio engineer husband Ross and their lovable offspring: Louis and Ruby. Ross tenderly cares for Natalie as the countdown starts and the days pass by until it's safe to once again have sex. With half her hair gone, unable to work and undergoing recovery therapy and unable to use her mothering skills, it is, initially, a difficult time. Then her best friend Winona introduces Natalie to a community singing group. Here she befriends Margaret, an '80s rock 'n' roll casualty who found God and became a curate. With the months slowly rolling by and no sign of a resumption in their bedroom action, Natalie and Ross's marriage is starting to get a little rocky.

The Production Team

Director Written by Producer Director of photography Film Editor Casting Production Designer Costume Designer Prosthetic Makeup

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Sarah Watt Sarah Watt Bridget Ikin Graeme Wood Denise Haratzis Jane Norris Simon McCutcheon Kitty Stuckey Nick Dorning

Run Time 96 minutes Rated M [AUST] ©2009 - Footprint Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2009 All Rights Reserved The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark laws applied.