BREATH OF FRESH AIR
Ballina boy Simon Baker walks the red carpet at Pacific Fair for the film he directed, cowrote and stars in.
IT’S hard to imagine anyone other than a director connected to the Coast adapting Tim Winton’s iconic novel Breath
for the big screen.
Ballina boy Simon Baker has always been a smooth act(or), but there’s an extra zing to his cool, confident style at the moment.
Baker can afford to take a breath. He’s done well indeed.
The Mentalist star walked the red carpet at Event Cinemas Pacific Fair last night as
Breath, the film he directed, cowrote and stars in, had its Queensland premiere as part of this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival.
The one-time local said: “I used to live about half a kilometre from here”, and has been widely praised for the masterful touch he’s shown Winton’s coming of age story.
And no wonder. It’s a story Baker knows inside out.
Set on the beaches of Western Australia in the 1970s,
Breath follows two young boys who discover the thrill of surfing after meeting an older prosurfer and his wife.
“It’s a natural progression really,” Baker says of his move from acting to directing.
Baker assembled a terrific cast for his debut as a director with Samson Coulter, Ben Spence, Elizabeth Debicki, Richard Roxburgh and Rachael Blake all along for the ride.
The public were able to purchase tickets to attend last night”s special festival first look at Breath.
Demand was so strong for the premiere the film screened in three theatres
Baker joined invited guests for a Question and Answer following the film (moderated by Hollywood force Jenny Cooney) after delighting fans in the GA theatre earlier in the night when he made a surprise appearance to introduce the film.