D A M A G E
REVIEWS
ANDREW BUNNEY REVIEW
Wed 21 June 2023
Damage is a deeply humane, geriatric road movie and buddy flick with a cascade of arresting images from in and around Adelaide.
These are wonderful characters, brilliantly evoked by the two low-key stars (Imelda Bourke & Ali Al Jenabi) to tell a sad, fascinating and lovely story. A good mood is created in this tender and original film exploring themes of aging, connection, seeking asylum and freedom.
INDAILY REVIEW
Wed Oct 14 2020
(pre-final cut - work in progress screening)
DAMAGE IS A PORTRAIT OF TWO PEOPLE..... IT IS ALSO A PORTRAIT OF US, NOW.
Filmed in Adelaide with a pair of non-actors – one the director’s own mother, the other an Iraqi asylum seeker – Damage centres on two people who appear to be polar opposites but are thrown together in a taxi journey that changes them both. Madeleine Blackwell wrote the initial script for her first feature film in one night.
A former theatre actor turned director whose credits include several short films, she had been working on a television series with a refugee advocate and felt compelled to create a film inspired by the extraordinary stories she heard.
FILM REVIEW
Noel Purdon, former recipient of the Pascall Prize for Film Criticism.
In the face of all the world’s heartlessness and the pitiless technology which would put human existence under surveillance and deny its will to live, Madeleine Blackwell and her crew have delivered a powerful response. Damage is a poetic film of deep emotions which travels through the night and the rain to find beauty and affinity, bound together by two magnificent performances from Ali Al Jenabi and Imelda Bourke. It is a timely work of global resonance which heralds the triumphant arrival of an important new auteur.
ABC REVIEW
Peter Goers ABC Adelaide 891
"It's Stunning"- Mat Kesting, Adelaide Film Festival Director
" Imelda Bourke the singer, in her film debut at the age of 92 and she is fantastic ...It's a glorious film" Peter Goers. ABC Radio National Adelaide