Private Project

Tasmania

A Middle Eastern grad student faced with deportation hides out on a Southern California campus where he falls in love with an undocumented janitor who wishes she could go to college.

  • Austin Alward
    Director
  • Austin Alward
    Writer
  • Jean Bodon
    Producer
  • ‘Niyi Coker Jr.
    Producer
  • Austin Alward
    Producer
  • Artur Lago-V
    Key Cast
    "Farhad"
  • Gabi Giordani
    Key Cast
    "Sofia"
  • Angela Jones
    Key Cast
    "Keystone Cop"
    Pulp Fiction
  • Abraham Amkpa
    Key Cast
    "Tariq"
  • Tamara Rodriguez
    Key Cast
    "Carolina"
  • Madeleine Falk
    Key Cast
    "HR Administrator"
  • Andreas Burgess
    Cinematographer
  • Olivier Le Solliec
    Sound Designer
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Arthouse, Drama, Love Story, Slow Cinema
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 27 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    160,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Persian, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:66
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Festival Mundial de Ciné de Veracruz — Marcel Sisniega Special Award for Love of Cinema
    Veracruz
    Mexico
    November 25, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Austin Alward

A Franco-American camera operator by trade who began as a camera assistant in Paris after graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2000, Austin was contracted through the Dan Rather Endowment at Sam Houston State University in collaboration with San Diego State University to rewrite and direct Tasmania, his first feature.

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Director Statement

Tasmania tells the tragic love story of two undocumented noncitizens who do not share a common language. Their journey is a yearning meditation on the impenetrability of the modern American Dream.

The movie's DNA stems from an un-produced French language script written by Jean Charles Tacchella whose romantic comedy Cousin Cousine garnered three Oscar nominations in 1977.