Bad Behaviour

Berlinale Series 2023

One day their paths cross again, by chance. Alice, now an internationally acclaimed cellist, has a series of performances at the concert hall where Jo works. A decade has passed since their year spent as scholarship students at an exclusive girls’ boarding school deep in the Australian outback, where the focus was on developing one’s personality, independence, strength and resilience, as well as forming a bond with nature and a sense of community among the pupils. The dormitories were in remote wooden huts and the girls were largely left to their own devices in their spare time. Although Jo quickly bonded with the shy Alice, not wanting to remain an outsider, she gravitated towards the girls higher up in the pecking order under the sway of the dominant Portia – at least that is how Jo remembers it. But Alice confronts her with a completely different version of events.
Based on Rebecca Starford’s eponymous memoir, writers Pip Karmel and Magda Wozniak and director Corrie Chen tell a gripping and unsparing story of how the desire to belong can set in motion a dynamic that is as cruel as it is crucial.

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by Corrie Chen
with Jana McKinnon, Markella Kavenagh, Yerin Ha, Erana James, Melissa Kahraman, Tuuli Narkle, Mantshologane Maile, Daya Czepanski, Diana Glenn, Dan Spielman Australia 2023 English 115’ Colour International premiere

With

Jana McKinnon (Jo Mackenzie)
Markella Kavenagh (Portia)
Yerin Ha (Alice)
Erana James (Ronnie)
Melissa Kahraman (Briohny)
Tuuli Narkle (Miss Lacey)
Mantshologane Maile (Ruby)
Daya Czepanski (Saskia)
Diana Glenn (Caroline Mackenzie)
Dan Spielman (Keith Mackenzie)

Crew

Director	Corrie Chen
Screenplay	Pip Karmel, Magda Wozniak based on the book by Rebecca Starford
Cinematography	Tania Lambert ACS
Editing	Maria Papoutsis
Music	Caitlin Yeo
Sound Design	Emma Bortignon
Sound	Stephen Witherow
Production Design	Ben Bangay
Costumes	Penny Dickinson, Vanessa Loh
Make-Up	Eliza Langdon
Casting	Alison Telford, Kate Leonard
Producer	Amanda Higgs
Executive Producers	Debbie Lee, Alastair McKinnon, Amanda Duthie, Cailah Scobie
Associate Producer	Pip Karmel