The director of Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith has gone off in strange directions lately with Red State and Tusk. But he is going back to his roots for an Australian tour in September. Smith will appear on stage with his Clerks co-star Jason Mewes, as their slacker characters Silent Bob and Jay. An Evening With Kevin Smith is at Sydney's State Theatre on September 18 and Melbourne's Palais Theatre on September 21. His current films include a Mallrats sequel, Mallbrats, and Clerks III.

Survival horror game adaptation planned 

Enzo Tedeschi, producer of the horror film The Tunnel and online sci-fi series Airlock, is planning to adapt a new video game for what sounds like a confronting film. His Deadhouse Films has picked up the rights to Absention, which is described as "a first-person survival horror game" with players having to uncover the mysteries of a lake house while trapped in a time loop. "The game's launch trailer instantly conjured up several of my favourite horror films when I saw it," says Tedeschi. "On meeting with the game's creator Robert Bruce, it was immediately clear that that was exactly his intention and that we are both influenced by the same kind of messed-up horror films."

Chinese delegation visits

After an Australian film industry delegation to China last month, a Chinese industry party has been touring Australian studios, visual effects houses and production services companies. The familiarisation tour, organised by Ausfilm with the Australian Embassy in Beijing and Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, is aimed at encouraging co-productions between the two countries as well as attracting more filming and visual effects for Chinese films – a smart move considering how much international finance is being ploughed into Chinese production. "Ausfilm and our members have been working with key decision makers in China for a number of years and this inbound delegation is a direct result of the relationships which we have developed with the Chinese industry," says Ausfilm chief executive Debra Richards. "We look forward to continuing to develop further opportunities for the Australian and Chinese screen industries to work together." 

Mad Max powers on

As the Mad Max: Fury Road box office grows, a fascinating question has emerged about another possible instalment in director George Miller's action series. The thinking has been that a planned sequel focusing on Tom Hardy's Max would be the logical next movie. But the strong reaction to Charlize Theron's Furiosa puts a case for a planned prequel centring on her character as the next instalment, although it would not feature Max, given they only met in Fury Road. No doubt Warner Bros executives will be pondering how they can get the best of both characters if box office goes high enough to justify another movie. Short Cuts' solution: shoot both movies back-to-back in Broken Hill. Fury Road has had a strong second weekend in Australian cinemas – staying on top of the box office with only a 33 per cent dip from its opening weekend – to reach $12.6 million in 10 days. Worldwide, it is also showing stamina with $US219 million ($281 million). 

Hidden gem at Sydney Film Festival

Still thinking about what to see at the Sydney Film Festival? Director Nashen Moodley has come up with a hidden gem in the program for Short Cuts readers: Georgian director George Ovashvili's Corn Island. It's an austere drama set on a transient island in a river where a farmer and his granddaughter plant corn. "It's a very patient, very beautiful film. hardly any dialogue but very powerful images," Moodley says. "It's  a compelling story. You really feel quite immersed in it."

Drown special screenings

Director Dean Francis is making a very personal effort to sell tickets to the Australian film Drown, which debuted at the Mardi Gras Film Festival recently. He is hosting what are described as intimate basement screenings of the intense drama about a gay lifesaver on Friday nights at JJ Splice Films in Sydney's Surry Hills. He will answer questions about the issues, including homophobia in sport, and show new footage. Details at drownthemovie.com.

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