Grape Steak
dirs. Jen Atherton & André Shannon
2018 – 2023
99 mins. Eora/Australia
In English
Further Reading:
An Actor Prepares
Angus McGrath, Runway Journal
Review: Grape Steak (2023), Garden Reflexxx
Kinotopia Bonus Edition: Grape Steak (Jen Atherton & André Shannon, 2023)
A Certain Tendency of The Australian Cinema
Digby Houghton, Kinotopia
Review + Interview with Outtakes, Joy FM
Spectacle Theater
ART+FILM at Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI)
When Toad (Rattus Rat) emerges from a violent bashing they are helped by three incompetent adventurers (Gloria Bose, André Shannon + Freya Aisbitt) who leave them, with some cash, on the side of a country road. The film circles back to uncover how and why these grifters found themselves in the middle of the bush, during Mardi Gras searching for a mysterious cult called The Energy. Narrated by AACTA award winning Enoch Mailangi featuring the incomparable Lily Bennett as Elizabeth, an Australian-American true crime podcaster, Grape Steak is a portrait of a certain time in Sydney told through the eyes of a specific type of Sydneysider.
Grape Steak is a wishfully ambient portal, a love-poem of trauma and humiliation set in Sydney, a slow comedy for a come-down, made resourcefully and communally over five years.
Featuring an original score by Megan Alice Clune and music by
Alaska Orchestra
California Girls
Eris Drew
Ex-Rental
Macy Rodman
Magda
Planningtorock
Strict Face
Weyón
Starring:
Rattus Rat as Toad
Gloria Bose as Gloria
Freya Aisbitt as Gayle
Enoch Mailangi as Hayley
André Shannon as Bart
Porsche as Herself
Rhys Pepic as Fadey Jadey
Buddy Joel as Lesley
Neil Addison Beedie as Skyler
Luke N T Ada as Baby Hayden
Henry Benn as Mordecai
Lily Bennett as Elizabeth
NICOLA as Hot Dancer 1
Beau Kirq as Hot Dancer 2
Aaron Manhattan as Hot Dancer 3
Meti Fenwick-Nevin as Pinky
Robert McGrath as Gaspar Noe
Brian as themself
Samuel Bowman as The Filmmaker
Eric Hancock as The Drummer
Featuring music by
Ex-Rental
Macy Rodman
Planningtorock
Eris Drew
Weyón
Strict Face
Magda
Alaska Orchestra
California Girls
Cinematography
Max Boutwell Draper
Claire De Cateret
Daniel Hartley-Allen
Jen Atherton
Yahya
Original Score
Megan Alice Clune
Sound Mix
Niko Plaskas
Additional Sound
Ry Edwards
Mardi Gras Location Sound
Kean Hoi
Meteor Animation
Tommy Green
Eta Aquarid Footage
Ufowatcher
Camera Drawings
Lily Bennett
Featured Artwork
Little Skin, 2019
Neil Addison Beedie
Main Title Design
Alex Tanazefti
Images made with
Apple iPhone SE & (Product)Red
Recycled 35/16mm scratch film
Arri Amira
Macbook Air (Photobooth)
Sony Handycam Vision
JVC Everio
Sony NX200
Made predominantly on unceded Gadigal land, with scenes shot in Thailand, France, The Netherlands, Kaurna Country and Yuin Country. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and shout out to the Indigenous filmmakers and pioneers who consistently make much better films than we ever could.