''Love Serenade'' is a 1996 Australian comedy film written and directed by

Shirley Barrett Shirley Barrett (1961 – 3 August 2022) was an Australian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. Her first film ''Love Serenade'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. She wrote and directed two other feature films '' Walk ...

. It has the tagline: "Two sisters will do anything to hook the right man". There are not many characters in ''Love Serenade'', which is set in a fictitious, almost-deserted town called Sunray, located on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. It is a thinly disguised version of

Robinvale, Victoria Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in north western Victoria, Australia. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the , Robinvale had a population of 3,313, however a p ...

, which was the location of the film. The film is about a pair of sisters, Dimity (

Miranda Otto Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of ...

) and Vicki-Ann ( Rebecca Frith), who share a house. Dimity, the shy and insecure sibling, is a waitress at a local Chinese restaurant. Vicki-Ann, the brash one, is a hair stylist. Both are looking for love, although the prospects in Sunray seem bleak, at best. That is, until Ken Sherry (George Shetsov), a thrice divorced

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

DJ personality, moves into the house next door. During the filming of the Silo Scene, Stuntman Collin Dragsbaek died when he fell onto a faulty airbag.

Cast

– Dimity Hurley * Rebecca Frith – Vicki-Ann Hurley * George Shevtsov – Kenneth 'Ken' Sherry * John Alansu – Albert Lee *

Jessica Napier Jessica Napier (born 13 April 1979) is a New Zealand-born actress based in Australia. She has appeared in a number of feature films, including ''Love Serenade'', ''Blackrock'', '' Cut'', ''City Loop'', ''Angst'', '' The Illustrated Family Docto ...

– Deborah 'Debbie' * Jill McWilliam – Curler Victim * Ryan Jackson – Boy on Bike (Ride) * Sabrina Norris – Beautiful Baby

Awards

The film was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996 in film, 1996. The Palme d'Or went to ''Secrets & Lies (film), Secrets & Lies'' by Mike Leigh. The festival opened with ''Ridicule (film), Ridicule'', directed by Patrice Leconte and cl ...

, where it won the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des ...

Box office

''Love Serenade'' grossed $836,110 at the box office in Australia.

References

External links

*
''Love Serenade''
at Oz Movies
''Love Serenade'' at Rotten Tomatoes

''Love Serenade'' at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{Caméra d'Or 1996 films 1996 comedy films Australian comedy films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Shirley Barrett Caméra d'Or winners Films shot in Victoria (Australia) Miramax films

Cast

Awards

Box office

See also

References

External links