Emily Barclay, who came toattention via the critically acclaimed New Zealand film In My Father's Den,has been cast in the lead role of a conniving single mother with murder on hermind in the Australian black comedy Suburban Mayhem.

Playing her besotted boyfriendwill be Michael Dorman, who is named as one of Australia's stars of tomorrow inthe current issue of Screen International. Also in the cast is AnthonyHayes (The Boys), Genevieve Lemon (The Piano), Steve Bastoni,Robert Morgan, Lawrence Breuls and newcomer Mia Wasikoska.

Suburban Mayhem is the third film from director Paul Goldman after AustralianRules and The Night We Called It A Day.

It goes into production inSydney and Newcastle from August 26 and is produced by Leah Churchill-Brown andexecutive produced by Jan Chapman.

Barclay's character, a mastermanipulator of men, lives in a world of petty crime, fast cars, manicures andblowjobs. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants and when her fatherthreatens to contact social services and take away her child, she becomesinfamous in a way even she never dreamed of.

"Even an experiencedscriptwriter would be hard-pressed to match Alice Bell's screenplay for itssheer entertainment and originality," says Mark Gooder, CEO of localdistributor Icon Films. "At the heart of Surban Mayhem is a centralcharacter so remarkable and audacious that she takes your breath away. There'san energy about this project that continues to excite all of those involvedwith it and we can't wait to unleash it on the unsuspecting public.'

Fortissimo Films is handlinginternational sales and the finance has come from Film Finance CorporationAustralia, the New South Wales Film and Television Office and PMP Showtime.

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