Head On (1998 film)

Head On
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAna Kokkinos
Screenplay by
  • Andrew Bovell
  • Ana Kokkinos
  • Mira Robertson
Based onLoaded by
Christos Tsiolkas
Produced byJane Scott
Starring
Edited byJill Bilcock
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Umbrella Entertainment
Release date
  • 13 August 1998 (1998-08-13) (Australia)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguagesEnglish, Greek

Head On is a 1998 Australian LGBT-related romantic drama film directed by Ana Kokkinos, who wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bovell and Mira Robertson. The film is based on the 1995 novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. The film stars Alex Dimitriades, Paul Capsis, Elena Mandalis and Damien Fotiou. The film tells the story of Ari (Dimitriades), a dissolute 19-year-old second generation Greek-Australian in Melbourne. Ari is caught between his conservative Greek background and modern Australia, amid his homosexual desire.

The film premiered in May 1998 at the Cannes Film Festival, three months ahead of its Australian premiere.[1]

The film gained notoriety upon its release for its sexual explicitness, including a graphic masturbation scene performed by Dimitriades and numerous sex scenes. The film was a commercial success in Australia and received mixed reviews from critics, with positive reviewers praising its stark realism, the lead performance by Dimitriades and the uncompromising subject matter.[2] It received nine nominations at the 1998 Australian Film Institute Awards and won 29 awards and accolades in Australia and overseas.[1]

Australia's National Film and Sound Archive curator recognises it as a pioneering project in Australian filmmaking: "In terms of iconoclast daring, Head On has no equal in Australian cinema." Continuing that it concludes with the "most beautiful and enigmatic endings of any Australian film."[3] It was Australia's first example of New queer cinema and is regarded as a "landmark piece of Australian queer cinema".[1]

  1. ^ a b c McWilliam, Kelly. “Head On: Centring the Other.” Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders, Edinburgh University Press, 2020, pp. 47–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.7358670.7. Accessed 13 July 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference tomatoes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nfsa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).