Toni Collette Makes Her Directing Debut With “The Best Of”
Toni Collette is set to make her feature directing debut with The Best Of, her screen adaptation of Graeme Simsion’s bestselling novel. According to Variety, the project is one of 75 Screen Australia-backed films and series sharing more than AUD16.9 million ($11.7 million) in production and development money. Variety reports that Collette, an Emmy and Golden Globe winner, is producing alongside Christopher Simon, and the story follows two ex-lovers who reconnect after decades apart.
The Chenab Times describes Collette as Oscar-nominated and reports that the novel follows a driven man who builds a questionnaire to find the perfect partner. Both outlets frame the funding as part of a broader round covering features, series and shorts, and Yahoo! notes the agency will reveal more recently funded projects alongside the ABC Media Showcase on October 21.
The story so far
- Variety: Toni Collette's Directorial Debut Among 75 Screen Australia Projects
- The Chenab Times: Toni Collette Directorial Debut 'The Best Of' Gets Screen Australia Funding
- Yahoo!: Toni Collette’s Directorial Debut ‘The Best Of’ Among 75 Projects Backed by Screen Australia
Long Before the Directing Credit, There Was Hereditary
Long before this week’s headlines, there was Annie Graham in Hereditary. Our latest episode of The Witch Movie Project pairs that Ari Aster film with Return to Oz, and Toni Collette’s performance is one of the reasons the conversation runs as long as it does.
Courtney Pearl and Just Blane spend real time on what Collette does with grief in Hereditary. Courtney connects the film’s ritual machinery to the difference between authentic spiritual practice and the predatory manipulation of a family’s pain, while Blane lingers on the performance itself and why he thinks it deserved far more recognition than it received. The hosts also dig into the three severed heads and the demon Paimon, pulling real folklore out of the fiction.
If you have seen the film, you already know why that performance sticks with people. If you have not, this episode is a strong place to start, and it rewards a second watch.
Give it a listen, then tell us which Toni Collette performance is your favorite.
Listen and watch
The Witch Movie Project
All The Witch Movie Project episodes · The Witch Movie Project on YouTube