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Buddies
Buddies
Directed by	Arch Nicholson
Written by	John Dingwall
Produced by	John Dingwall
Starring	Colin Friels; Kris McQuade; Harold Hopkins
Cinematography	David Eggby
Edited by	Martyn Down
Music by	Chris Neal
Distributed by	Hoyts (AUS); Paramount Pictures (Worldwide)
Release dates	23 June 1983 (AUS); 15 July 1983 (USA);
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$1.9 million
Box office	A$81,777

Buddies is a 1983 Australian comedy/drama film directed by Arch Nicholson and written by John Dingwall. Dingwall won the Best Original Screenplay AFI Award for the script.^[2]^[3] The film was not a great success in 1983, as no Australian distributor wanted to release it, but Dingwall took it around the country's cinemas himself, where it was well received.^[4]

Plot

Young miners Mike and Johnny work in the gem fields of central Queensland around Emerald. Conflict arises when their pick-and-shovel operation is threatened by a large scale bulldozer operator.

Cast

Colin Friels as Mike
Harold Hopkins as Johnny
Kris McQuade as Stella
Simon Chilvers as Alfred
Norman Kaye as George
Lisa Peers as Jennifer
Bruce Spence as Ted
Andrew Sharp as Peter
Dinah Shearing as Merle
Dennis Miller as Andy

Production

John Dingwall wrote the script and decided to produce it himself. He raised the money with the help of Rex Pilbeam, a former mayor of Rockhampton. Most of the money was raised in Queensland, including investment from the Queensland Film Corporation. Shooting took place on location in Emerald, Queensland and lasted six weeks.^[1]

Box office

According to Dingwall, the film tested extremely well with audiences but there was a difficulty in marketing it.^[1] Buddies grossed $81,777 at the box office in Australia,^[5] which is equivalent to $215,891 in 2009 dollars.

Awards and nominations

At the 1983 AFI awards Buddies was nominated in the Best Achievement in Sound, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Simon Chilvers), Best Actress in a Lead Role (Kris McQuade) and Best Original Music Score (Chris Neal) categories. John Dingwall won the Best Original Screenplay AFI Award for the script.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 pp. 88–89
^ IMDb info
^ "BUDDIES". Filmnews (Sydney, NSW : 1975 – 1995). Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 1 January 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
^ Australian screen
^ "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
^ IMDb awards