Somersault - GG

Somersault (Sat SBS 930P) is the debut feature of Australian Cate Shortland and is likewise the debut for Abbie Cornish (subsequently made Candy with Heath Ledger), opposite Sam Worthington. The top of a very thin list at the AFI awards a couple of years ago, thankfully we can look back and see 2004 as an aberration (with respect to the number and quality of Australian films).
Cornish plays 16 year old Heide who is running away from her Canberra home and ends up in Jindabyne (which could end up disastrously were she dovetailed into another film) and in bed with Joe (Worthington). She is “caught between adolescence and adulthood … Heidi is old enough to be aware of her sexuality, but unaware of how it influences others – she needs intimacy but doesn’t know when it’s inappropriate.”
Somersault divided critics at the time however I think it should be viewed; 1) to watch and support Australian films and 2) to be better able to make up our own minds about its merits.
You might also be tempted by Hilary Swank’s first Best Actress Oscar win Boys Don’t Cry (Fri 7 midnight) or a 2001, Johnnie To (Election), Hong Kong action flick Fulltime Killer (Sat SBS 1A) starring Andy Lau (Internal Affairs [the original “The Departed”]).