Movies

First Trailer for ‘Ellis Park’ About Warren Ellis & His Wildlife Sanctuary

By skynews

Posted on 08/02/2025

First Trailer for ‘Ellis Park’ About Warren Ellis & His Wildlife Sanctuary

by Alex Billington
February 7, 2025
Source: YouTube

“The goal of the place is to give them their freedom back.” Madman Films in Australia has revealed the trailer for a documentary film titled Ellis Park, telling the story of musician Warren Ellis. This is actually directed by the acclaimed Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel, of Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed, Nitram, The Order. It first premiered at the 2024 London & Melbourne Film Festivals last year. A key member of iconic bands The Dirty Three and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds, multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis has cut a brilliant and unorthodox figure in music for over three decades. Far from the international concert halls in which he has plied his craft lies a very different passion project: a wildlife sanctuary in the forests of Sumatra. This place is co-founded by Ellis and spearheaded by the indomitable Femke den Haas, whose dedicated team of conservationists rescues trafficked and mistreated animals and then devotes years to nursing them back to health. They explain more: this fly-on-the-wall doc offers both a deeply personal insight into one artist’s life through the act of creating and an inspiring reminder of how much can be achieved when working together. Sounds great, looks great. I’m in. I always love a good story about people realizing saving animals is so vital.

Here’s the first trailer (+ international poster) for Justin Kurzel’s doc Ellis Park, direct from YouTube:

Justin Kurzel’s first non-fiction work is a moving and intimate portrait of Bad Seeds member Warren Ellis, and his journey to the wildlife sanctuary he co-founded in Sumatra, Indonesia. Warren Ellis has lived many lives, ultimately emerging from trauma and drug abuse to embark on a journey of personal healing. Through his success as a musician, working with Nick Cave and in both the Bad Seeds and Dirty Three, he co-founded a wildlife sanctuary that provides animals damaged by human captivity with a new lease on life. Lovingly shot and candidly told, this is a humbling story of growth, redemption and care. Ellis Park is directed by the Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel, also director of the feature films The Snowtown Murders, Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed, True History of the Kelly Gang, Nitram, and last year’s The Order previously. It’s produced by Nick Batzias, Sandra Delpech, and Charlotte Wheaton. This initially premiered at the 2024 Melbourne & London Film Festivals last year. Madman Films will debut Kurzel’s Ellis Park doc in Australian cinemas soon. No US release date is set yet – stay tuned. Anyone interested in this?