It was a warm Saturday night in Melbourne on November 26. In fact, it was the warmest day and night that Melbourne had seen for the entire month of November, but even if it wasn't, the heat was turned right up in Cinema Nova (Carlton) for the official World Premiere of Matthew Holmes' THE COST at the renowned MonsterFest film festival.
Prior to the screening, the temperature in the foyer turned right up as droves of eager movie-goers flooded the venue for a movie so anticipated, they had purchased tickets knowing virtually nothing about it other than some official BTS photos and a short synopsis.
That's right, not even so much as a trailer had been released yet, but that wasn't enough to keep away the audience who wanted to see the magic that we had created throughout some of the darkest and most challenging period in our generation.
With the cinema near-on capacity, a short film titled TOUCH was the lead-in. It was an interesting and mind-bending film that wet the appetite of the eager crowd. Following this, it was time for THE COST.
Present in the audience were all 5 of the lead cast, some of the supporting cast as well as some of the core crew. Apart from that, it was fresh eyes and ears from wall-to-wall with absolutely no expectations whatsoever.
For the next 108 minutes, the audience gasped, winced, occasionally chuckled and were horrified in all of the places, marks and moments that mattered. It was a success, a rousing success. So much so that the audience clapped and gave a round of applause for virtually the entirety of the closing credits. It was akin to a Cannes or Venice film festival premiere. This act alone, was all of the confirmation we needed to know that we had indeed made something very special which really impacted and connected with an audience.
From there, some stage lighting came on and a MonsterFest representative came down to the front with a microphone and some assistants set up some chairs for the Cast and Crew Q&A that was to follow. The next 15-20 minutes saw questions and answers to and from the lead cast and some of the crew. There was so much insightful and interesting discussion that unfortunately the Q&A had to be wrapped up before we got to any audience questions due to us encroaching on the next session time. But again, that is a testament to the power of this film and the interest it has from an audience after only the first ever public screening.
Following the Q&A, everyone spilled out into the foyer where the discussion and congratulations were in order, as well as some of the obligatory photos. The images here are only a snapshot of what was taken on the night, but you get the idea.
Once the camera batteries had depleted themselves, much of the cast and crew made their way to a nearby bar to continue the celebrations well into the night.
THE COST will be premiering in Sydney on December 10 at Event Cinemas George Street and in Adelaide on December 11 at Event Cinemas Marion as part of the MonsterFest film festival, for tickets please click here: https://linktr.ee/la_rosa_productions
From here, God willing, it will hopefully find a home on a major streaming platform. Stay tuned.
