SYNOPSIS

A dedicated vegan, mother and household CEO goes head to head with her pesky octogenarian neighbour, Alice - a serial city council complainant and advocate for pensioner rights who lives next door with her elderly sister Anne. It seems this is not the first time a bag of “contaminated” rubbish being placed in the wrong bin has caused friction. Niceties are quickly thrown out the window as Alice reveals she has alerted the council to a number of issues she has with Janet and her family. Tensions rise until Janet, sick to the teeth with the ridiculous nature of accusations, cannot control her frustrations a moment longer. Threats are made, the police arrive, and a serious crime is solved, all thanks to Alice having her eye on the prize and ear to the ground. The mayor will probably give her another award.

DIRECTOR BIO

A recent Australian citizen and proud Kiwi of Māori descent, Jane is a graduate of NZ Drama School and works as a writer and producer across film, theatre, fiction and live events. She recently completed her first novel, An Unmedicated Version of Events as they Almost Happened, about a fifty-something woman's hormonally driven hypermanic mental health crisis. She is also reviving Big In Japan, a feature about her time as an accidental dancer in Japan, and developing a TV series about an unconventional living arrangement where nothing really happens.

Bin Day marks her directorial debut in film. As a producer, Jane's credits include the award-winning 30-minute film The Visitor (dir. Dan Castle, USA/Australia, 2002), which screened at Telluride, Seattle International Film Festival and Hawai'i International Film Festival, earned an AFI nomination, and won at St Kilda Film Festival. She was also a development producer on the Australian features The Combination (2009, dir. David Field) and Newcastle (2008, dir. Dan Castle).

As an actress, Jane's television and film credits include Rake, Underbelly, Crownies, Packed to the Rafters, Home and Away, Fireflies, The Combination, Heaven and White Collar Blue. She is a mother of two, wife to one, and dotes on her elderly Staffy, who can do no wrong.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

Bin Day is an absurdist comedy based in essence, on true events. Written during Covid as a radio play to entertain my fellow isolated actors, it has since been rewritten for the screen offering me the opportunity to not only perform and co-produce but importantly to direct my first film. Inspired by a recurring situation with my elderly neighbours and their incessant need to report me to our local City Council for a wide range of ridiculous untruths, the material was too wonderful to not write about.

I hope Bin Day makes people laugh (or cry) when recognising this familiar story for many a resident with that unrelenting pesky neighbour who “does your head in.” India and I made a commitment to crewing up a mixture of experienced and emerging creative professionals wherever possible so as to develop and encourage young film makers, trusting the emerging filmmakers weren’t scared off by the ‘crazy’ and go on to make exciting careers in this difficult but joyous industry. May they find success and opportunity in the future.