
Nitram (2022), directed by Justin Kurzel, examines the lead-up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. American actor Caleb Landry Jones portrays the troubled young man behind one of Australia’s most devastating events. Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant focus on gun violence, mental illness, and bullying, carefully steering clear of exploitation.
This scene is the moment when Nitram first meets the reclusive heiress, Helen (Essie Davis), who will become his only close friend. The lighting and framing in this scene perfectly convey Helen's isolation, and the performances skilfully signpost the connection that is about to develop between them.
Caleb Landry Jones won the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 for this performance.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.