“Mystery Road” – written, directed, shot and scored by multi-awarded Aboriginal Director Ivan Sen – will open the Sydney Film Festival, organisers have announced.

He’s played iconic roles in international blockbusters The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings, but Hugo Weaving’s performance in the Sydney Film Festival’s opening night movie Mystery Road has been touted as something special.

So says festival director Nashen Moodley, who described Weaving as “truly one of Australia’s great actors” and feels “very privileged” he’s part of next month’s program.

“Mystery Road” – written, directed, shot and scored by multi-awarded Aboriginal Director Ivan Sen – tells the story of a policeman, played by Aaron Pederson, who has returned to his remote hometown in the outback to investigate the murder of a teengage Aboriginal girl.

The film’s star line-up includes Jack Thompson, Ryan Kwanten, Tasma Walton, Damian Walshe Howling and Hugo Weaving, who also plays a policeman in the small town.

“It has conventions of the western, the thriller, elements of murder, mystery, but he used that and made a thrilling exciting film that takes a look at the social political context,” says Ms Moody.

Hugo Weaving is also the jury president of this year’s official competition.

“I’m a big fan of his (Weaving’s) work,” Moodley said at the program launch for the 60th Sydney Film Festival (SFF).

“But I must say that I think his performance in Mystery Road is pretty special. “It’s not something I could’ve expected.”

This year’s Screen Black program will also show a new film by Steve McGregor about Warumpi Band singer George Rurrambu’s life — called “Big Name No Blankets”.

Director Jon Bell’s film the “Chuck In” will debut as will a film called “Buckskin,” about a young man’s mission to renew the Kaurna language in South Australia.

Nashen Moodley says this year’s program reflects the diversity and success of Australian filmmakers around the world.

“The vast majority of these filmmakers are focusing on issues in other countries and I think that’s really amazing — Australian filmmakers with a global outlook”.

One of those films is “Red Obsession” – a story about the rise of the wine market in China.

The Sydney Film Festival will open with “Mystery Road” on June 5.

The program includes 19 world premieres, 122 Australian films, documentaries, short films and animations. Along with its Official Competition nominees, the films will be screened in nine locations around Sydney until June 16.

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Ryan Kwanten attends the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC.

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Ryan Kwanten stops by the Fruttare Hangout at Coachella to share what keeps him looking on the bright side, on April 13, 2013.

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Ryan Kwanten collaborated with jewelry company, SKY and LIVI, to create a unique blue diamond pendant utilizing his hair to be auctioned off on Charitybuzz.com with 100% of the proceeds going to the charity, Look Good Feel Better.

The pendant necklace is valued at more than $16,000.00 and available to bid on now at www.charitybuzz.com/RyanKwanten.

“My friend Anjanette started SKY and LIVI to help women cope with hair loss due to chemo. I know first hand how traumatic this moment is, as my mother is a breast cancer survivor and lost her hair during treatment. I think it is empowering for women to make a diamond from their hair, so I’m donating my hair to create a diamond in honor of my mother – to honor her strength and to celebrate her life. We’re auctioning off the diamond through Charitybuzz to help raise money and awareness for the charity Look Good Feel Better.”

SKY and LIVI is a diamond & jewelry company like you’ve never seen. Born out of a desire to redefine the way a woman copes with hair loss from chemotherapy, turning the process of cancer treatment into a one-of-a-kind, poetic, and deeply personal symbol that inspires a woman not to give up her fight against cancer. SKY and LIVI creates a real, lab-grown personal diamond produced from a lock of her hair, which is fashioned into a beautiful pendant, and acts as a tool and symbol of her endurance.

In the USA alone, over 750,000 women are diagnosed with some form of cancer every year. From that staggering figure, about a third undergo some form of chemo or radiation therapy. While side effects vary greatly, the loss of hair is particularly traumatic for women, often demoralizing them to such an extent that they give up all hope of recovering. Sadly, 8% of women opt not to receive treatment from fear of losing their precious hair.

This is where Founder & CEO of SKY and LIVI, Anjanette Sinesio, enters the conversation. Over a decade ago, the loss of her aunt, father and grandfather to cancer, all within two years, left an indelible mark on her life. She has also seen her friends and family battle cancer and survive. Sinesio saw how one’s emotional state played a huge part in survival.

Sinesio began to research a new technology, which creates diamonds in a laboratory from the unique carbon signature of a person’s hair, and she saw the vision of her current compassionate enterprise. SKY and LIVI grew out of her inspiration to help women transform this very defining moment of hair loss by giving them an option not to just to throw their hair in the garbage. Now, they can create a beautiful diamond from their hair set in specially designed pendants, that can inspire them not to give up the fight against this dreaded disease.

“I see the diamond and pendants I designed as an outward symbol of a woman’s unwavering strength to fight cancer. It’s her chance to tell cancer, you can take my hair, but you can’t take me.”

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HBO is kicking off another #WaitingSucks campaign for the upcoming Season 6 of “True Blood,” and first out of the gate is a new behind-the-scenes video featuring Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse.

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Ryan Kwanten, who plays the delectable Jason Stackhouse on the HBO hit vampire show, is making some interesting teases about the forthcoming season.

Speaking with E! Online, Kwanten emphasized a point that we heard from showrunner Mark Hudis, who left the production just a few weeks ago: The show is getting back to basics, meaning it’ll return to “the supernatural elements and the madness that it’s famous for,” E! paraphrased from its interview with Kwanten.

He also had some ominous news: “There are more deaths. Some favorite characters may not last,” Kwanten said directly.

Given True Blood has a pretty big cast, we’re not too concerned about our true favorites dying. However, we’ll hold out hope for at least one shocking death that gets everyone talking.

True Blood season 6 premieres this summer on HBO. It’ll be the first season since the departure of Alan Ball who conceived the show based on the books by Charlaine Harris.

This forthcoming season only has ten episodes, which makes it the shortest season of the show yet. This smaller run may help improve the plot and focus on the most important story lines. A popular critique of season 5 was that there were too many plot lines. Showrunners have seemingly recognized the issue for season 6.

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The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Hornets by the final score of 104-96 at Staples Center on April 9, 2013 in Los Angeles, CA. (Source)

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Also, Ryan Kwanten attends a hockey game between the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on April 4, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.

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