Christina Ricci's AROUND THE BLOCK to Open at Arena Cinema in L.A. 8/1

Random Media has announced that Sarah Spillane's Around the Block will open theatrically in Los Angeles August 1 at the Arena Cinema in Hollywood. Around the Block stars Golden Globe nominee Christina Ricci (Monster, The Opposite of Sex) and Hunter Page-Lochard in an acclaimed debut performance. The supporting cast includes

Jack Thompson (Breaker Morant, Man from Snowy River), Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly, Terra Nova) and model Ruby Rose (Break Free).

Around the Block is the story of American Dino Chalmers (Ricci) - an edgy and charismatic drama teacher with a Passion for Shakespeare. When the opportunity arises for her to work at a school in inner Sydney, she embraces the chance to introduce the magical world of theatre as an alternative to life on the tough streets of Redfern in Sydney, Australia. The film centers on the developing relationship between Chalmers and Liam (Page-Lochard), a sixteen-year-old urban Aboriginal student who lives around the block in Redfern and earns the lead in her production of Hamlet. As Chalmers presents Liam with a possibility of a life without drugs and violence, he must choose between pursuing his newfound dream of performing or following his family into a cycle of crime.

Around the Block premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has Gone on to receive accolades around the globe, particularly for Page-Lochard and for its twist on the classic teacher as a fish out of water tale. Set amid the 2004 Redfern riots, the film was shot in the very neighborhood where tensions between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous Australians reached a fever pitch a decade ago.

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