A key member of iconic bands The Dirty Three and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, multi-instrumentalist and renowned film composter Warren Ellis has cut a brilliant and unorthodox figure in music for over three decades. Far from the international concert halls in which he has plied his craft lies a very different passion project: a wildlife sanctuary in the forests of Sumatra. Co-founded by Ellis and spearheaded by the indomitable Femke den Haas, whose dedicated team of conservationists rescue trafficked and mistreated animals and then devote years to nursing them back to health.

This fly-on-the-wall documentary offers both a deeply personal insight into one artist’s life through the act of creating and an inspiring reminder of how much can be achieved when passionate people come together to do great things to impact the world around them.

The Garden Cinema View:

Justin Kurzel, (Snowtown, Nitram), weaves together two seemingly disconnected threads in Ellis Park: a loose biopic of Warren Ellis and the story behind Ellis Park, the wildlife rescue park he supports.

The first strand follows Ellis as he revisits his life and career, playing violin and disappearing into his music. His passion and authenticity as an artist is enthralling and inspiring.

The documentary's second movement explores the wildlife rescue park - not a typical organization, but an army of dedicated people (mainly indigenous) devoted to rehabilitating trafficked and abused animals for release into the wild. Ellis's relationship with the park and its owner is genuinely moving, awakening a dormant capacity for love that suggests he's never truly experienced such a selfless connection before.

Through this unusual documentary form, Kurzel shows how connecting with animals can transform a talented yet self-absorbed individual's compassion and purpose.