COMA
Australia / 2024 / 80 min / DCP / Comedy drama

Directed by Saara Lamberg

Script : Saara Lamberg, Anthony Thorne
Editing : John Couper-Smartt, Reggie Theseus
Music : Matt Eberhart, Glyn Francis & Kotja
Production : Saara Lamberg

Cast : Janet Watson Kruse, Clio Leonard, Glyn Francis, Saara Lamberg, Matt Eberhart, David Farrington, Andrew Cullimore

Introduced by Saara Lamberg & Janet Watson Kruse

You are Alex Devine. You see and hear your friends and relatives come to you with their revelations, demands and grief, whilst you are unable to move or talk. Will your secrets be safe or compromised before it's all over? A film with a surprising construction, placing us on the side of both the patient and his visitors and which oscillates between drama and black humor without forgetting to highlight the ambiguity of human relationships.

Saara Lamberg

Finnish-Australian director, actress, screenwriter and producer Saara Lamberg has received several awards for her work, including the Bronze Prize at the Beverly Hills Screenplay Competition (Hollywood 2013), Best Actor at Comfy Shorts (Melbourne 2014), Best Drama at the Connect Film Festival (Melbourne 2014) and the Best Actor Award (Lithuania 2004). She lived in England from 2006 to 2010 and studied at the critically acclaimed Dartington College of Arts, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Theatre and Choreographic Practice in 2007. She moved to Melbourne in January 2010 and received a Distinguished Talent Permanent Residency in 2012 and citizenship in 2014. Having made five short films previously, she wrote, directed and produced her first feature film, Innuendo, in which she played the lead role in 2017. This was followed by Westermack Effect, followed by her third film, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, which had its world premiere at Cannes Cinéphiles 2023. Her latest film, Coma, was released in Australia in late 2024. All of her feature films have screened at the Antipodes Film Festival.