Under the Cover of Cloud (2021)

COMING SOON Fired from his job writing for a weekend magazine, Ted Wilson decides to take a break from Melbourne and visit his family in Hobart. He realises his loss could be an opportunity, a chance to pursue something more meaningful. He happens on an idea: "I want to write something beautiful about cricket. A piece of literary non-fiction. It will in some sense be about Tasmanian batsmen and it will be from the heart." Sensing that a brush with greatness may focus his reflections, Ted embarks half-heartedly on a quixotic search for legendary Australian cricketer and exalted Tasmanian, David Boon. Yet when the search stalls, Ted finds himself immersed in a present-time of infinite riches, reconnecting with his widowed mother and adult siblings now with young children of their own. Denuded of narrative fanfare the film begins to operate as a unique documentary portrait of middle Tasmania, rare in its loving commitment to a warm and convivial present. Featuring remarkable performances from a cast comprised solely of the director's immediate family, UNDER THE COVER OF CLOUD discovers a uniquely Australian tranquillity, drawing attention throughout to the grace of what is so often hidden in plain sight.