It’s taken nearly two years, but Tony Ayres’ tough little crime thriller Cut Snake is finally being released.

Set in 1974, the film tells of an ex-crim Sparra (Alex Russell) whose tranquil home life with Paula (Jessica De Gouw) is interrupted with the sudden arrival of Pommie (Sullivan Stapleton), a freshly released ex-con who knows more about Sparra than is comfortable.

Ayres is one of Australia’s most distinguished filmmakers.

He directed the award-winning AIDs drama Walking on Water (2002) and the partly autobiographical film The Home Song Stories (2007), a huge festival hit and winner of eight AFI awards including Best Director and Screenplay for Ayres.

He directed two episodes of the acclaimed mini-series The Slap on which he served as producer, and has served as executive producer – aka a ‘show runner’ – on The Straits, Old School, Devil’s Playground, Nowhere Boys, Maximum Choppage, Glitch and The Family Law (a sitcom soon on SBS).

Born in China and openly gay, the affable Ayres is upfront about the positive influence he would like his work to have on public perceptions of gays and Asians.

Here he discusses this, the making of Cut Snake and details his views on same-sex marriage.

Please enjoy.

For the Tony Ayres interview, please click here:

To view a trailer for Cut Snake, click here: