The Sapphires (film)

The Sapphires
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wayne Blair
Produced by	Rosemary Blight Kylie Du Fresne
Screenplay by	Keith Thompson Tony Briggs
Based on	The Sapphires by Tony Briggs
Starring	Chris O’Dowd Deborah Mailman Jessica Mauboy Shari Sebbens Miranda Tapsell
Music by	Cezary Skubiszewski
Cinematography	Warwick Thornton
Editing by	Dany Cooper
Studio	Goalpost Pictures
Distributed by	Hopscotch Films (Australia) The Weinstein Company (USA)
Release date(s)	19 May 2012 (Cannes) 9 August 2012 (Australia) 22 March 2013 (USA)
Running time	103 minutes[1] 98 minutes (USA release)[2]
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$8-10 million[3]
Box office	$18,040,837 [4]

The Sapphires is a 2012 Australian musical comedy-drama film produced by Goalpost Pictures and distributed by Hopscotch Films, based on the 2004 stage play of the same name which is loosely based on a true story.^[5] The film is directed by Wayne Blair and written by Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs, the latter of whom wrote the play. The film is about four indigenous women, Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy), Kay (Shari Sebbens) and Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), who are discovered by a talent scout (Chris O’Dowd), and form a music group called The Sapphires, travelling to Vietnam in 1968 to sing for troops during the war. Production began in 2010, with the casting of the four members of The Sapphires, and filming taking place throughout New South Wales in Australia and Vietnam during August and September 2011.

The Sapphires made its world premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2012 during its out of competition screenings, was theatrically released in Australia on 9 August and received a limited release in the United States on March 22, 2013.