Mind Blowing World  has announced that the new Australian feature Pawno, opened nationally on Thursday 21 April to fabulous reviews and solid box office on its opening weekend.

Pawno opened on 19 screens across Australia, achieving a healthy $3,120 screen average over the Anzac Day long weekend, with especially strong results recorded at The Sun in Yarraville, Melbourne, where the film opened to a Gala Premiere and ecstatic community buzz. Pawno director Paul Ireland, screenwriter and actor Damian Hill, and key cast members including Kerry Armstrong (Lantana), Tony Rickards (Holding The Man) and Mark Coles Smith (Last Cab to Darwin), walked the red carpet before guests packed out four sold-out sessions. Australian screen actors Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under), Damian Walshe Howling, film industry figure Steve Vizard, and Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley were amongst the audience attending.

Mind Blowing World’s John Molloy said, “It’s been an incredible opening for Pawno. Mind Blowing World is thrilled to be working with such talented filmmakers and this excellent local film for our first release. The best part has been the response. Audiences are connecting with these special characters and the wonderful world that is contemporary Australia.”

Writer/Producer Damian Hill said, “The feedback has been overwhelming. We’re excited to continue sharing the film with audiences and we will be announcing more special events and screenings.”

Since opening on April 21, Pawno has enjoyed rave reviews from critics and audiences across Australia:
Cinema Australia: “Nothing less than perfect”
David Stratton, The Australian: “…an outstanding example of contemporary independent Australian cinema.”
Margaret Pomeranz: “I loved this film, loved it, loved it! …!”
Hugo Weaving: “Pawno is a genuinely funny, tender, wry and moving film… An honest and unforced gem.”
Erin Free, FilmInk: “It’s a brave, beautiful, and vividly contemporary work from two major talents to watch.”
Richard Cotter, Sydney Arts Guide: “Funny, tender, truthful and imaginative with a tincture of mystery”
Nick Dent, Sunday Herald Sun: “Pawno is a funny, gritty slice of urban Australian life that seems so authentic you can practically smell the spray paint.”
The Age: “The quintessential Australian Love Story”

A valentine to the vibrant, multicultural suburb of Footscray, Melbourne, Pawno features a diverse, talented cast that includes Damian Hill, John Brumpton, Kerry Armstrong, Tony Rickards, Maeve Dermody and Mark Coles Smith. The big-hearted, character-driven ensemble film takes place in a dusty, old pawnbrokers, where world-weary owner Les Underwood (John Brumpton) watches as the lives of people who come through his doors collide, change and unravel.

Pawno was produced by Paul Ireland and Damian Hills’ Toothless Pictures and is distributed by Mind Blowing World, a new production and distribution company formed by John Molloy and Mitu Bhowmick-Lange, and sister company to Mind Blowing Films.