Decades of rumour and unconfirmed sightings have long fuelled the idea, that the Tasmanian Tiger ? said to be extinct since 1936 ? is still surviving in the southern wilderness. Working from a popular novel, scriptwriter Alison Addison and television director Daniel Nettheim deliver an unusual thriller based on the intriguing idea of a mysterious man (American actor, Willem Dafoe) being sent to Tasmania by a shadowy European corporation to get a DNA sample of the allegedly still thriving animal. Posing as a visiting zoologist from an American university, the newcomer is dropped into the middle of a (real-life) conflict between young conservationists and forestry workers who fear tree conservation will destroy their livelihood. Both sides have their suspicions about the mysterious stranger and then he discovers, that he is not the corporation’s first choice to be set on the Tasmanian Tiger trail. The island of Tasmania at the continent’s nether regions has been underused as a film location, but thanks to the rich cinematography of Robert Humphreys, the island’s dense forests, mountain highlands, and drizzling rain establish it as a character in its own right. (Russell EDWARDS)