Interview with 'The Sapphires' director Wayne Blair and star Jessica Mauboy

"The Sapphires" absolutely dominated the Australian Film Institute Awards (AACTA Awards) in 2012, being named the Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Sound, Editing and Production Design, along with the other major awards of Best Lead Actor and Actress (Chris O'Dowd and Deborah Mailman) and the biggest of all, Best Film. But the praise didn't stop there: Director Wayne Blair was given the top honor of Best Director and Jessica Mauboy was named Best Supporting Actress. Both Wayne Blair and Jessica Mauboy were in town recently to promote the Detroit release of "The Sapphires," and I had a chance to speak with them both.

Wayne Blair had directed some short films as well as some TV, but "The Sapphires" marks his feature-film directorial debut.

Jessica Mauboy is a very talented and popular Australian R&B singer, having finished as runner-up on the fourth season of "Australian Idol" back in 2006. She appeared in the Australian musical film-adaptation, "Bran Nue Dae," in 2010, and "The Sapphires" marks only her second film appearance.

Click this link to watch my video interviews with director Wayne Blair and the lovely Jessica Mauboy.

Be sure to watch Tom Santilli on TV! Check your local listings for “Movie Show Plus” for Tom’s weekly movie review segment, airing at 3 p.m. EST on MYTV20 in Detroit.

Subscribe above for email alerts of all movie reviews and news, and follow me on Twitter, @tomsantilli and at TomSantilli.com.

"The Sapphires" opens locally in Detroit on Friday, April 5, 2013. Be sure to check back then for my full review.