Adelaide teen actor Joe Bird is the new Sundance kid

Adelaide’s Joe Bird has walked the red carpet at the renowned festival for the premiere of his new film Talk To Me.

Bird has walked the red carpet at the renowned Sundance Film Festival for the premiere of his supporting role in the horror feature Talk To Me.

“It’s really exciting … everyone is like a creative artist here,” Joe, 15, of Henley Beach, said last night from Utah, where he travelled with his dad. “Meeting people who have the same interests as you is just so cool, and being able to be a part of such a prestigious festival like this is such an honour.”

Talk To Me screened on Sunday as one of four Australian films – two of which were made in Adelaide – selected for this year’s Sundance program.

Adelaide actor Joe Bird, 15, of Henley Beach. Picture: Supplied

Bird has walked the red carpet at the renowned Sundance Film Festival. Picture: Supplied Picture: Jerod Harris/Getty Images

Born in England, Joe moved to Adelaide as a toddler with his family, and has previously only made brief appearances in a couple of short films, a TV series and the feature film Rabbit.

Talk To Me is the first film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, also known as YouTube duo RackaRacka, whose online pranks included driving a car filled with water through a bottle shop and attracted more than a billion views.

“They are the best people to work with … they are so creative, funny, energetic, and so professional as well. They deserve all the success that is coming for them,” said Joe.

The film follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an ancient embalmed hand but accidentally open a door to the spirit world.

“It’s a very fun film and a very, very scary film,” said Joe, who plays the younger brother of one of the lead characters.

“The guy who was filming behind the scenes one day said to me: ‘You don’t realise how big this is going to be’. Now it’s at three massive festivals.”

Talk To Me will also screen at the Berlin Film Festival next month and SXSW (South by Southwest) in Texas in March.

An early Sundance review by Screen Daily says Talk To Me has “plenty of atmosphere (and effects) to appeal to hardened horror fans”.

Also screening at Sundance are Run Rabbit Run, written by Adelaide author Hannah Kent and starring Sarah Snook, and the Melbourne films Shayda, by writer/director Noora Niasari, and Robert Connolly’s Blueback.

Streaming giant Netflix has already made a deal at Sundance to buy Run Rabbit Run.