Carmen & Bolude: Western Sydney takes centre stage in upcoming rom-com film

A rom-com putting western Sydney suburbs in the spotlight, while tackling issues of love, family, race and sisterhood, is about to hit the big screen. Meet the stars of the film.

A new rom-com putting western Sydney suburbs in the spotlight, tackling love, family, race and sisterhood, is set to hit the big screen.

Filmed and set in Australia, Carmen & Bolude follows the titular characters as they travel across Sydney, tasked to receive 100 welcomes from 100 communities.

The task is received after Bolude – a Nigerian-born woman – breaks the news to her father that she is marrying Aussie-born white man Tommy.

While travelling, Panamanian-American Carmen, played by Michela Carattini, also reconnects with her previously ignored Australian heritage.

Their journey takes them through several western Sydney suburbs with familiar landmarks like Auburn’s Gallipoli Mosque, Bankstown’s Arts Centre and the Murugan Temple in Mays Hill making cameos.

The film features Bolude and Carmen, best friends who support each other during their journey through Sydney's western suburbs. Picture: Supplied

“Sydney is so rich with culture and diversity, and you don’t get to see a lot of that in films,” lead actor Bolude Watson said.

“But in our film you get to see it all – Muslim, Tamil, African communities and more.”

Ms Caranttini said the film was also about the struggle people from multicultural backgrounds face trying to “fit in”.

Bolude Watson plays the lead role. Picture: Supplied

Panamanian-Australian actor Michela Carattini plays Carmen. Picture: Supplied

“My character Carmen is a mixed Indigenous-Panamanian Anglo-Celtic woman like me and she isn’t necessarily seen (as Indigenous) outside of her community,” she said.

“There’s a constant discussion about what she is an what boxes she fits into.”

The film was inspired by Ms Watson’s real-life tumultuous engagement, navigating interracial marriage and familial expectations.

“I remember my father found out (about the relationship) from a text message from my uncle,” Ms Watson said.

Bolude is tasked with seeking the approval of 100 communities after revealing her relationship with an Australian man to her traditional Nigerian father. Picture: Supplied

“And the first thing he says to me is ‘so you’re marrying a white guy’, not even a hello.

“But my father went on: ‘I didn’t send you (overseas) to chase a man, we had a plan, you’re supposed to do this, you’re supposed to do that’.

“Then he said: ‘If you continue down this path, then forget me as your dad’ and he hung up.”

Ms Watson said despite the rocky start, her father eventually came to accept her relationship.

“The funny part is people in the film industry thought this scenario was too unrealistic,” she said.

“They kept asking ‘why does this father care so much about what his 30-year-old daughter does with her life? She’s a fully grown woman’. And I remember thinking, ‘wow – you’ve probably never seen life as an ethnic person’.

“But I think a lot of people from Western Sydney, from those cultures, can probably relate.”

Carmen & Bolude premieres Wednesday, March 19, at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne with screenings across Australia over the next two weeks.