St George Openair Cinema opening night film announced

St George Openair Cinema – the one on the harbour at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, in case you're wondering – launches on Saturday January 7 with the preview screening of a rare Australian movie to garner Academy Awards buzz.

The film is Lion, starring Dev Patel as Saroo Brierley – the Indian kid adopted by a Tasmanian couple in the 1980s, who grew up to use Google Earth in a lengthy search for his long-lost mother and siblings.

The movie packs an emotional punch and impressed audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival, with Patel and Nicole Kidman (who plays Saroo's adoptive mother) singled out for praise.

But it's little Sunny Pawar, the Indian boy who plays Saroo as a five-year-old living rough on the streets of Kolkata, who'll steal your heart in this film, which opens nationally on January 19.  

Pawar, incidentally, was denied a US visa this week due to "immigration concerns" and won't be able to promote the film at its US premiere today.

I guess somebody better warn Peter Dutton that an adorable little security threat may try to enter Australia early in the new year. 

Sigh.