The world of television has never seen so many arguments over the remote. More and more a place for cutting-edge storytelling, some of the most anticipated and acclaimed new stories are now not the blockbusters and tentpole pics of yesteryear, but instead come from the corner of your lounge room on a weekly basis, or in marathon-calibre viewing sessions with the rise of the DVD box set. From Mad Men to Game of Thrones, and with cinematic talents such as Todd Haynes turning to the tube for their latest projects, television is, more than ever before, a place for cinematic events in itself.

And Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap, the much-loved Melbourne bestseller that examined the aspirations, moral hypocrisy, and very meaning of family in our surrounding suburbia, is now event television premiering at MIFF, as part of our Prime Time showcase for 2011.

Be sure to join First Tuesday Book Club's Jennifer Byrne as she canvases the people behind the production - Christos Tsiolkas (author), Tony Ayres (showrunner), Jessica Hobbs (director), Kris Mrksa (screenwriter), Helen Bowden (producer), Carole Sklan (ABC Head of Fiction), and Kim Dalton (ABC Director of Television) - about the rise of the cult of television: why audiences are staying in and why filmmakers are making their name there, looking to The Slap as Australia's newest small screen masterwork.

Watch a preview of the ABC TV series of The Slap

See the film and read the book - browse online at Readings