Acclaimed actor and stage director Simon Stone makes his first foray into feature filmmaking with this adaptation of his award-winning play The Wild Duck.

After many years away, Christian (Paul Schneider) returns to the logging town he once called home for his father's wedding. As he reconnects with his family and childhood friends, he unearths a long-buried secret but his attempts to fix things threaten to destroy all he left behind years before.

Belvoir St Theatre's The Wild Duck, a modern update of the Ibsen original, was a smash hit for Simon Stone in 2011. Now, after achieving success with his screen-directing debut on Tim Winton's The Turning (MIFF 2013) segment Reunion, he embraces the full cinematic scope with this sumptuous feature adaptation.

Stone – who has appeared before the camera in Balibo (MIFF 2009), Jindabyne and Kokoda – has assembled a star-powered cast including MIFF Patron Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto and Anna Torv with Odessa Young and Sam Neill for this contemporary portrait of family love, dysfunction, deception and denial.

Find the book at Readings.