Runt
Jai Courtney, Celeste Barber and Deborah Mailman star in the heartwarming and hilarious adaptation of Craig Silvey’s bestselling novel about a girl and her dog who set out to save the family farm.
They say a dog is man’s best friend, but it also happens to be Annie Shearer’s. The 11-year-old lives in the country town of Upson Downs with her canine companion, a stray dog called Runt. When the Shearers’ farm comes under threat from drought and a local landowner, Annie concocts a plan to salvage it: by putting Runt’s herding talents to good use in the Agility Course Grand Championships at the Krumpets Dog Show in London.
Silvey, who also wrote the novels Jasper Jones and Honeybee, won a slew of Australian literary awards upon Runt’s release, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year for Young Readers. Ignoring the age-old axiom not to work with children or animals, director John Sheedy (H Is for Happiness, MIFF 2019) – who has overseen stage adaptations of Silvey’s books – rose up to the challenge to do both, with magnificent results. Newcomer Lily LaTorre delivers a charisma-fuelled performance as Annie, while the notable Australian cast (including Squid the rescue dog!) bring to life this upbeat underdog tale for the whole family.
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Author and screenwriter Craig Silvey will be in attendance at the Sunday 11 August session. Director John Sheedy will be in attendance at the Sunday 25 August session.
Tickets
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