Storm Boy was presented at a free, family-friendly screening on the weekend at the Courier-Mail Piazza, as part of the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival 2016.
Recently restored by the National Film and Sound Archive, this is a beautiful and moving film which to this day still tugs at the heartstrings of many. I have fond memories of making my own mother take me along to multiple Storm Boy matinees when I was a child, and so it was with a feeling of great nostalgia that I took both she and my own 5-year-old along to the screening. It was a pleasure to rediscover the gentle, reclusive child that was Mick (played by a teeny-tiny Greg Rowe), his connection with Mister Percival the pelican and unlikely friendship with the mysterious Fingerbone Bill (David Gulpilil). There is little wonder the film is considered a timeless, Australian classic, as it still carries messages about nature, life and learning that resonate today.
Set among the dunes and lagoons of South Australia’s Coorong, Storm Boy won Best Film at the 1977 AFI Awards, and is based on the novel by children’s author Colin Thiele.
It was a pleasure to rediscover the gentle, reclusive child that was Mick (played by a teeny-tiny Greg Rowe), his connection with Mister Percival the pelican and unlikely friendship with the mysterious Fingerbone Bill (David Gulpilil).
BAPFF’s full program runs until 3 December, honouring films that best reflect their cultural origins. Audiences will be tantalised with a selection of cinematic excellence by way of films, documentaries and cinema classics, all articulating the Asia Pacific region’s concerns, turmoils and hardships in ways that thrill, evoke and enthrall. Choose from 80 films and over 30 countries from the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan, Iran, Turkey, Russia and many more.
#BAPFF2016
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