Press release from Miranda Brown Publicity
The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) and the 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival (BAFF) are excited to announce the fifth winner of the prestigious INSITE, biennial national competition for un-produced screenplays.
The Unlikeliest Hero, written by Barbara Connell, tells the story of Duffy, a young donkey, who is laughed at by the other farm animals and eager to prove he's just as "good" as any horse. Duffy stows away aboard a troop ship bound for Turkey where, in the trenches of Gallipoli through his friendship with an ANZAC soldier named Simpson, Duffy learns that he isn't just as good as any horse, he's better.
Connell graduated from UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting. In 1999, she wrote and co-produced the U.S. indie feature, Landfall. In addition to feature film, Connell has also written numerous documentaries, several television series pilots, interactive media and multiple web properties. In 2010 she served as the Acting Director of the WA Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University and has since returned to Murdoch University to complete her PhD studies.
The screenplay will receive a rehearsed public reading directed by Rowan Woods (Little Fish, 3 Acts of Murder, The Boys) with professional cast, as part of the 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival at 3pm on Monday 28 February 2011 at the Mercury Cinema. This is a FREE event. Barbara will receive travel costs to Adelaide to participate in rehearsals and a cash prize of $2,500.
Connell said ‘I am thrilled to receive such an honor and want to thank the AWG and the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival for this recognition of a screenplay that is very dear to my heart.. To have the screenplay read at the festival is an incredible opportunity, made more so by the fact that Rowan Woods will be directing.’
Over 200 entries from all over the country were submitted for the 2011 competition confirming the INSITE competition’s position as the premier screenwriting competition in Australia.