The story behind Oscar-winner ‘Shine’ revealed in government archival papers

This story is a partial excerpt from the new book ‘Money, art and madness: How the war between bureaucrats & auteurs killed the Australian film industry‘.

The Australian biopic about pianist David Helfgott’s life – Shine – was nominated for seven Academy Awards and netted Geoffrey Rush the Best Actor statue in 1997. But the film was originally rejected by the experts who were supposed t...