DROVER'S BOY, THE

THE DROVER'S BOY is a 'hybrid' blend of music, documentary and drama. The story is set in the 1920s in outback Australia, and evokes a time when it was illegal for white Australians and Aboriginal people to marry. It was not uncommon for a drover and his Aboriginal wife to pass off their relationship under the guise of her being 'a drover's boy'. In subterfuge, she had to bind her breasts, cut her hair and change her name to disguise herself as an Aboriginal boy.

This is one such story, sensitively told, based on a ballad by Australian bush legend and singer-songwriter, Ted Egan. The song, and the film, pay tribute to this form of forbidden union and the significant contribution that Aboriginal women made to the pastoral history of frontier Australia.

The filmmaker, Margaret McHugh, is both a documentary director and a video artist whose work has been honoured at numerous festivals and in exhibitions around Australia and internationally. After studying visual art, photography and filmmaking in Australia, Spain and Scotland, Margaret enrolled at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney and later returned to AFTRS to make THE DROVER'S BOY. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Sydney Film Festival.

VIEW TRAILER HERE: vimeo.com/383884139

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FESTIVALS + AWARDS

FESTIVALS | 2017

• BERLIN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2017 | Berlin
• QUEENS WORLD FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2017 | New York
• ETHNOGRAFILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2017 | Paris

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FESTIVALS | 2016

• DUNGOG SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - WINNER | Best Australian Director - Documentary + RUNNER UP - Best Australian Short Documentary 2016 | Australia
• MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL - WINNER | Best Indigenous Short 2016 | Australia
• ARTE NON-STOP FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE Y ARTE - JURY SPECIAL MENTION: SILVER PALMS AWARD 2016 | Buenos Aires
• WORLDFEST-HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM - PLATINUM REMI AWARD | USA
SCREENINGS + TOURS
• ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL – Official Selection 2016 + DIRECTOR'S CHOICE | Official Festival Tour| Australia
• HEART OF GOLD INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2016 + FESTIVAL DIRECTOR'S CHOICE | Official Selection Festival Tour 2016 | Australia
• TRAVELLING FILM FESTIVAL/ SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL - Official Shorts Program | A touring festival that brings the best of Sydney Film Festival to regional Australia 2015/16

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FESTIVALS | 2015

• SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2015 | SHORTLISTED - Event Cinema Australian Short Screenplay Award 2015 | Australia
• INTERNATIONAL SAMOBOR FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL (ISFMF) – WINNER | Best Original Score 2015 | Croatia
SCREENINGS
• ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection 2015 | Australia
• ANTENNA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL - Australian Shorts Competition 2015
• CANBERRA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - Australian Shorts Competition 2015
• BOFA – Tasmanian Film Festival - Australian Shorts Competition 2015
• CANBERRA SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Australian Shorts Competition 2015

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• preview Click here to download THE DROVER'S BOY press kit (PDF 6.6 Mb)