Film Art Media has optioned the novel Bruny, by Tasmanian writer Heather Rose. It will be developed as a television series with producers Charlotte Seymour and Sue Maslin AO.
Bruny won the General Fiction prize in the Australian Book Industry Awards announced on 13th May, 2020.
Rose says: ‘I’m delighted to see Bruny in the hands of such an experienced production team. I love their commitment to bringing this cautionary tale to Australian and international audiences, while also delivering a much-loved Tasmanian story to the screen.’
Bruny is set in a near-future in a place where the inhabitants are inoculated against change and a bridge to connect Bruny Island to mainland Tasmania is blown up by terrorists. Astrid Coleman, a UN troubleshooter, is called home to Tasmania to manage the fallout and finds herself caught between political foes, foreign interests and island families. Says Maslin in a recent Inside film article, “From the moment we started reading, we were hooked by this cautionary tale which we believe will make a powerful political thriller/drama series.
“Like The Dressmaker, this award-winning book has sold well over 40,000 copies in its first year of publication and is loved by readers – a great starting point to build an audience.
“The book is hugely prescient because it dares to hypothesise the logical consequences of Australia sleepwalking its way through globalisation and selling off our precious resources to foreign interests.
“But above all it is a gripping drama about ordinary people caught in the middle of extraordinary forces that could end a way of life.”
