'Tanya Rammus (Rachel Griffiths) moves back to Melbourne with her daughter Amy (Alana De Roma) after a scrape with child welfare workers in the bush. Amy, aged eight, has become deaf and dumb since witnessing the death of her rock star father Will (Nick Barker) on stage, three years earlier. Tanya refuses to send her to a school for kids with disabilities, because her condition isn’t physical. In Melbourne, they rent a house in a down-at-heel street that’s full of misfits and oddballs: an old woman who hoses the footpath continuously (Mary Ward), a kid who collects hubcaps (Jeremy Trigatti), and an angry musician called Robert (Ben Mendelsohn). His guitar playing attracts Amy, but Tanya refuses to believe Robert when he tells her that Amy can hear singing, and sing herself. After Tanya hears Amy sing, she sends her to counselling with a child psychologist (Frank Gallacher). Tanya gets a job as a waitress and she warms to Robert. Things are looking up, until Amy runs away from an encounter with a drunken neighbour (William Zappa). She wanders alone in the city, as neighbours and police begin a massive (and musical) search.'
Source: Australian Screen. (Sighted: 30/9/2014)
Writing Disability in Australia
| Type of disability | Deafness and muteness (acquired by trauma). |
| Type of character | Primary. |
| Point of view | Third person. |
