The opportunity to produce Emu Runner has been as rewarding as it has been challenging. The unconventional processes involved in making the film have seen the complete range of human emotions laid bare and approaches to ‘doing things’ tested to the limit but… we have got there.
Emu Runner is a film about many things. The most important aspect of the film is the commitment given to it by all the people of the Brewarrina community; without their unshakeable support, it just would not have happened. The film tells the story about one family’s strength in recovering from terrible loss. The loss that the character of Gem, the film’s protagonist, struggles with throughout the film is taken back at the end through the catharsis of many characters in the film and how their experience strengthens their spirits and enables them to move beyond the pain of losing someone close, of losing someone’s respect and taking charge of their lives.
This story is everyone’s story. Emu Runner belongs to the Brewarrina Community. The film starts and stops with the Brewarrina Community. The only outcome that Imogen and I hope to achieve in making this film is that it can, in some way, provide the people of Brewarrina with a strong foundation to stand fast and be very proud of who they are, where they are from and where they are going. Brewarrina is a positive community where positive things happen. It is time to show the world.
—Victor Evatt 2018
