Boy on Fire (Feature)

By Alies Sluiter

BARB (40’s), is a drifter who takes a teaching position at the juvenile state prison, where she’s tasked with rehabilitating CAIN, a 17-year-old who murdered a female classmate when he was twelve. An unlikely bond develops that causes both of them to question how they came to be who they are and seek redemption for their actions.

An excerpt from this project will be performed as part of Screenwriting Night on Friday, April 23 at 7:00pm ET

Alies grew up in Australia on a farm with no electricity and enjoyed an international career as a violinist and AACTA nominated composer before becoming a filmmaker. She’s a Berlinale Talent Campus alumna, a 2020 BAFTA Newcomer, a John Monash Scholar and graduate of the MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University, where she was awarded a Screenwriting Fellowship.

Her short Ayaan, has been nominated for over 20 awards and won 15, including Best Student Director from the Australian Directors Guild, Adelaide Film Festival Audience Award, National Board of Review Motion Pictures Award, Grand Jury Prize at the South Australian Screen Awards, IFP Audience Award and the Adrienne Shelly Best Female Director Award.

Her screenplay Boy on Fire won the 2020 Arthur J. Harris Memorial Prize.