EMU RUNNER

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Mild themes and coarse language

Emu Runner is a lyrical story about the impact a mother's death has on an Aboriginal family living in an isolated community. The story is seen through the eyes of Gem, a spirited 8-year-old girl, who deals with the grief of her mother's death by forging a bond with a wild emu, a mythical bird of her ancestors.

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None Very mild
impact Mild
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impact
Themes
Violence Very mild impact
Language
Drug use Very mild impact
Nudity None
Sex None

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Very mild impact
Mild impact
Moderate impact
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The film is a sensitive exploration of the way a young Aboriginal girl, Gemma (aged about 9 years) and her family and community grieve for her dead mother and respond to the death. Gemma's connection to country is heightened as she befriends an emu, her totem, who helps her through her grieving process.

Themes

The themes include death, grief and loss, misunderstandings about the importance of country to Aboriginals, and racial tensions. They are all handled in a mild way, and primary-school aged children and teens will be able to relate readily. Gemma's mother unexpectedly dies while on a bushwalk with her daughters. The bereaved father, Jay Jay, assisted by relatives, resolves to keep the family together, but initially struggles to find a way to help Gemma.

Gemma starts to skip school so that she can watch the emu. In order to feed the emu, she steals food from various townspeople. Later in the film she apologises to them and makes amends.

Violence

Jay Jay is viewed briefly involved in a scuffle/punch-up on the town's main street, as a result of Gemma being used to make a drug delivery.

Language

Five uses of coarse language in the form of the words, "shit"; "bloody"; "damn".

Drug use

Gemma's brother, Ecka, uses her to make a drug delivery for him to a house, as he is laid up in hospital.

Industry details

Classification date

8 May 2019

Year of production

2018

Classification

Consumer advice

Mild themes and coarse language

EMU RUNNER

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