Monday, March 30, 2015

Letter to Screen Australia Board re 3 year old ban, dated 10th March 2015



20 days ago I sent the following letter to the Screen Australia Board. I have received no reply:

Members of the Screen Australia Board
Level 7, 45 Jones St
Ultimo 2007

10th March 2015

Dear Deanne Weir,
         Rosemary Blight
         Al Clarke
         Ross Entwistle
         Claudia Karvan
         Richard Keddie
         Matthew Leibmann
         Joan Peters

It is now close to 3 years since I was banned by the Screen Australia board, at Ruth Harley’s request.  I have yet to be provided with evidence that I intimidated or placed at risk members of Screen Australia’s staff – the ostensible reason for the ban.

When, in late 2012, after months of asking, my requests for evidence were ignored,
I arrived at the foyer of Screen Australia and sat quietly waiting to be provided with such evidence. Fiona Cameron called the police in the middle of the afternoon and had me arrested for trespassing!   

Undeterred I arrived at Screen Australia’s foyer a second time some weeks later and, again, sat quietly in the foyer waiting to be provided with evidence of my crimes. Again Fiona Cameron called the police and had me arrested. I spent the weekend in jail for the crime of insisting that I be provided with evidence that I had intimidated and placed at risk members of Screen Australia’s staff.

I was subsequently found guilty in court of trespassing! For sitting quietly in the Screen Australia foyer during business hours!

In May 2014 the board of which you are members banned me for a further two years. The reason given was expressed in the following way:

“That your deliberate, repeated and inappropriate personal attacks on Screen Australia staff through letters and internet publications appear intended to humiliate and damage the reputation of Screen Australia staff in a way that is unacceptable to Screen Australia.”

My many requests that I be provided with examples of when I had engaged in “inappropriate personal attacks…intended to humiliate and damage the reputation of Screen Australia staff” have been ignored.

As was the case with the first set of allegations (intimidation, placing at risk) it was not possible for me to respond to these new allegations without knowing which of my comments were deemed to have been ‘inappropriate personal attacks.’

Natural justice demands that any person accused of a crime be provided with evidence that’s/he has committed a crime so that he or she can mount a defense. I have been denied this right for close to three years now.

In the absence of any evidence I have to presume that what my ‘inappropriate personal attacks’ boil down to two things. One is that right from Screen Australia’s inception I was a vocal and public critic of Ruth Harley’s management style. The second is my insistence that Screen Australia be both accountable and transparent in its decision-making; that Fiona Cameron should not be allowed to place on file demonstrably untrue statements.

It was my continued insistence that Fiona Cameron correct the misinformation she had placed on file that led, ultimately, to my being banned. Instead of addressing the problem, Ruth Harley decided it was best to ban the filmmaker! And the board went along with her decision!  

The ban that you collectively continue to endorse has effectively ended my career as an Australian filmmaker.

Yet again, I request that the board provide me with evidence that I intimidated and placed at risk members of Screen Australia’s staff  and of my “inappropriate personal attacks…intended to humiliate and damage the reputation of Screen Australia staff.”

best wishes

James Ricketson


Monday, March 16, 2015

# 1 HONEY




1 INT. CHURCH. DAY`


A match is lit in a dimly lit church vestibule.

A girl's hand, holding the burning match, lights a votive candle, illuminating 9 year old JASPER. 

In a high wide shot JASPER carries the candle across the vestibule, places it alongside other burning candles. 

A small congregation watches a PRIEST swinging a smoking incense-filled silver thurible on either side of a coffin at the other end of the church.

JASPER, her blonde hair short-cropped, moves her hand back and forth through the candle flames - caressing them, being caressed by them.

JASPER looks in the direction of the coffin.

JASPER (VOICE OVER)
'I just want to be normal', Honey used to say...

DISSOLVE  THROUGH TO:

2 INT. CAR. OUTSIDE PUB. LATE AFTERNOON

HONEY, late teens, seen through a dirty windscreen. Her face, bathed in late afternoon sun, glistens with a sheen of sweat.

JASPER (voice over)
'Just normal'.

HONEY’S attention is focused on:

A family in an outdoors beer garden. The MOTHER sits alongside the FATHER as their DAUGHTER, 16, tells them an animated story, her words barely audible above pub chatter. 

CLOSE ON HONEY, watching.

The MOTHER and FATHER laugh at their DAUGHTER'S story. The MOTHER laughs, looks at the FATHER lovingly. He smiles, wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulls her close, kisses her cheek. The DAUGHTER glows with happiness as she registers her parents’ love of each other; of her. A happy family.

HONEY watches intently.

The DAUGHTER finishes her story, takes a theatrical bow. Her MOTHER and FATHER laugh.  THE DAUGHTER walks up. The FATHER holds out his free arm, embraces his DAUGHTER, pulls her close, kisses her cheek.

HONEY lifts her smart phone into frame, takes a photo. The wrist of her hand is bound with a dirty bandage.

3 EXT. PUB. DAY

HONEY sits in a battered old blue Holden sedan, outside a pub in a small arid outback Australian town.

4 INT. CAR. DAY

HONEY, wearing jeans and an open neck shirt, bundles her hair and ties it in a knot, her eyes on the family. One arm is bandaged from wrist to elbow.
On the seat beside her is a tattered blue teddy bear with one eye and one arm missing. Her journal rests in her lap, the open double page filled with:

Colourful drawings, inspirational hand-written quotes, snippets of poems, a photo of an octopus cut from a magazine, an artist's impression of Joan of Arc burning at the stake, a photo of herself with short blonde hair, a leaf etc.

HONEY turns to two blank pages. She writes:

How much blood…

She continues writing for a moment, then looks up to see:

The MOTHER, FATHER and DAUGHTER, walk out of the beer garden, laughing, past a table at which THREE MEN sit drinking beer.

HONEY'S face darkens as focuses on one of the three men:

JOHN, late 40's, his hair thinning, missing a few front teeth, his flushed red face sporting a three day beard. He is very drunk as he regales his companions with a tall story they clearly take with a grain of salt.

HONEY watches JOHN for a long moment before flicking back through a few pages of her journal (each one filled to the brim with words, images, photos, press clippings) to a slightly fire damaged photo of:

Honey, aged seven, sitting alongside Carol (her mother, we will learn) - her face broken with an exhilarated happy smile as she looks up at her smiling mother.

HONEY looks at the photo for a long moment; remembering.

5 INT. YOUNG HONEY'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

YOUNG HONEY, aged 7, lies awake in her bed; fear in her eyes. She clings to her blue teddy bear - both arms and eyes intact. She hears footsteps outside, turns to face away from the door to her room, closes her eyes.

Honey’s mother, CAROL (recognizable from the photo seen earlier), wearing a white night dress, opens the door, walks in, makes her way to Honey’s bed; kneels.

HONEY facing away from CAROL, opens her eyes; scared.

JOHN  (voice off)
Fucken bullshit!

6 INT. CAR OUTSIDE PUB. LATE AFTERNOON

HONEY, asleep in the passenger seat, wakens in shock. JOHN, sitting in the driver's seat, drunk, reads her journal.

JOHN
Fucken bitch cunt...

HONEY reaches out to grab her journal. JOHN throws it out the window, starts the car.

HONEY (screams)
No!

7 EXT. CAR OUTSIDE PUB. LATE AFTERNOON

HONEY leaps out of the car in a panic as JOHN starts to drive off. As she starts to pick up her broken journal - photos, newspaper clippings, pressed flowers etc, - JOHN stops a little down the road.

HONEY inspects her damaged journal. JOHN backs up, pulls alongside HONEY crouched at the side of the road.

JOHN
Get in.

HONEY shakes her head. JOHN staggers out of the car, grabs HONEY, pushes her into the passenger's seat.

8 INT. CAR OUTSIDE PUB. LATE AFTERNOON

HONEY flips through her journal as JOHN staggers around the back of the car and falls into the driver's seat. HONEY looks for something in her journal but can't find it.  She panics as JOHN starts the car, pulls out onto the road. 

HONEY (screams)
Stop.

9 EXT. CAR OUTSIDE PUB. LATE AFTERNOON

HONEY leaps from the moving car, runs back, looks for something in a panic but can't find it. And then she sees it, picks it up. It is:

The photo of herself and her mother.

10 INT. MOTEL ROOM. NIGHT

JOHN, in underpants only, sits on a single bed watching TV as he drinks from a longneck bottle of beer. He is very drunk.

HONEY, in jeans and shirt, sits on another bed, repairing her journal with sticky tape. She prepares to secures the photo of herself and her mother on the roller coaster alongside:

A photo of an octopus clinging to a rock underwater.

HONEY becomes aware that JOHN is standing beside her. She closes her journal, clutches it to her protectively.

JOHN (drunk)
Bedtime.

HONEY looks at him, scared. She shakes her head. 

JOHN
Get into the fucken bed.

HONEY shakes her head. JOHN reaches out to grab her journal. HONEY clutches it to her chest. JOHN grabs her. HONEY breaks away from him, runs into the adjacent bathroom, stands under the shower recess, clutching her journal to her, terrified.

JOHN staggers to the door, a large hunting knife in his hand.

JOHN
Get into the fucken bed.

HONEY shakes her head.

HONEY 
I don't care if you kill me.

JOHN holds the knife to his own throat.

JOHN
It's me I'll fucken kill!

HONEY watches, transfixed, as JOHN runs the knife across his scrawny chest, draws blood. He reaches past HONEY, turns the shower tap on. Water showers down on HONEY. HONEY clutches her journal close to protect it from the water for a moment, then walks from the shower, past JOHN, into the bedroom, calmly wiping water from her journal.

She places it on the table, moves to JOHN'S bed, lies on her back, stares at the ceiling.

JOHN, knife at his side, watches her, drops the knife, staggers to the bed, flops alongside HONEY.

JOHN
You’re a fucken mad bitch, Katie!

HONEY turns to him, grabs him, wraps her arms around him, holds him tight.

HONEY
I'm sorry.

JOHN pats her reassuringly: “It's OK”.

11 INT. YOUNG HONEY'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

YOUNG HONEY, eyes open, listens. She can hear CAROL’ breathing as she stands staring at the back of her head. 

There is madness CAROL’S tear-filled eyes as she reaches out, as if to touch HONEY.

HONEY can see the shadow of CAROL’S out-stretched arm. Her eyes open wide in terror.

CAROLD turns, walks to the door, closes it quietly behind her.

YOUNG HONEY turns quickly, stares at the door, puzzled. She sits up; thinking.

12 EXT. YOUNG HONEY'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

From outside, framed by a window, YOUNG HONEY, clutching her blue teddy bear is seen walking from her bed to the window. She looks out of it, puzzled.

When the significance of what she is looking at dawns on her, YOUNG HONEY'S
puzzlement turns into fear.

13 INT. MOTEL ROOM. NIGHT

HONEY wakes in a  panic, her face wet with sweat. She stares at the ceiling for a
long moment, a 'mad' look in her eyes. JOHN is asleep beside her, snoring.

HONEY swings her legs off the bed, stands, sees the hunting knife lying on the floor. She stares at it.

HONEY walks up to the bed, stares at JOHN. Her breathing is heavy and fast.

HONEY raises the knife slowly to shoulder level with her right bandaged arm, her whole body shaking.

14 INT. CHURCH. DAY

CLOSE ON JASPER as she walks down the aisle of the church, a bunch of flowers in her hands. The congregation is small.

JASPER (voice over)
When Honey asked me what I wanted most in my life I said, 'Well, I know one thing for sure. The last thing I want is to be normal.'

Loud heavy metal rock and roll.

15 INT. JASPER’S BEDROOM. DAY

Loud heavy metal rock and roll continues over JASPER, earphones in her ears, hair tied in a tight pony tail, pencil moustache glued to her upper lip, bopping along to the music.

JASPER is skinny, flat-chested and has a silver crucifix hanging from her neck. She stands in front of a mirror playing air-guitar, imagining herself an androgynous rock star. She tries out different stock rock-star facial expressions. When she has found the one she likes most (macho ‘don’t fuck with me’) she takes a photo of her reflected image with her smart phone.

16 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 is heard over: HELEN, mid 30's, pretty, her blonde streaked hair stylishly groomed, holding a framed photo. She looks at it for a long moment, sadness in her eyes as she remembers.

A white leather lounge suite and large aquarium filled with exotic tropical fish dominate and neat, tidy and spotlessly clean room. The walls are adorned with framed black and white professionally shot photos.

HELEN looks at the photo of:

A 9 year old girl who looks more than a little like Jasper, a violin and bow in one hand, looking with a happy smile up at the woman by her side. The woman, in her mid 30s, bears a striking resemblance to Helen.

17 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. DAY

JASPER, wearing a dress, her lips bright red, stuffs socks into her training bra, appraises her reflected image, reaches behind her neck, unties her pony tail and lets her long blonde hair fall around her shoulders. She shakes her head, flicks her hair with her fingers until she has achieved the desired ‘ruffled’ look, takes a photo with her smart phone.

18 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY

HELEN finishes hammering a stud into the wall, pauses for a moment to pay full attention to a much-loved part of the Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor.

She moves across the room, past the dining table set for three, turns up the volume on state-of-the art music deck; lingers for a moment, eyes closed, savouring the music.

19 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. DAY

JASPER stares at her smart phone; at a photo of herself:

A beautiful young woman with breasts, her face framed by a mane of golden blonde
hair.

20 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY

HELEN lifts the photo of the girl with the violin and her mother and hangs it from the stud in the wall. The stud gives way, the photo falls, disappears from frame. The sound of shattering glass.

21 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. DAY

JASPER stares at herself in the mirror for a long moment, looks down at:

A pair of scissors on the dressing table.

22 INT. BATHROOM. DAY

HELEN stands in front of a three mirrored bathroom cabinet looking at the small cut on her finger.

As she lifts her bloody finger to put it in her mouth she looks back at her reflection in the mirror. Dissatisfied with what she sees, HELEN opens one of the mirror doors so that she can see a reflection of her profile. She then reaches out to move the third mirror so that she can see her other profile and catches, in reflection:

JASPER, her hair cut crudely short. HELEN reacts with shock.

23 EXT. DESERT LANDSCAPE. DAY

John’s Blue Holden drives on a deserted highway through a vast desert landscape.

NEWS READER (radio)
…Another scorcher predicted for today…

24 INT. CAR. DAY

CLOSE ON Honey’s journal:

A collage - a pressed flower, a caricature of a smiling octopus, a post card of a green fern seedling curling up from barren bushfire-burnt soil, a photo of Honey with red hair.

HONEY, in the passenger seat, positions the photo of herself and her mother but seems to be in two minds about sticking it back into her journal.
Her left arm is bandaged from wrist to elbow with a fresh white bandage. The bandage on her right arm is dirty and tattered. Her battered blue teddy bear, one arm missing, sits on the dash.

NEWS READER (radio)
…with no relief in sight for the heat that…

HONEY reaches out to change the station. JOHN, driving, sips beer from a bottle, reaches out to stop her.

NEWS READER (radio)
…saw temperatures in the high 30s yesterday…

HONEY withdraws her hand for a moment. When JOHN withdraws his, she reaches out quickly and changes to a music channel:

RADIO
“One day a near Selina Lord, I let him slip away…”

JOHN smiles, hands the bottle of beer to HONEY.

RADIO
“He's lookin' for that home, and I hope he finds it…”

As HONEY takes a swig of beer, JOHN turns the music down.

RADIO

“But I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday to be…”

HONEY reaches out, turns the music up again. JOHN holds his hands up: “OK, you
win.” HONEY smiles, returns to her journal.

RADIO
“…holdin' Bobby's body next to mine…”

25 EXT. OUTBACK ROAD. DAY

John's beat up old blue Holden passes a sign: THANK YOU FOR VISITING SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Singing over from the radio.

RADIO
“Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose…”

26 EXT. ROADSIDE CAFÉ. DAY

HONEY stands by the driver’s door, rolling the sleeves of her shirt over her bandaged arms. She is not happy.

JOHN, in the drivers seat, hands her a cheque book through the window. She glares at him, turns petulantly and walks towards the café. JOHN watches her, takes out a cigarette.

27 INT. ROADSIDE CAFE. DAY

HONEY carries meat pies, a loaf of sliced white bread and assorted junk food to the counter.

HONEY places a cheque on the counter. The PROPRIETRESS behind the counter notices the bandages protruding from her sleeves, points to a sign:  SORRY NO CHEQUES

PROPRIETRESS
Sorry dear!

HONEY
Dad's wallet got stolen.

The PROPRIETRESS glances to where JOHN, in the background, fills the car with petrol. She raises her eyebrows questioningly. HONEY flashes an innocent young girl's smile.

HONEY
Cross my heart and hope to die.

PROPRIETRESS (smiles)
Well I hope you don't die, dear. Not for a long time yet.

A LITTLE LATER

HONEY standing in the doorway of the café, clutching her arm full of food. The PROPRIETRESS looks at bandages protruding from HONEY'S short sleeves.

PROPRIETRESS
Does your mother know where you are?

In the background JOHN can be seen leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette, watching HONEY like a hawk.

HONEY
My mother's dead.

PROPRIETRESS
Oh, I'm sorry dear. So it's just you and your dad?

HONEY looks back towards JOHN, nods.

28 INT. CAR. OUTBACK ROAD. DAY

JOHN drives on a deserted outback road. HONEY sweats profusely, her face pale, looking fearfully at her shoulder, as if there was something frightening resting there.

JOHN looks at HONEY with concern. 

JOHN
Katie!

HONEY covers her ears, closes her eyes, opens them, tries to flick away whatever it
is she sees on her shoulder.

JOHN takes a vial of pills from his pocket, hands them to HONEY. With shaking hands, her eyes on her shoulder, HONEY tips out 10 or so pills. JOHN knocks them from her hand.

JOHN
Three!

HONEY nods, picks up three tablets, throws them in her mouth. JOHN hands her his can of beer. HONEY washes the pills down with a swig, looks at her shoulder again - terrified.

LATER

HONEY, calm now (the pills have worked) is flicking through photos stored on her smart phone:

‘Selfies’ of Honey taken over the past couple of years, with a variety of different hair styles and colours, and eccentric modes of dress.

HONEY looks at JOHN, at her bandaged arms, at the road ahead; thinking. She looks back at JOHN again. He turns and smiles at her. HONEY ignores him. HONEY looks back down at her smart phone, finds the photo she is looking for:

A wide shot of the beer garden that includes John and his two companions and the happy family. Using her thumb and fore-finger, Honey zooms in on the family: mum, dad and daughter laughing together.

29 EXT. DANIEL'S HOUSE. LATE AFTERNOON

DANIEL, 40ish, pulls up on his Harley Davison, alongside a large white SUV in the driveway - in front of a large timber home of modern design.

JASPER runs through the front door and down the path. 

As DANIEL gets off his motor-bike he registers JASPER'S short hair with shock.

HELEN appears in the front doorway.

JASPER (excited)
Tell me you like it?

Before DANIEL has a chance to respond HELEN indicates with a shrug and upheld hands that she had nothing to do with this.

DANIEL
We had an agreement.

JASPER
You and mum had an agreement!

DANIEL shakes his head. JASPER smiles seductively, holds out her arms. DANIEL holds up his hands (’No’), walks past her, towards HELEN - who makes an ‘I don’t know what to say’ gesture. JASPER pouts for a moment, runs after her father.

30 EXT. OUTBACK AUSTRALIA. CLOSE TO SUNSET

HONEY crouches close to the edge of a bluff overlooking a vast outback landscape, a box of matches in her hands. In front of her is a pile of leaves and twigs.

HONEY strikes a match, places it under the leaves and twigs, watches as the fire bursts into life.

HONEY, mesmerized by the flames for a long moment, extracts credit cards with a variety of names, and throws them into the fire. She extracts a driver's license with a photo of herself with short hair and throws it in the fire. Then a Medicare card.

Deep in the background JOHN paces impatiently up and down beside the blue Holden.

HONEY takes from her pocket the photo of herself and her mother, Carol, seen earlier, throws it into the fire. She watches as the edges turn brown and begin to burn.

In a sudden movement she reaches down and plucks the photo from the fire.

31 INT. DINING ROOM. DUSK

JASPER, face up close to the aquarium, purses her lips, kisses a tropical fish on the other side of the glass as DANIEL, in the background, pours kerosene into the burner at the base of the chafing dish on the dining room table while HELEN moves first course dishes aside.

DANIEL
You want to look like a boy?

JASPER turns to face DANIEL - grins, nods.

JASPER
You and mum always wanted a boy.

DANIEL
Not a Tomboy.

DANIEL lights the burner under the chafing dish.

JASPER
Well, if you and mum make me a brother I'll grow my hair and act like a girl.

HELEN (smiles)
Will you now?

HELEN pours Brandy from the bottle into a measuring cup as JASPER walks up, dips her finger in a pot of honey, puts her finger in her mouth.

HELEN  
You washed your hands?

JASPER ignores HELEN as she pours the Brandy into the pan.

JASPER
Anyhow, it's my hair!

DANIEL
Your mother just asked you question!

JASPER
Yes, I've washed my hands… millions of times.

DANIEL
Jas, you asked if you could cut your hair. We said no. It's…

JASPER
But it's my hair and…

DANIEL
When you're an adult you can choose, but…

JASPER
That's discrimination

DANIEL
Jasper! How many times…?

JASPER
But dad…

HELEN 
Hey, you two! I really do not want an argument right now…

The Brandy in the flambé pan is boiling now.

JASPER
When's a good time for an argument, mum?

HELEN smiles, takes a long match from a box.

HELEN
How about 10.15 tomorrow?  I think! Have to check my diary.

JASPER laughs. HELEN strikes the match alight.

HELEN
You want honey or maple syrup?

JASPER
Both.

HELEN smiles as she lights the Brandy fumes. Flames leap up.

JASPER grins at DANIEL. He smiles, shakes his head playfully: ‘What are we going to do with you?’ JASPER smiles happily.

32 INT. CAR. NIGHT

HONEY drives. She is happy. JOHN is sound asleep in the passenger seat, unfazed by the loud disco music.

HONEY looks at the speedometer:

100 kms per hour.

She presses hard on the accelerator.

120 kms per hour

HONEY smiles to herself, turns the music up. Loud.

33 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

JASPER lies in bed. DANIEL stands by the door, his hand on the light switch. JASPER holds her arms out, beckoning.

JASPER
Kiss!

DANIEL moves to Jasper's bed, leans in to kiss her on the cheek. JASPER smiles, wraps her arms around DANIEL'S neck, tries to pull him close. DANIEL resists, tickles JASPER till she releases him in a gale of laughter. DANIEL pouts his lips, kisses JASPER on the lips.

JASPER
Not a fish kiss.

DANIEL pouts his lips even more - pretends to be a fish - kisses her again. JASPER laughs.

34 INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

DANIEL cleans his teeth in an en suite bathroom. Through the doorway, in the bedroom, HELEN sits immobile on the edge of the double bed.

35 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

HELEN, lost in her memories - looking at a leaflet:

IN REQUIEM written above a photo of her mother. Underneath, the words: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

DANIEL stands in the doorway, looks at HELEN for a long moment, walks forward, puts his hand affectionately on her shoulder. She makes it clear she does not want to be touched. DANIEL nods, moves his hand away.

36 INT. JASPER'S ROOM. NIGHT

JASPER holds her hands in prayer under her chin.

JASPER
Please take good care of grandma in heaven and tell her I miss her heaps and…well, if it's not too much to ask, a baby brother would be…awesome…

37 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

DANIEL lie apart in the dark. HELEN stares at the ceiling. DANIEL, lying on his side, reaches out, strokes her hair. She does not respond to his touch but, after a long moment, turns to look at DANIEL - her eyes glistening with tears.

DANIEL
Hey…!

HELEN brushes the tears from her eyes, gestures with her hands: “I don't want to talk about it.” DANIEL nods, stares back up at the ceiling, caught up in some inner turmoil.

HELEN turns away, caught up in her own inner turmoil.

38 EXT. SIDE OF HIGHWAY. NIGHT

John’s car is parked in a culvert at the side of the highway. HONEY finishes unscrewing the rear number plate, places it in the open trunk, alongside boxes of electronic equipment. She selects another number plate from a small pile.

39 EXT. GAS STATION. NIGHT

JOHN finishes filling the tank with petrol.

HONEY watches him from the driver’s seat, his eyes also on the INDIAN CASHIER
serving another motorist inside.

JOHN lingers at the bowser until HONEY nods - the cashier’s attention focused on swiping the customer’s credit card.

JOHN gets into the passenger seat. HONEY drives out of the gas station, fast. The INDIAN CASHIER can be seen in the background running out towards the bowsers.

40 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

DANIEL and HELEN lie in bed - DANIEL with his eyes on the ceiling, HELEN turned away from him. She turns, looks at DANIEL, an intensity in her eyes; a longing that is driving her crazy. DANIEL pretends not to notice.

HELEN (angry)
Daniel? (A BEAT) Look at me.

DANIEL exhales. He does not want to.

HELEN moves close, takes his head in her hands, forces DANIEL to look at him. He complies unwillingly. She moves her head close to his, kisses him on the lips. A passionate kiss. DANIEL allows the kiss to happen but does not reciprocate.

HELEN
Fuck you.

DANIEL stares at her with a mixture of hurt and confusion.

HELEN takes off her nightie sits astride him, reaches down, takes his cock in her hand.

DANIEL does nothing to either stop HELEN or encourage her.

They stare at each other for as long as it takes for HELEN’S HAND to make his cock erect and herself ready to accept it. HELEN then lowers herself onto it, guides it inside her.

DANIEL reaches up, grabs two handfuls of HELEN’S hair, pulls her head down, kisses her passionately.

HELEN’S eyes, wide open, are just centimeters from DANIEL’S eyes - resolutely closed.

As they have wild animal sex DANIEL closes his eyes. HELEN keeps her eyes open.

41 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

JASPER reads an illustrated bible book - the double page spread in front of her:

Above an illustration of scantily clad women and lecherous men looking up at the yellow liquid descending upon them from on high, “THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN BURNING SULPHUR ON SODOM AND GOMORRAGH.”

42 EXT. SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE. NIGHT

The blue Holden drives across the Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House in the background.

43 INT. CAR. NIGHT

HONEY looks excitedly through the windscreen as she drives over the Harbour Bridge. JOHN is asleep in the passenger seat, snoring. HONEY nudges him.

HONEY  
Wake up y'old codger!

JOHN wakes, looks out the window.

JOHN (smiles)
Well here we be! Good on ya, Katie. You're a good girl.

HONEY
And you're a bad man.

JOHN smiles.

HONEY
You hungry?

JOHN
Could eat the crotch out of a low flying crow.

HONEY laughs.

JOHN
Only problem is...

HONEY looks at him.

JOHN
We’re skint. Not a brass razoo...

HONEY
But you said...

JOHN (angry)
I know what I fucken said.

HONEY
But...

JOHN (apoplectic)
Shut the fuck up...

HONEY withdraws into herself.

44 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

DANIEL looks up at the ceiling. HELEN, asleep, is snuggled up to him, her left hand on his chest. DANIEL takes her hand and moves if gently from his chest. He then slips out of bed, careful not to wake her.

DANIEL finishes dressing, turns and sees HELEN looking at him. She shakes her head, smiles, holds her arms out to him beckoning him to come back to bed.

DANIEL
I won't be long.

HELEN nods, withdraws her arms.

45 INT. JASPER'S BEDROOM. NIGHT

JASPER, asleep, wakes as she hears a door close. She gets out of bed, walks to the window, stands in the dark, watching:

DANIEL push his Harley down the street, kick-start it.

She returns to her bed, climbs into it, lies in the dark; thinking. With one hand she reaches up, takes hold of the silver crucifix around her neck, shuts her eyes and prays silently. She hears a door close, opens her eyes, looks to the door to her room.

The crack at the bottom of the door lights up. She hears her mother’s footsteps in the hallway.

46 EXT. CITY STREET. NIGHT

DANIEL, on his Harley, drives along a suburban road - a camera hanging around his neck. He leans into a sharp curve. The footrest grazes the bitumen, sends up red sparks.

47 INT. HELEN AND DANIEL’S ROOM. NIGHT

JASPER  walks into her parents’ empty  bedroom, walks to a window overlooking the back yard, through which she sees:

HELEN making her way from the back door, past the swimming pool, to the ‘Granny Flat’ at the rear of the property.

48 EXT. CAR. HARRY’S CAFE DE WHEELS. WOOLOOMOOLOO. NIGHT

The blue Holden is parked opposite HARRY’S CAFE DE WHEELS. Inside the car

HONEY and JOHN pool their small change.

HONEY
Enough for one pie! One fucking pie!

JOHN
OK, OK, don’t fucken rub it in. I’ll think of something...

49 INT. 'GRANNY FLAT'. DANIEL AND HELEN'S HOUSE. NIGHT

HELEN, her cheeks streaked with tears, sits on the bed.

There are several vases filled with dead and wilting flowers. HELEN stands, takes a bunch of dead flowers from a vase, holds them for a moment as tears well. She wills herself not to cry, puts the dead flowers back in the vase.

JASPER (voice off)
Mum.

HELEN turns. JASPER, in her nightdress, is standing in the doorway. HELEN wipes the tears from her eyes.

HELEN
Can't sleep?

JASPER shakes her head, walks up wraps her arms around HELEN.

50 EXT. KING'S CROSS. NIGHT

DANIEL drives past night clubs, strip joints and hookers in Sydney's 'red light' district.

51 INT. ‘GRANNY FLAT’. NIGHT

HELEN lying in the bed, covers thrown back, opens her arms, beckons JASPER with a smile. JASPER climbs in beside her mother, places her head on HELEN’S breast.

JASPER
I can hear your heart going boom boom, boom…really fast.

HELEN smiles, strokes JASPER'S hair affectionately.

52 EXT. KING'S CROSS BACK STREET. NIGHT

DANIEL drives past a mobile 'soup kitchen' from which food is being dispensed to HOMELESS PEOPLE. He waves. Some wave back.

53 EXT. HARRY’S CAFE DE WHEELS. WOOLOOMOOLOO. NIGHT

DANIEL drives past the blue Holden, inside which HONEY and JOHN argue, turns left, drives into darkened back streets.

54 INT. CAR. NIGHT

HONEY, subdued, her anger held in, sits alongside JOHN.

HONEY
You promised.

JOHN
You wanna fucken eat or what?

HONEY stares at JOHN, open-mouthed in shock.

JOHN avoids eye-contact, opens a bottle of pills, indicates to HONEY to hold out her hand. She shakes her head.

JOHN
Hold out ya fucken hand.

HONEY winces, holds out her hand. JOHN tips three into HONEY’s outstretched palm. She throws them into her mouth, swallows them with a grimace. HONEY grabs the pill bottle out of JOHN’S hands. He doesn’t try to stop her.

JOHN
Just be careful...

HONEY glares at him.

55 INT. ‘GRANNY FLAT’. NIGHT

JASPER lies with her head on HELEN’S  breast.

JASPER
Mum?

HELEN          
Mmmm?

JASPER
Did I do something to hurt dad's feelings?

HELEN
What makes you think that?

JASPER shrugs, hugs HELEN tight. HELEN strokes JASPER'S hair.

JASPER
He doesn't dad want to cuddle me anymore.

HELEN
Because you're a young woman now.

JASPER
But I haven't even got any boobs yet.

HELEN (laughs)
You don't need boobs to be a woman.

JASPER
Why's it OK to cuddle you but not dad?

HELEN
When you're older you'll understand.

JASPER
When I'm a woman?

HELEN laughs, holds JASPER tight.

56 EXT. BACK STREET. WOOLLOOMOOLOO. NIGHT

DANIEL drives slowly, looking for someone. Up ahead he sees  GRANT, late 60s, shuffling along the footpath pushing a supermarket trolley filled with his worldly possessions. 

DANIEL stops, gets off his motor bike, grabs the camera slung around his neck, slinks across the road - stalking GRANT, camera at the ready, looking for a good angle.

As he prepares to take a photo a police car drives by, siren blaring. GRANT turns to look at the police car. Click. 

DANIEL has captured the moment. GRANT sees DANIEL, recognizes him, waves.

DANIEL smiles, raises his hand in greeting.

57 EXT. KINGS CROSS. NIGHT

HONEY, a small backpack slung over her shoulder, stands at the side of the road in Kings Cross, keeping her distance from THREE PROSTITUTES who do not appreciate the youthful competition. HONEY looks miserable.

JOHN watches her the other side of the road.

A car pulls up. HONEY walks up to the passenger window, leans in, talks for a moment to the (unseen) driver. HONEY makes eye contact with JOHN, gets into the car. It drives off.

58 EXT. GRANT'S 'HOME'. NIGHT

DANIEL hands GRANT a supermarket grocery bag, sits with him on a section of pavement that is Grant's 'home'. GRANT’S hair is matted, unwashed; his clothes dirty.

DANIEL
Tomorrow night.

GRANT (chuckles)
Have to check my diary.

DANIEL smiles, hands GRANT a post card photo of:

Grant, eyes blazing in his ragged face, staring into the camera in a moment of intense intimacy. Across the photo are the words GRACE OF GOD.

GRANT looks at the photo, turns it over, reads what is written there, hands it back to
DANIEL.

GRANT
I prefer my memories.

DANIEL nods.

59 INT. BACK STREET. NIGHT

HONEY sits in the passenger seat, looking nervously at a YOUNG MAN in the driver's seat. He is as nervous as she is.

YOUNG MAN
You'll think I'm totally weird.

HONEY
I don't do…weird stuff…

YOUNG MAN
It's not that…

Tears well in his eyes.

YOUNG MAN
I'm just…so lonely.

HONEY reaches out, takes his hand.

The YOUNG MAN starts to cry. So does HONEY. They look at each other crying and can't help but laugh.

YOUNG MAN
Told you I was weird.

HONEY
Hey, join the club.

YOUNG MAN
You wanna drink?

HONEY nods. The YOUNG MAN reaches into the back seat and produces a cask of wine.

60 EXT. GRANT'S 'HOME'. NIGHT

Seen through the lens of Daniel's camera:

GRANT holds a freshly opened packed of cigarettes out to DANIEL - who takes a photo. Click. DANIEL refuses a cigarette with a shake of his head, lowers the camera.

DANIEL
Trying to resist temptation.

GRANT reaches for Daniel's camera.

DANIEL
What?

GRANT
Want to get a photo of you trying to resist temptation.

DANIEL laughs hands GRANT his camera.

GRANT
I've just got to press this button, right?

DANIEL nods, looks into the lens. He waits and waits.

DANIEL 
What are you waiting for?

GRANT
For you to look like you're resisting temptation.

DANIEL laughs. Click. A happy snap!

GRANT
You a happy man, Daniel?

DANIEL smiles, looks at GRANT - whose eyes are focused on his. DANIEL is unnerved by the intensity of his stare.

GRANT
Maybe that’s not the right question?

61 INT. GRANNY FLAT. NIGHT

JASPER is asleep on HELEN'S breast. The fingers of one of JASPER'S hands are intertwined with HELEN'S.

HELEN’S face is a battle-field of emotions.

62 INT. CAR. KINGS CROSS. NIGHT

HONEY, quite drunk, the cask of wine resting in her lap, indicates to the YOUNG MAN, driving, to drop her close to JOHN, standing on the pavement ahead. The YOUNG MAN slows.

HONEY
No, keep driving…

HONEY, plastic cup in hand, slinks low in the seat as they drive past JOHN, a look of panic in her eyes.

63 EXT. GRANT'S 'HOME'. NIGHT

DANIEL and GRANT sit in companionable silence.

GRANT
Question is, is the ‘pursuit of happiness’ the most important goal to aspire to in life?

DANIEL laughs, shakes his head.

DANIEL
If not happiness, what?

GRANT smiles, shakes his head.

GRANT
Fucked if I know, Danny Boy, fucked if I know...Hope I can figure it out before I die.

64 INT. YOUNG MAN’S CAR. BACK STREET. NIGHT

The YOUNG MAN looks at HONEY with tenderness and concern.

YOUNG MAN
You gunna be OK?

HONEY (nods)
You?

The YOUNG MAN nods.

HONEY  gets out of the car, walks down the street towards a building construction site; cask of wine in her hand.

The YOUNG MAN watches her with concern, reaches for his mobile phone.

65 EXT. BUILDING SITE. BACK STREET. NIGHT

HONEY sits in the gutter drinking wine from a plastic cup, the wine cask on the pavement beside her. She wipes tears dismissively from her eyes, opens her backpack, extracts John's knife, stares at it, takes another big slug of wine.

HONEY carrying the wine cask, scales a wire mesh fence, walks to stairs of the building under construction.

66 EXT. BUILDING SITE. 10TH FLOOR. NIGHT

HONEY arrives at the 10th floor, walks to within a few feet of the edge. There is no wall. She moves closer to the edge. Police sirens are heard.

67 EXT. GRANT'S 'HOME'. NIGHT

GRANT puffs on a cigarette. He holds it out to DANIEL, who shakes his head. The police sirens grow louder.

GRANT
You’ve got to die of something.

DANIEL smiles, shakes his head, his attention focused on the loud sound of an approaching Fire Engine.

68 EXT. BUILDING SITE. 10TH FLOOR. NIGHT

HONEY stands at the edge of the building, looking down. A police car pulls up. She upends the cask of wine, opens the spigot, drinks from it, picks up the knife, runs the tip of its blade across her heavily scarred arm.

Close to the edge, knife in hand, HONEY looks down to where two police cars are parked, lights flashing.

69 EXT. GRANT'S 'HOME'. NIGHT

DANIEL listens to the Fire Engine siren. It stops. It has pulled up out of sight closeby but it's flashing lights reflect in the windows of a building at the end of the street.

DANIEL grabs his camera from GRANT, stands.

70 EXT. 10TH FLOOR/STREET. NIGHT

Standing dangerously close to the edge, more than a little drunk, HONEY'S attention is focused on the flashing red light of the fire engine. DANIEL runs into the frame.

The rest of this sequence is split between what takes place on 10th floor and what DANIEL sees through his lens and records in a succession of photos.

HONEY looks from the fire engine lights to the unseen but terrifying tormentor resting on her shoulder. She tries to flick it away. There is a 'mad' look in her eyes.

She does not notice young CONSTABLE DAVID (early 20s) who has joined her on the 10th floor.

CONSTABLE DAVID (voice off)
Hey…

HONEY swings around, stares at the POLICEMAN. Her balance at the edge is precarious.

CONSTABLE DAVID (kindly)
I'm David. And you?

HONEY ignores the question.

DANIEL, in the street, looks up, takes photos as CONSTABLE DAVID moves closer to HONEY. He speaks gently but we do not hear what he says.

CONSTABLE DAVID takes a step forwards. HONEY edges back, perilously close to the edge, moving the tip of the knife to a point midway between her breasts.

CONSTABLE DAVID stops, holds his arms up to indicate that he will move no closer.

HONEY looks down, sees:

Crowd in the street, including DANIEL, looking up. 

CONSTABLE DAVID
You know if you stab yourself right there you'll hit your sternum and it'll hurt like hell but you won't get your heart.

HONEY shifts the tip of the knife. 

CONSTABLE DAVID
A bit more to the left and make sure you find a gap between the ribs…

HONEY stares at him. This is not the script she had in mind.

HONEY
Aren't you…like…supposed to…talk me out of killing myself.

CONSTABLE DAVID
Nah, I just want to make sure you do it properly and don't make too much of a mess. Coz you know who has to clean it up!?

HONEY drops the hand with the knife in it to her side.

HONEY
But…

CONSTABLE DAVID
Life sucks and then you die, ay?

HONEY
I want more than that.

CONSTABLE DAVID
Join the club.

HONEY
Is there a joining fee?

DAVID smiles, steps forward, reaches out and takes the knife from her hand.

HONEY falls into his arms, holds him tight.

71 EXT. STREET OUTSIDE BUILDING SITE. NIGHT

As CONSTABLE DAVID leads HONEY out into the street a SECOND POLICEMAN joins him - a pair of handcuffs in his hands. HONEY sees the handcuffs. 

HONEY (screams)
No

CONSTABLE DAVID gestures to the SECOND POLICEMAN to back off, put the hand-cuffs away, but it is too late - HONEY bolts down the street, straight towards where DANIEL stands taking photos. The SECOND POLICEMAN catches HONEY quickly and roughly. HONEY puts up a fight, screams like a banchee.

HONEY
Let me go…fucking arsehole…

HONEY screams as she kicks and scratches the SECOND POLICEMAN.

CONSTABLE DAVID steps between them, pushing the SECOND POLICEMAN away. DANIEL keeps taking photos.

HONEY holds her arms out towards DANIEL: a plea for help. DANIEL takes a photo. Click.

A LITTLE LATER

CONSTABLE DAVID opens the back door to the paddy wagon for HONEY as the Fire Engine drives off. 

HONEY
I want to sit up the front with you?

CONSTABLE DAVID 
You can't.

HONEY (grins)
That's not a nice thing to call a lady!

…to be continued…