This story, published by the ABC Far North in Australia, is too much fun and hard to believe. But it’s true and soon to be turned into a movie.
By Brendan Mounter and Kier Shorey
A young English family of five, desperate to visit a sick relative back home, attempts to sail from Australia in a rubber dinghy; instead they take a 6,500 kilometre, nine-month detour via Indonesia.
That is the absurd plot for Melbourne filmmaker Alessandro Frosali’s next project — but incredibly, it’s a true story. “When I first heard the story, I heard it through the words of the youngest child, and he told me with such innocence and wonder and naivety,” Mr Frosali said.
“I just thought it had the wonderful makings of an Australian feature film. It’s almost fantastical.”
The year was 1972, and the Horne family, who had emigrated to Melbourne as ‘ten-pound-Poms’ five years earlier, received the news their grandmother was gravely ill. Read more.
