Annie's Coming Out is a 1984 Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Gil Brealey

Gil Brealey

Gil Brealey is an Australian television and film director, producer and writer.Brealey studied at Melbourne University, where he made his first amateur films around the age of 20. He was a member of the Melbourne University Film society and was a speaker at the Eisenstein Weekend organised by the...

. It is based on the non-fiction book Annie's Coming Out by disability activists Rosemary Crossley

Rosemary Crossley

Rosemary Crossley AM is an Australian author and advocate for disability rights and facilitated communication.-Authorship and advocacy:...

 and Anne McDonald

Anne McDonald

Anne McDonald was an Australian author and an activist for the rights of people with communication disability....

. The book tells the story of McDonald's early life in a government institution for people with severe disabilities and her subsequent release.

Plot

Annie O'Farrell (based on Anne McDonald) is a 13 year old girl with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....

 who is unable to communicate and has been living in a government institution from an early age. Jessica Hathaway (based on Rosemary Crossley) is a therapist who learns to communicate with Annie using an alphabet board and comes to believe that although physically disabled, Annie is not intellectually impaired. When Annie turns 18, Jessica begins a legal fight to get her released.

Cast

• Angela Punch McGregor
  Angela Punch McGregor
  Angela Punch McGregor is an Australian actress.As "Angela Punch" she acted in television serial Class of '75 and had a guest role in situation comedy Alvin Purple ....
  
   as Jessica Hathaway
• Drew Forsythe
  Drew Forsythe
  Drew Forsythe is an Australian actor, singer, writer, and comedian.He attended Atherton Primary School, far north Queensland....
  
   as David
• Liddy Clark
  Liddy Clark
  Elizabeth Anne Clark is an Australian actor and former Australian Labor Party politician.-Acting career:...
  
   as Sally Clements
• Monica Maughan
  Monica Maughan
  Monica Maughan was an Australian actor with notable and well-known roles in film, theatre, radio and television.-Early life and education:...
  
   as Vera Peters
• Philippa Baker as Sister Waterman
• Tina Arhondis as Annie O'Farrell
• Mark Butler
  Mark Butler
  Mark Christopher Butler has been the Australian Labor Party representative for the electoral division of Port Adelaide in north-western Adelaide, South Australia since the 2007 federal election, succeeding prior Labor MP Rod Sawford....
  
   as Doctor John Monroe
• John Frawley
  John Frawley
  John Frawley is a retired Australian tennis player.Frawley twice reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and twice reached the third round of the French Open....
  
   as Harding

Reception

Annie's Coming Out won three 1984 Australian Film Institute Awards

Australian Film Institute Awards

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...

 for Best Film

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film

This page lists the winners and nominees for the AACTA Award for Best Film since its institution in 1958. The award is presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts , an organisation which promotes the Australian film industry. Since the 1958 Australian Film Awards the...

, Best Adapted Screenplay

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay

The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. It has been awarded annually since 1976 as a joint category until 1993 when the award was separated into Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay...

 and Best Lead Actress

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented annually at the Australian Film Institute Awards. The award has been presented annually since 1971.-History:...

 (Angela Punch McGregor

Angela Punch McGregor

Angela Punch McGregor is an Australian actress.As "Angela Punch" she acted in television serial Class of '75 and had a guest role in situation comedy Alvin Purple ....

). It was nominated for four other AFI awards. The film won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1984 Montréal World Film Festival

Montreal World Film Festival

The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...

.