The Black Balloon
Thomas is turning 16. His dad’s in the army and they’ve just moved to a town in New South Wales; his mom is pregnant; his older brother, Charlie, who’s autistic, has his own adolescent sexual issues. Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, when the three of them go for a walk, and during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a way to enter the world of teen romance and still be his brother’s keeper, or is Charlie’s disability going to prove more than Thomas can handle?
Director: Elissa Down
Actors: Anthony Phelan, Deborah Piper, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward, Henry Nixon, Luke Ford, Rhys Wakefield, Sam Fraser, Sarah Woods, Toni Collette, Zelie Bullen
Country: Australia
Company: Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Black Balloon Productions, Icon Entertainment International
Worldwide Gross: $2,136,663