''The Big House'' is a 2000 award-winning short

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written and directed by

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

. Set in a prison, it stars Tony Martin and

Gary Sweet Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...

. It was shown at the 2001

Reel Affirmations Reel Affirmations (RA) is a non-profit, all-volunteer LGBT film festival in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1991 and held every year in mid-October, as of 2011 Reel Affirmations was one of the largest LGBT film festivals (in terms of attendance) in t ...

International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Plot

Williams (Tony Martin) is a long-term prisoner when Sonny (Kick Gurry) comes and is assigned to be Williams' cellmate. Williams decides to take Sonny under his wing, but his help and protection is conditional that Sonny occasionally has nonpenetrative sex with him – masturbation or oral sex. Sonny is repulsed by this. Sonny notices a photo of a boy above Williams' bunk. Williams says that the boy in the photo is his son, and is probably a grown man by now. Williams has had no contact with his son for many years. In the shower block, Sonny is confronted with the prospect of male rape by another long-term prisoner Jacko (Gary Sweet). Sonny then accepts Williams' protection. Sonny does his time and then thanks Williams for looking out for him during his prison stay. Williams is assigned a new cellmate, and unbeknownst to him that apparently it is Anthony, his own son... with the prospect that Williams will likewise 'protect' him during his prison stay.

Cast

* Tony Martin as Williams *

as Jacko *

Kick Gurry Christopher "Kick" Gurry (born 25 May 1978) is an Australian actor. Gurry was born in Melbourne, Australia. He got his nickname when his brother could not say Christopher so he said "Kicker". When he got into high school, he shortened it to "K ...

as Sonny *

Paul Pantano Paolo Giuseppe Pantano (born 23 February 1982), known professionally as Paul Pantano, is an Australian actor. Early life The son of Italian parents, Pantano was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Glebe. He attended De La Salle College Ash ...

as Anthony * Shay Lawrence as Prisoner

Awards

In 2001 the film won the Australian Film Institute award for Best Short Fiction Film and was nominated for Best Screenplay. In 2002 it won the

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

award for Best Short.

References

External links

* 2000 films 2000 drama films 2000 short films 2001 drama films 2001 films 2000s English-language films Australian drama short films 2000s Australian films {{short-drama-film-stub