Free screening of Broke on the Central Coast
Central Coast Gambling Help, in conjunction with Bonsai Films, Scope Red, and the Responsible Gambling Fund presented a free screening of the award winning Australian feature film Broke as part of Responsible Gambling Awareness Week 2016.
Broke tells the fictional story of former North Sydney rugby league star Ben 'BK' Kelly, whose life spirals out of control in retirement at the hands of alcohol and a gambling addiction.
An ageing rail worker, Cec, finds his former footy hero passed out late one evening and decides to take him in. Through the love and support of Cec and his daughter Terri, BK finally finds the courage he was once famous for on the field, to tackle his demons head on and win back the respect of his family, friends, community and himself.
Starring Steve Le Marquand as the fallen hero, Max Cullen as the good Samaritan, and Claire van der Boom as the love interest, the film shows the devastation that problem gambling can wreak and the positive steps people can take to heal that devastation.
"With the recent gambling related scandals and tragedies dominating the game's headlines the film's timing was never more pertinent," explains director Heath Davis. "Hopefully we can create a bit of a dialogue and get some understanding of an issue that's affecting more and more people."
Central Coast Gambling Help facilitated this discussion by presenting a free screening of Broke, as well as a panel discussion featuring the star for the film, Steve Le Marquand, and other guest speakers on 26th May during Responsible Gambling Awareness Week (RGAW).
Responsible Gambling Awareness week, which fell on 23-27 May in New South Wales in 2016, focused on raising awareness that free support and practical advice is also available to the family and friends of people experiencing gambling problems.
The Central Coast had a fantastic RGAW with 193 people attending our screening of Broke, over 100 bags with brochures, stress balls and info given out and the event advertised on two local radio stations, the Coast Community News newspaper and featured on 7 prominent websites.The collaborative effort was brilliant!! To see all the services working together to engage the community in a dynamic way with a strong message was outstanding.
In particular we would like to thank the star of the movie, Steve Le Marquand, for attending on the night and speaking about how he prepared for the movie. Deepest thanks also go to Jeanette, our consumer voice, who spoke eloquently on the impact of problem gambling on families. The Central coast forum would also like to sincerely thank Jonathan Page from Bonsai Films, as well as Luke Graham and Heath Davis for permitting us to screen Broke for free to the public. We would also like to thank Luke, Dale and all the staff at Avoca Beach Theatre, Chris King our outstanding MC, Claudia Pit-Mairbock for taking the lead in negotiations and the overall organisation of the event, Caroline McNally for designing the posters and social media images, Jordan Harcourt-Hughes and the RGF for funding the night, Fiona, Lincoln, and Chris for being on the panel, Louise and Caroline making up the showbags, and Danielle and Fiona for organising the catering. And thank you to everyone who attended.
Wow. What a night. The weather was great, the food was delicious, the company was awesome and the movie was both hilarious and poignant. The film indeed showed the devastation that problem gambling can wreak and the positive steps people can take to heal that devastation. Well done and thank you to everyone involved!!!!
- May, 2016
- PM Counselling
