The Silver Donkey

by Mathew Frank and Dean Bryant

Based on the award-winning novel by Sonya Hartnett

In development

In a French village by the sea during the First World War, three children stumble on a soldier in the forest near their home. The man has gone blind and is trying to get home to England, across the sea. He has a charm in the shape of a silver donkey. The soldier tells the children stories focused around the humble animal – Joseph and Mary who rely upon a donkey to get to Bethlehem, a parable about a drought-stricken land saved by a donkey and finally Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli. As the days pass and the children hatch a plan to save the soldier, the telling of these stories and the return of hope brings sight back to the young soldier.

Workshop sketches by Gabriela Tylesova