The film – based on real events – is a portrait of the life of Jan Ruff-O’Horne who, years later, became a prominent human rights activist
The director, screenwriter and leading actress of the short film is the real-life granddaughter of the main protagonist, to whom the film is an emotional tribute
Daily Bread by Ruby Challenger
Daily Bread is an Australian short film shot in 2018 that will leave no audience member untouched. FILMETS Badalona Film Festival will screen the film on 23 October at 5 p.m. in the Zorrilla Theatre. The film is directed by Ruby Challenger, an emerging figure in Australian cinema.
This 15-minute short is set in Indonesia and examines the events that took place during the Second World War in a Japanese internment camp for women and children of Dutch origin.
A story based on real events
The film is based on real events and relives the hardships experienced in the internment camp by Jan Ruff-O’Herne, who, years later, having overcome her time in the internment camp, would become a prominent human rights activist.
The film depicts a group of women and their children confronting a daily struggle against abuse, disease and hunger as they are closely monitored by the Japanese military.
In this context of a day-to-day struggle for food in a world dominated by hunger, Jan Ruff-O’Herne, a young and impulsive woman, acts out of desperation to save her daughter’s life, with her actions bringing consequences for the entire camp.
The film’s director, screenwriter and leading actress is Ruby Challenger, granddaughter of Jan Ruff-O’Herne. The film serves as a moving tribute to her grandmother and all the women and children who endured the living hell of the Second World War internment camps.
Daily Bread is a short film based on Jan Ruff-O’Herne’s autobiography Fifty Years of Silence, which has been translated into numerous languages.
The film Daily Bread is intended to be screened without subtitles.
