Directed by:
George OgilvieScreenplay:
Tony MorphettCinematography:
Geoffrey SimpsonComposer:
Chris NealCast:
Bryan Brown, Rebecca Smart, Ned Manning, Lynette Curran, Warren Coleman, Guy Doleman, Noni Hazlehurst, Reg Evans, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Simon Chilvers (more)Plots(1)
In Australian slang, "shiralee" means "burden." It also describes how itinerant laborer "Mac" Macauley (Bryan Brown) thinks of his nine-year-old daughter, Buster (Rebecca Smart). Proud and stubborn, Mac ekes out a living--sometimes with his fists--on the dusty roads of the 1940s and '50s outback, with Buster in tow. Together they befriend a number of colorful characters, and Lily (Noni Hazlehurst), a lovely rancher as maddeningly willful as Mac. At times grudgingly, Mac and Buster forge a father-daughter bond that hunger and hardship cannot break. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Bryan Brown](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/350/159350756_b9750e.jpg)
Bryan Brown
Australia
Best movies:
Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988)
Money Movers (1979)
'Breaker' Morant (1980)
![Rebecca Smart](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/437/160437545_18591a.jpg)
Rebecca Smart
Australia
Best movies:
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
Celia: Child of Terror (1989)
Blackrock (1997)
Ned Manning
Best movies:
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
Dead End (1986)
The Farm (2001) (series)
Lynette Curran
Australia
Best movies:
Comrades (1986)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Somersault (2004)
Warren Coleman
Best movies:
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
The Crossing (1990)
The Man Who Sued God (2001)
![Guy Doleman](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/049/262/49262642_69cf78.jpg)
Guy Doleman
New Zealand
Best movies:
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Thunderball (1965)
Funeral in Berlin (1966)
![Noni Hazlehurst](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/403/160403455_6e1ec5.jpg)
Noni Hazlehurst
Australia
Best movies:
Truth (2015)
Candy (2006)
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
Reg Evans
UK
Best movies:
Anzacs (1985) (series)
Gallipoli (1981)
A Cry in the Dark (1988)
![Lewis Fitz-Gerald](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/566/160566245_2f0a1f.png)
Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Australia
Best movies:
Thirteen Lives (2022)
'Breaker' Morant (1980)
Pitch Black (2000)
Simon Chilvers
UK
Best movies:
A Test of Love (1984)
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
Sky Pirates (1986)
William Zappa
UK
Best movies:
The Road Warrior (1981)
Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away (2011) (TV movie)
The Rage In Placid Lake (2003)
Patrick Frost
Best movies:
The Lighthorsemen (1987)
The Shiralee (1987) (TV movie)
Deadline Gallipoli (2015) (series)