''Listen to the Lion'' is a 1977 short feature from Australia.

Plot

A Sydney derelict lies drunk in an alley and is beaten up by thugs. A friend helps him find refuge in a night shelter. As he lies dying he has a vision of himself flying about the room. The man dies and after the cremation of his corpse, his spirit returns to the footpath.

Cast

Wyn Roberts Ieuan Wyn Pritchard Roberts, Baron Roberts of Conwy, PC (10 July 1930 – 13 December 2013) was a Welsh Conservative politician. His father was a Minister in a chapel in Llansadwrn, Anglesey, and they lived in the schoolhouse. He was Member of ...

as Hunter *Barry Lovett as one legged man *

Syd Heylen Harold Charles Sydney Heylen (25 May 1922 – 4 December 1996), credited variously as Syd Heylen, Sid Heylen and Sydney Heylen, was an Australian character actor of radio, stage, television and film, comedian, and variety performer and soldi ...

as Hunter's friend *John Derum as evangelist

Production

The film was written by Robert Hill, a former journalist who spent months researching the life of homeless people in Sydney. A substantial portion of the budget was provided by the General Production Fund of the

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a producti ...

Reception

The film won Greater Union Award for Best Fiction Film at the 1977

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

and the Robert Mamoulian Award for the most distinguished Australian short film. Although shot before '' Storm Boy'' (1976), also directed by

Henri Safran Henri Safran (born 7 October 1932) is a Paris-born director who worked extensively in Australia. He worked in French television, then in Britain, before moving to Australia in 1960 to work with the ABC. He became an Australian citizen in 1963 but ...

, it was not released until after that film.

References

External links

*
''Listen to the Lion''
at Oz Movies Films directed by Henri Safran 1977 films Australian drama short films Films set in Sydney 1970s English-language films 1970s Australian films {{1970s-Australia-film-stub