Book Club: Strangers on a Train
Book Club
Sun
23
Sun 23 Mar 1:00 PM
Arc Cinema
Allocated Seating
101 Mins | Book Club at the NFSA
March
1951 | DCP | US | D: Alfred Hitchcock
BOOK CLUB AT THE NFSA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CANBERRA WRITERS FESTIVAL
When tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) meets playboy Bruno (Robert Walker) on a train, they discuss swapping murder targets, but only Bruno goes through with it.
Alfred Hitchcock squeezes Patricia Highsmith’s novel for all its dramatic tension, in a film that brings the intensity of an illicit affair to the deadly dealings between the two men.
“Hitchcock's study of the guilt that taints the human condition is just one cinematic masterstroke after another.” – The Guardian
The screening will be followed by a discussion of the film and the novel with special guest author Chris Hammer, in conversation with screenwriter Felicity Packard.
ABOUT CHRIS HAMMER
Chris Hammer is a leading Australian crime fiction author, based in Canberra. His books have sold more than a million copies worldwide. They have been praised for their sense of place, their intricate plots, their colourful characters and their emotional depth.
His first book Scrublands (2018) was an instant bestseller and winner of the UK Crime Writers Association’s prestigious New Blood dagger. The television adaptation is currently screening worldwide and a second series based on Silver will be released in early 2025. His fifth book, The Tilt, was named as The London Times Crime Book of the Year for 2023 and his sixth novel, The Seven, was recently named the ACT Book of the Year. His seventh crime mystery, The Valley was published in October last year, and again features much-loved detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan.
ABOUT FELICITY PACKARD
With a distinguished 30-year career, Felicity has crafted over a hundred hours of television drama. Most recently, she worked as producer on NCIS: Sydney S3 for Paramount+ and was lead writer and producer of the internationally successful miniseries, Scrublands and the second season Scrublands: Silver, (due to screen on Stan later in 2025).
Felicity was co-creator, writer and producer of the Netflix political spy miniseries, Pine Gap. She was also a lead writer and producer on the ABC’s award-winning television drama, ANZAC Girls, and adapted, wrote and associate produced Wolf Creek S1 for Stan. She served as story producer for The Twelve Season 2, produced by Warner Brothers Australia and Foxtel. Felicity is one of the creator-writers of the commercially and critically successful Underbelly true-crime drama franchise for Nine Network, which includes Underbelly; Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities; Underbelly: The Golden Mile; Underbelly: Razor; Underbelly: Badness, and Underbelly: Squizzy. She also associate produced the latter four.
BOOK CLUB AT THE NFSA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CANBERRA WRITERS FESTIVAL
When tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) meets playboy Bruno (Robert Walker) on a train, they discuss swapping murder targets, but only Bruno goes through with it.
Alfred Hitchcock squeezes Patricia Highsmith’s novel for all its dramatic tension, in a film that brings the intensity of an illicit affair to the deadly dealings between the two men.
“Hitchcock's study of the guilt that taints the human condition is just one cinematic masterstroke after another.” – The Guardian
The screening will be followed by a discussion of the film and the novel with special guest author Chris Hammer, in conversation with screenwriter Felicity Packard.
ABOUT CHRIS HAMMER
Chris Hammer is a leading Australian crime fiction author, based in Canberra. His books have sold more than a million copies worldwide. They have been praised for their sense of place, their intricate plots, their colourful characters and their emotional depth.
His first book Scrublands (2018) was an instant bestseller and winner of the UK Crime Writers Association’s prestigious New Blood dagger. The television adaptation is currently screening worldwide and a second series based on Silver will be released in early 2025. His fifth book, The Tilt, was named as The London Times Crime Book of the Year for 2023 and his sixth novel, The Seven, was recently named the ACT Book of the Year. His seventh crime mystery, The Valley was published in October last year, and again features much-loved detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan.
ABOUT FELICITY PACKARD
With a distinguished 30-year career, Felicity has crafted over a hundred hours of television drama. Most recently, she worked as producer on NCIS: Sydney S3 for Paramount+ and was lead writer and producer of the internationally successful miniseries, Scrublands and the second season Scrublands: Silver, (due to screen on Stan later in 2025).
Felicity was co-creator, writer and producer of the Netflix political spy miniseries, Pine Gap. She was also a lead writer and producer on the ABC’s award-winning television drama, ANZAC Girls, and adapted, wrote and associate produced Wolf Creek S1 for Stan. She served as story producer for The Twelve Season 2, produced by Warner Brothers Australia and Foxtel. Felicity is one of the creator-writers of the commercially and critically successful Underbelly true-crime drama franchise for Nine Network, which includes Underbelly; Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities; Underbelly: The Golden Mile; Underbelly: Razor; Underbelly: Badness, and Underbelly: Squizzy. She also associate produced the latter four.
March