screen trade - from high-powered dinner tables to obscure backlots, from the centres of power to far-flung locations -- with a cast of characters that includes Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Jeffrey Archer, Steven Seagal, and many others. Delightfully literate and sharply observant, this is a highly entertaining insider's account of a rarely glimpsed world. Bruce Beresford has made some of Australia's best known and most interesting films, including Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues and The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie, and has had international success with Black Robe, Double Jeopardy and Driving Miss Daisy, which won an Academy Award. He lives in Sydney. This is his first book. A real warts-and-all diary and look inside the film industry. Beresford doesn't hold anything back here. The tortuous path to getting a film made is recounted many times as various projects are on, off, then on again over the course of a few years. It offers a fascinating insight into the film industry as a whole and the Australian film industry in particular. And backs up the saying that you've only accomplished something in the film industry when you can speak about it in the past tense. Aside from Hartnett, there are plenty of other big names who come in for a mention. Some come out of it well, others not so well. I knocked this over in a day and was left wishing it went on further. And for the record, I'm no latte-sipping leftie. Nor do you have to be to enjoy