"I built on the idea of a girl being deaf mute but able to sing," Parker explains. "I did some research into 'hysterical deafness' or 'elective mutism', devices the mind uses for coping with trauma. I first pitched it at Cannes in 1989 when we were there with The Big Steal, to a woman who looked at me oddly and said, 'My mother can dance but she can't walk." Of course, that line is in the film."

Amy's story begins when, at the age of three, she watches horrified as her rock star father is electrocuted to death on stage, the shock rendering her deaf mute. Her mother, Tanya (Rachel Griffiths), has given up finding a solution after extensive attempts.

Moving to suburban Mercer Street three years later, Robert (Ben Mendelsohn), a musician neighbour, discovers one day that Amy (Alana De Roma) can hear him singing, as he strums his guitar on his doorstep. Gradually, Tanya discovers that Amy can hear only singing, and anyone who wants to communicate with her has to sing.
"This girl comes into this street," Parker explains, "and starts to sing. All the houses have their own traumas and through her, their condition is improved. I suppose we like telling stories about how the advantaged can learn from the disadvantaged."

Director Nadia Tass says Alana not only sings like a bird, but takes direction well. "And she understands griefÉ I look at her and I think I'm looking at the Mona Lisa; she opens her mouth and Edith Piaf is with us. She's very special."

The film has broad appeal, says Alan Finney of Village Roadshow, which acquired Australian and New Zealand rights at script stage. "It's an unusual premise that needs the audience to take a leap of faith, and I have high regard for Nadia's skills." The Roadshow deal was in place first, followed by commitment from the Commercial Television Fund's allocated theatrical feature funding pool, with Beyond Films capping off the deal. ALU