In 1996, Shine premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to a rapt audience. The biographical drama about unconventional pianist David Helfgott would go on to gross almost $36 million worldwide and receive seven Oscar nominations, including Best Director. For Adelaide-based filmmaker Scott Hicks, it was the moment everything changed.
Now, thirty years on, Hicks has written the story behind the story. Shine: Persistence of Vision, published by Wakefield Press, chronicles the decade he spent fighting to bring a film nobody believed in to the screen.
Hicks encountered David Helfgott by chance. Intrigued by the man and his remarkable tale, he spent years struggling against scepticism and rejection to realise his vision. The book follows that journey with clear-eyed prose, from the early battles for backing through to the overwhelming response that propelled him and his team to the Academy Awards.
As Hicks writes: “At the age of forty-three I had, it seems, arrived. I had seen this happen to one or two others from afar, but never imagined I would experience it myself. From this moment on my life would fall into two parts: before and after Shine.”
The memoir also takes readers into the world that opened up after Sundance: navigating American distributors (some notoriously ferocious), the glamour and challenges of Hollywood, and the unimagined career that followed. The book is full of recognisable names and intriguing insights into the film industry.
An Adelaide story
Born in Uganda and raised in Kenya and England, Hicks migrated to Australia in 1967 aged 14, completing his schooling in Adelaide. He discovered film at Flinders University, along with his wife Kerry Heysen, and the pair have maintained their home base in Adelaide ever since, raising two sons, Scott and Jett. Hicks is also a proud grandfather to Artie, Kip and Isaac.
Shine launched the film career of Geoffrey Rush and featured dazzling performances by Noah Taylor and the supporting cast. It remains both an Australian and international classic.
Adelaide Film Festival launch
In honour of Shine’s thirty-year anniversary, the film will be screened at the 2026 Adelaide Film Festival. The book will also be launched as part of the festival’s proceedings.
Shine: Persistence of Vision is published by Wakefield Press in October 2026.
RRP $49.95.
Available from wakefieldpress.com.au
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