Sticks & Stones: The Truth of Cyberbullying is a documentary exploring the pervasive impacts of cyberbullying on young people.
Narrated by Vince Colosimo, the docu-thriller is also an educational initiative aimed at providing a more in-depth understanding of cyberbullying and the unseen internal struggles experienced by young people in the shadowy corners of social media. In its portrayal of the far-reaching impacts of cyberbullying, the film also explores how social media can shape young people’s perceptions of their own reality and self-esteem.
‘Stick & Stones is a collaborative project between Bully Zero Australia and Daisy Reel Productions – a unique partnership that has been a powerhouse in facilitating broad community participation and support through its diverse network of local sporting associations, local councils, emergency services and educational institutes.
‘The project has given us unprecedented access to schools, teachers and parents and how they have been affected by the unseen pandemic…It has given us a deeper understanding and opportunity to suggest change for the broader community’, explains director and screenwriter, George Goris, from Daisy Reel Productions. Through interviews with students, teachers and staff, the project has been able to engage a number of schools, mental health specialists, psychologists as well as members of the LGBTIQA+ community, people with disabilities, CALD and First Nations peoples – in order to tell the stories of those with lived experiences of cyberbullying.
The film will be screening in schools this November and has been selected to feature at this year’s Peloponnisos International Documentary Film Festival in Kalamata, Greece. Catch the replays of Sticks & Stones on Channel 31 Melbourne and Geelong (Digital 44) and on CTV Plus.
Sticks & Stones, via the Bully Zero Australia Foundation, were the recipient of $17,300 under CBF’s Round 2 Content Grant 2022/23. Funding provided salary support for the project’s production team as well as post-production costs, marketing and promotion.
[Photo: Sticks & Stones cast members holding clown masks]