The Slap
The ABC’s television production of The Slap has been a high note in recent Australian drama. Christos Tsiolkas' eponymous novel has lost none of its sting in its journey from page to screen. In a special panel discussion preceding a cinema screening of its final episode, some of its key players – author Christos Tsiolkas, director Tony Ayres, actor Blake Davis – joined Peter Mares to explore its themes of morality, family and identity.
Who?

Tony Ayres
Tony Ayres is a principal and founding partner of Matchbox Pictures and an accomplished writer, director and producer for both film and television. His feature film, The Home Song Stories, premiered at Berlin and won 23 Australian and international awards including 8 AFI Awards.

Peter Mares
Peter Mares is an independent writer and researcher. He is a contributing editor for online magazine Inside Story and a senior moderator with The Cranlana Programme. Peter was a broadcaster with the ABC for twenty-five years, serving as a foreign correspondent based in Hanoi and presenting national radio programs. His latest book is Not Quite Australian: How Temporary Migration Is Changing the Nation.

Christos Tsiolkas
Christos Tsiolkas is the author of the novels Loaded, The Jesus Man, Dead Europe, The Slap and Barracuda, as well as the short story collection, Merciless Gods. He co-authored Jump Cuts: An Autobiography with Sasha Soldatow. He wrote a monograph on Fred Schepisi’s The Devil’s Playground for the Australian Screen Classics series, and a monograph on Patrick White for the Writers on Writers series by Back Inc.