About the Show
Emu Runner is the story of Gem Daniels (Rhae-Kye Waites), a nine-year-old First Nations Ngemba girl, who lives in the remote Australian town of Brewarrina. As she copes with her mother’s unexpected death, Gem finds solace in the company of a wild emu, unwittingly connecting with her mother’s traditional totem animal.
Gem’s obsessive attachment to the emu leads her down a troubled path as she feeds it her school lunches and begins to steal extra food for it. Gem skips school, to spend more time with the emu, attracting the attention of local police officer, Stan (Rob Carlton, Paper Giants) and the new social worker in town, Heidi (Georgia Blizzard, Thor: Ragnarok) who is convinced Gem’s family is failing to look after her.
With the death of his wife, Gem’s father Jay Jay (Wayne Blair, The Sapphires) is left to raise Gem, her 15-year-old sister Valerie and her 17-year-old brother Ecka. While Jay Jay’s commitment to his family doesn’t waver, the pressures to make ends meet and hold the family together are exacerbated by the antics of his children. Not only does Jay Jay face prejudices from the non-Indigenous community in the town, he also has to prove himself as a competent sole parent.