About this Short Film
‘The Nine Sheep’ is short film about nine sheep with differing abilities trying to cross a hill. At first, they work alone and struggle with the insurmountable hill before them. However, after a suggestion from their friend Passion they all decide to work together, discovering that their diverse abilities can help their friends, and that they can overcome the hill as a tight knit group, celebrating and including all their different skills. ‘The Nine Sheep’ was created by seven students in a special education class called Thrive at Eudunda Area School. Each student designed a sheep, planned their story, wrote their part of a script, and worked together to bring it to life. ‘The Nine Sheep’ was created to express the power of collaboration, the fun of friendship, and the ability of people with disability.
Film Details
Country:
Australia
State:
South Australia
Category:
School Short
Genre:
Fiction
Festival Year:
2026
Filmmaker:
Thrive
Film Transcript
"Man, I need that food. Her food has been stolen." His tummy starts to rumble. The farmer's dog got loose. He was very hungry and decided that the sheep's leg looked real, so he took a bite. "Oh man, my leg was broken by that dog." The pigman can't lift the sheep because his leg is too sore.
"I'm so excited to get to my concert. Miku is making her way to see a concert. Her favourite thing is playing music. I can't find my phone, so I won't be able to sing along to the concert. I don't think I can go to the concert without it," Miku said softly. Miku's voice isn't loud enough without her microphone.
"Look at those grasses. They look so delicious." Hungry was out of snacks in his bag, but there's more on the other side, and curiosity got the better of him. Hungry ran as fast up the hill as his little legs could, but Hungry can get a little tired extremely easily, so much that he gets distracted by nearby grass. "Oh my god, it's grass. I can't wait to get over this hill because I want my PS5." Pinky can't wait to get over the hill for her PS5 to play Roblox. "Oh no, my legs are too short, so I can't get over this hill." Pinky is sad because her legs are too short. "Oh no, Hungry is too big; my little legs can't get onto Hungry." Since Pinky's legs are too short, she cannot get onto Hungry to reach the other side.
"I'm not quite sure where my friend Geometry is. Geometry is clearly on the other side of the hill. I wish I knew where he was," Debbie says. "Yo, are you there?" Geometry cannot hear Debbie calling out for them.
"I'm feeling hungry for rose petals. I know they're over the hill," Chibi thought about beautiful rose petals. A bee—Chibi is very easily distracted and often ends up walking into a tree. "I need to get on the other side." The sheep dogs bark at him and chase him to the other sheep.
"How am I going to get to the other side without getting seen? Oh, I know. I can paint myself green." "They can see some of my red fur. I need some help."
"I feel anxious about going over the hill alone." Banjo's social anxiety stops her in her tracks. "Can't ask them to go with me." Banjo is anxious about what could happen if she talks to the other sheep. "I can't talk to them. I'll go alone." Banjo tries to go alone, but she's still anxious and cannot move.
"Guys, hey, everyone. Excuse me." Passion sees that everyone cannot get over the hill and tries to get everyone's attention. "I can't get over the hill and leave all my friends behind." Passion knew she had to help everyone get over the hill. "This is not working." That's when Passion has an idea. "What if we work together using each other's strengths? You can use your long neck to look further than the rest of us. Miku, you can use your microphone to call everyone together. Barry, if you stand in the middle, everyone can follow your bright red wool."
Passion talks to all of her friends, helping them see how they can work together to get over the hill. She kindly asks the other sheep to help Big man carry him to the other side of the hill. "Miku, I found your microphone. Can you help me find my friend now? Follow me, everyone. I will guide you over the hill." Miku guides the other sheep over the hill using her mason voice and her microphone.
"I'll give you a hand." He gives everyone a push up the hill. "I'll keep looking for the sheep dogs." "Can you assure me that everything will be okay?" Banjo works to overcome some of her stress from anxiety, listening to the other sheep who tell her it will be okay. The other sheep protect Bailey from the sheep dogs. "I can help keep everyone together. I'm great at walking in circles."
The nine sheep cross the hill. The end.
"That's an accent." "Yeah, maybe restart." "It's recording." "What? I was hungry." "Just trying to hold you." "You guys, I need to get to the other one." "Ah, dang it." "Oh no, my legs are too short."
Filmmaker
Thrive is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Thrive.
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