JIFF: GIANT - The Play

This film is also showing at our sister cinema, Ritz Cinemas

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

GIANT, the critically acclaimed play starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl which examines the famed author's antisemitism, has its Australian Premiere at JIFF 2026.

It’s the summer of 1983, The Witches is about to hit the shelves and Roald Dahl is making last-minute edits. But the outcry at his recent, explicitly antisemitic article won’t die down. Across a single afternoon at his family home, and rocked by an unexpectedly explosive confrontation, Dahl is forced to choose: make a public apology or risk his name and reputation. Inspired by real events, GIANT explores with dark humour the difference between considered opinion and dangerous rhetoric offering a complicated portrait of a fiendishly charismatic icon.

Winner of 3 Olivier Awards including Best Play and a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (John Lithgow), the production was filmed live in London’s West End ahead of its sold-out Broadway run.

This screening includes an intermission.

Rating

MA15+

Duration

136 min

Country

United Kingdom

Language

English

Cast

John Lithgow, Aya Cash, Elliot Levey, Rachael Stirling

Director

Nicholas Hytner