| Rats in the Ranks | |
| Director: | Robin Anderson Bob Connolly |
| Producer: | Robin Anderson Bob Connolly Chris Oliver (Executive Producer) |
| Starring: | Larry Hand Nick Origlass Kate Butler Kath Hacking |
| Cinematography: | Bob Connolly |
| Studio: | Arundel Productions, Film Australia |
| Runtime: | 93 min. |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
Rats in the Ranks is an Australian documentary film released in 1996.
The film detailed the last weeks of the 1994 Leichhardt Council mayoral elections.
The filmmakers, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson (later known for Facing the Music and other projects, but already well known) were allowed access to the innermost meetings of participants including the serving mayor Larry Hand and his Labor Party opponents. Hand's exposure to a wider audience spawned the character Col Dunkley in the successful Australian TV series Grass Roots, and Rats in the Ranks is regarded as a classic in its portrayal of local politics in Australia.
Rats in the Ranks has been screened at more than forty film festivals and has won multiple awards, including the Silver Plaque for Social/Political Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1996, the 1996 Critics Choice Award for Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival,[1] and the Logie Award for most outstanding documentary series/program in 1998.
Rats in the Ranks grossed $200,000 at the box office in Australia.[2]