Breaking down gambling’s social stigma

A film about a famous rugby league player with a gambling addiction aims to raise awareness on the sport's "hidden addiction".

Broke, which will be publicly screened in New Zealand this week, tells the story of BK, an Australian rugby league player who attempts to turn his life around from a damaging gambling problem with the help of his number one fan.

Producer Luke Graham, the son of retired New Zealand rugby league star Mark Graham, said Broke is ultimately a movie about addiction.

"We all have addictions and the protagonist's addiction happens to be gambling and secondary alcohol.

"This addiction destroys this person's life and the film explores him at the lowest of his low, and how he gets a second chance."

The film is being distributed in New Zealand with the help of partners Problem Gambling Foundation New Zealand (PGFNZ) and League 4 Life, which will help in efforts to get "as many eyes as possible to see the film".

"By aligning ourselves with these organisations, we're giving people a product to watch to say 'Here's the message, and here's some organisations within your social groups that can really help you when you're ready to get help'," said Mr Graham.

Andree Froude, communications director at PGFNZ, said the movie raises important issues which New Zealanders need to be aware of.

"One of the important messages in this movie is that a gambling problem can happen to anybody, even those people that we idolise."

Ms Froude said that although the film's main character is fictitious, such situations are far from unusual.

"It's not an uncommon thing in elite sport, particularly in rugby league, where you might have a player that has some money and time on their hands, or they want to escape from the stresses of playing sport at such an elite level."

Ms Froude hopes that Broke will be able to break down the social stigma around problem gambling which is commonly known as "the hidden addiction".

"With alcohol and drugs there are physical symptoms at times, but with gambling it's very much hidden. A lot of harm can come to somebody before anyone even knows.

"A movie like this goes a long way in encouraging people to have a conversation about it, just to bring it out into the open, and also to know that there's help out there."

Broke screens this week at Rialto Cinemas from June 9-16.