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Balibo
Writer/director Robert Connolly made two of this decade's most memorable Australian films in 2001's The Bank and 2005's Three Dollars. This month, he's set to begin shooting on his third, an upcoming historical thriller entitled Balibo.
Based on the true story of the Balibo Five - five Anglo journalists killed during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 - the screenplay was written by stage legend David Williamson and is set to star international name Anthony LaPaglia (Lantana) as a sixth murdered journalist, Roger East, as well as young Aussies Damon Gameau (The Tracker), Gyton Grantley (Underbelly), Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek), Mark Winter and Thomas Wright, as well as Guatemalan chameleon Oscar Isaac.
As a producer and sometime writer/director, Connolly doesn't make a tonne of movies, but when he turns his attention to feature films, the result is nearly always exciting. Teaming for the first time with now long-time producing partner John Maynard, Connelly debuted as an associate producer on Gerald Lee's All Men Are Liars in 1995, and the pair went on to make the blistering drama The Boys with director Rowan Woods three years later.
Fronting an all star line-up, including Toni Collette and John Polson, David Wenham is a terrifying revelation in that film, so it was hardly a surprise when Connolly brought the actor over for The Bank (also produced by Maynard), which co-starred Anthony LaPaglia in the midst of a dizzying run, locally and abroad (Looking for Alibrandi, Lantana, Sweet and Lowdown, Summer of Sam, The Salton Sea).
Four years later the director again used Wenham in Three Dollars. Balibo, fronted by now major US television actor LaPaglia (Without a Trace).
"I'm looking forward to returning home to work again,"¯ says LaPaglia. "It's such an inspiring team and an important story for Australia and the region."¯
In between his headliner and the acerbic, socially conscious script from Williamson, Connolly has the elements in place to make a major splash when the film releases.
The screenwriter has penned a comprehensive collection of some of this country's most important and funniest stage plays going back to the early "˜70s, and his flexible, populist voice has long translated well to film, starting with the 1971 Bruce Spence vehicle, Stork, and running through a hit list of big screen successes, including Don's Party, The Removalists, The Club, Gallipoli, Emerald City, Brilliant Lies (which also starred LaPaglia) and many more. He's also written a rich collection of screenplays unadapted from his own material (The Year of Living Dangerously, Phar Lap), a skill which he's brought to bear on the story of the Balibo Five.
Prior to the Indonesian invasion of the former Portuguese Timor, troop incursions into the Timorese town of Balibo found and killed the five in an apparent effort to silence media reportage of its military action. In recent years, the topic has again risen to the forefront, especially during a highly publicised 2007 NSW Coroner's Court inquest into the death of Brian Peters, who will be played by Thomas Wright.
Gameau, Grantley, Phillips and Winter will fill the shoes of the other murdered journalists, and will be expected to bring an emotional resonance to the proceedings, while LaPaglia's tele journo Roger East attempts to discover the fate of the titular Five, only to find himself cut down as well. Also starring is The Nativity Story's Oscar Isaac, who similarly has a major task at hand embodying famed revolutionary and former Prime Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 and remains a stalwart figure in East Timorese politics.
Tentatively set for release late this year, Balibo has commenced principle photography in Darwin and East Timor.
