image of person or book cover 4652928472241779990.jpg
Screen cap from promotional trailer
form y separately published work icon Balibo single work   film/TV   mystery   thriller   crime  
Note: Script editor: Nick Drake.
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 Balibo
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Jose Ramos Horta, twenty-five years old in 1975, and a member of the Fretilin Government, lures Darwin-based Australian journalist Roger East to East Timor to investigate the disappearance of the 'Balibo Five' - journalists Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart (Ch9) and from their rival network Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie (Ch7).

On the morning of October 16, all five men, though identifying themselves as journalists from Australia, are killed in cold blood by the invading Indonesian troops, and their bodies burnt. East does not accept the official story that soon emerges, that the men were killed in cross-fire. Horta and East travel from Dili to Balibo, now occupied during the daytime by Indonesian forces, to try and uncover the truth of the journalists' death.

Back in Dili, East decides to stay on while other journalists are evacuated, in the knowledge that Indonesian forces will soon land in the capital. The very next day Indonesian paratroopers and commandos land from the sea and immediately capture East who is reporting the invasion. Defiant to the end, East is executed the next day on the Dili wharf by an Indonesian execution squad.' Source: http://film.vic.gov.au (Sighted 12/08/2008).

Notes

  • Balibo came second in the audience award for best Australian film at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Cinema Plus : Robert Connolly and Event Audience Screenings Stephen Gaunson , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 11 no. 2 2017; (p. 77-84)

This article discusses the problems that Australian films face in the big distribution model, and ways that producers have rethought how their films are funded and distributed. To do this it uses the case study of Robert Connolly's Cinema Plus exhibition company. Although there is a historical precedence set for Connolly's self distribution venture, this shift to rethink how Australian films are being distributed and exhibited is certainly representative of a changing reassessment of the porous relationship between production and exhibition, which for some time Screen Australia demarcated in by two separate pools. What Cinema Plus represents is a recognition that conventional big distribution is not always the most effective way to reach the widest possible audience.

So Close to Home : The Making of Balibo Jim Mitchell , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 31 July 2017;
The 100 Best Australian Films of the New Millenium Erin Free , Dov Kornits , Travis Johnson , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 22 September 2016;
Disrespectful Indigenisation : The Films of Robert Connolly Matthew Campora , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , December no. 69 2013;
'In this article, I will examine the work of contemporary Australian filmmaker Robert Connolly (b. 1967), a director who could be considered amongst the most successful contemporary filmmakers working in Australia today. While many of his colleagues have struggled to make their second (or even first) feature film, Connolly, in his various roles, has made a feature roughly every other year since graduating from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in the late 1990s. To date, he has written and directed four feature films, produced nearly a dozen others, worked on such quality television series as The Slap (2011), written and directed a made-for-television-movie, and produced the epic film adaptation of Tim Winton’s short story collection The Turning (2013). His track record in the contemporary industry makes him a significant case study, and as a means of introducing this analysis, I want to briefly consider Graeme Turner’s 1994 article “Whatever Happened to National Identity? Film and Nation in the 1990s” to help situate Connolly’s work in the context of Australian cinema and the narrative trends of recent decades.' (Author's Introduction)
Mythic Tale Brings Nations Together Joyce Morgan , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28 August 2012; (p. 11)
A Searing Study Showing Best of Australian Film Jim Schembri , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 25 July 2009; (p. 7)

— Review of Balibo David Williamson , Robert Connolly , 2008 single work film/TV
Film of the Week Tom Ryan , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 9 August 2009; (p. 22) The Sun-Herald , 9 August 2009; (p. 11)

— Review of Balibo David Williamson , Robert Connolly , 2008 single work film/TV
Their Ghosts May Be Heard Philippa Hawker , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 13 August 2009; (p. 17)

— Review of Balibo David Williamson , Robert Connolly , 2008 single work film/TV
Newsmen's Nightmare Evan Williams , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 August 2009; (p. 21)

— Review of Balibo David Williamson , Robert Connolly , 2008 single work film/TV
Powerful and Emotionally Wrenching Jane Freebury , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 August 2009; (p. 25)

— Review of Balibo David Williamson , Robert Connolly , 2008 single work film/TV
Film Shoot Re-Creates Invasion 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 1 August 2008; (p. 9)
Film Gives Voice to Timor Victim Natasha Robinson , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 15 July 2008; (p. 14)
Film Festival Opener Takes Hard Look at Timor Deaths Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 20 May 2009; (p. 8)
Bran New Dae to Give International Film Festival an Upbeat Finale Philippa Hawker , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 May 2009; (p. 17)
Double Take Natasha Robinson , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 30-31 May 2009; (p. 12)
Tony Maniaty and Rob Connolly talk to Natasha Richardson about the inspiration behind the making of the film Balibo.
Last amended 11 Mar 2015 14:26:32
Subjects:
  • c
    Timor-Leste,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • 1975
Settings:
  • c
    Timor-Leste,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • Darwin, Darwin area, Northern Territory,
  • 1975
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