Introduction
Balibo is a 2009 Australian war film that follows the story of the Balibo Five, a group of journalists who were captured and killed while reporting on activities just prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor of 1975.
While historically accurate, the film is loosely based on the book Cover-Up by Jill Jolliffe, an Australian journalist who met the men before they were killed.
The film follows dishevelled journalist Roger East, played by Anthony LaPaglia, who travels to East Timor in 1975 to investigate the deaths of the Balibo Five during the buildup to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. Oscar Isaac plays the young José Ramos-Horta, who would later receive the Nobel Peace Prize and become the second President of East Timor, who joins East in the movie.
Filming began on 30 June 2008, in Dili, East Timor, and the film was released the following year. It was produced by Arenafilm in Australia with Robert Connolly as director, David Williamson as screenwriter, and Professor Clinton Fernandes as historical consultant. LaPaglia, also an executive producer, named East as “probably the best role I’ve ever had”.
Outline
The story is seen through the eyes of veteran journalist Roger East. Introduced as a once-fearless foreign correspondent now working in PR in Darwin, East is drawn to East Timor by José Ramos-Horta of Fretilin; then the fledgling republic’s charismatic young secretary of foreign affairs. Initially refusing to become involved, East changes his tune after Ramos-Horta shows him photos of five Australian TV reporters missing in the border town of Balibo.
Vignettes then show Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie, Brian Peters and Tony Stewart, all under 30, saying goodbye to loved ones and setting out on their assignments a month earlier.
Parallel action follows with the Balibo Five tracked from East Timor’s capital to their terrifying end after filming the Indonesian advance, and East and Ramos-Horta retracing their steps through by now extremely dangerous territory. Shackleton’s last surviving report is recreated: sitting in a village, he says its inhabitants don’t know if they will be alive tomorrow and have asked him why no one in Australia or anywhere else will help.
Drawing attention to the techniques of news gathering and delivery in 1975, the film raises the idea of what might have happened had the Balibo Five not been cut off from communicating with the world and slowed by heavy 16mm film equipment.
Bookended by contemporary scenes of a fictional East Timorese woman remembering East and life under Indonesian occupation, the film closes with a tribute to the nation’s rebirth in 1999 and the many tens of thousands of lives lost in the struggle for independence.
Production & Filming Details
- Director: Robert Connolly.
- Producers: Anthony LaPaglia and Dominic Purcell.
- Screenplay: Robert Connolly and David Williamson.
- Music: Lisa Gerrard.
- Cinematography: Tristan Milani.
- Editor: Nick Meyers.
- Distributor: Transmission Films.
- Release Date: 24 July 2009 (Melbourne International Film Festival) and 14 August 2009 (Australia).
- Running Time: 111 minutes.
- Country: Australia and East Timor.
- Language: English and Tetum.
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