What really happened in Balibo?

What really happened in Balibo?

Thirty four years after Indonesia invaded East Timor and on the tenth anniversary of that country’s independence, the story of how six Australian journalists were killed will finally be told, writes Pam Walker

A dinner conversation with former ABC journalist Tony Maniaty first aroused director Robert Connelly’s interest in the story of five journalists who lost their lives in Balibo during the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor.

Then, actor Anthony LaPaglia – with whom Connelly had worked on The Bank – came to him with Jill Jolliffe’s book Cover Up and said he should take a look at it.

That clinched it.

Six years later, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of East Timor’s independence, Balibo has hit movie screens around Australia.

The film reveals what happened to the five journalists who came to be known as the Balibo Five: Channel Seven’s Greg Shackleton (Damon Gameau), Gary Cunningham (Gyton Grantley) and Tony Stewart (Mark Leonard Winter), and from Channel Nine, Brian Peters (Thomas Wright) and Malcolm Rennie (Nathan Phillips). All five had last been seen filming news reports in the small town of Balibo on October 16, 1975.

It also traces the fate of veteran journalist Roger East (Anthony LaPaglia), who had gone to Dili at the invitation of the 25-year-old Jose Ramos-Horta (Oscar Isaac) to run a news agency but became obsessed with finding out what happened to the five journalists a month earlier.

East was the only journalist who stayed behind when Indonesia invaded, and was executed on the Dili wharf by an Indonesian execution squad, together with hundreds of East Timorese. The story is told through the recollections of young Juliana Da Costa (Bea Viegas) who witnessed the massacre.

Connelly has inextricably entwined their stories with that of the East Timorese as they suffer the full force of the invasion.

“I wanted to tell the story of East Timor through the fate of the Balibo Five and Roger East. Initially what happened to the Australian journalists drew my attention because the truth was hidden and it made you wonder,” Connelly said.

“Then you find out about this amazing country and how in 1999 it broke the shackles of the Indonesian Government and gained its independence.”

The question ‘how do I tell this story’ took Connelly to Balibo during script development three years ago to assess the logistics for filming there.

The result was what Connelly described as the most wonderful experience of his career.

“Making this film was truly extraordinary. To be in Balibo recreating the scenes was profoundly moving,” he said.

Also moving was the reaction to the film of the East Timorese cast and crew, President Jose Ramos-Horta and the families of the journalists. Connelly had promised he would screen the film for them before its release, and he has done that, taking it to Dili for a private screening.

“It was the most extraordinary experience of my career to take that film back there. Where we screened the film was right next door to where it all happened,” Connelly said.

“Ramos-Horta and the East Timorese were very emotional after the film and very affected by some of the scenes, especially the invasion of Dili on December 7, 1975.

“The president told me there were lots of things he’d forgotten about that the film brought up for him. I think it really moved him.”

The families of the Balibo Five also gave their approval.

“It was a wonderful response. The families were very happy to see the story of their deaths told through the story of East Timor,” Connelly said.

“You feel a great responsibility telling the tale so it was very gratifying that they all felt we had done justice to the story. And it’s wonderful they will all be coming to the Melbourne opening.”

The Australian Government has never acknowledged what happened to the Australian journalists – who in the film discover that being journalists and Australian citizens afforded them no protection – and the Indonesian Government has always claimed the journalists died in crossfire.

In 2008, a Glebe Coronial Inquest found the men were murdered.

“What will be interesting is to see how the governments react to the film but it was 34 years ago and we should be able to look at it through the eyes of history,” Connelly said.

Working again with LaPaglia was a treat and the cast gave great performances, Connelly said, but he singled out the Timorese actors, who were mostly untrained  – LaPaglia said he was humbled by their performances – and trainee assistant director Alex Tilman who had no previous experience.

“Part of the film’s legacy is that a whole generation of East Timorese can now tell their own stories,” he said. “And all the Timorese who worked on the film have had to deal with a lot of personal tragedy which makes their tremendous compassion for the Balibo Five even more amazing.”

One young man told Connelly his father always said the East Timorese had felt betrayed by the Australian Government but never by the Australian people.

“The story of the Balibo Five is part of why the Timorese feel that way about the Australian people,” he said. “The Timorese speak of the Balibo Five as if they are Timorese. And it’s a really lovely thing that the families of the Balibo Five have kept that alive by making sure Australians never forgot the Timorese people.”

In a lucky stroke of serendipity, the film was released on August 13 and East Timor celebrates its 10th year anniversary of freedom on August 30.

“I worked on the film for six years and the timing is pure coincidence but I’m very happy the film is part of the celebrations for the anniversary,” Connelly said, adding that he is very hopeful about the future of East Timor.

“When Indonesia left the country in 1999 they destroyed most of the buildings to make it really hard so there’s hardly any infrastructure but the Timorese have shown incredible resilience and optimism in the face of terrible events.

“Fifty per cent of their population is under 18 and I have great faith in their ability to make their young country work.”

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