Balibo (2009)

Balibo: Directed by Robert Connolly. With Jane Hampson, Bea Viegas, Christine Martins, Ana Rosa Mendoça. War correspondent Roger East and the young Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.

“Beside being a fan of Anthony Lapaglia I think he is a very under rated actor. But he won the Best Actor at the AFI awards last Saturday. And I believe he had to relearn his Australian accent having spent so many years in the US of A. From a historical point of view I remember the year but had no idea Roger East was involved in the search for the five missing journalists.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut I do remember that Australia was viewing Indonesia with a wary eye. They had a well equipped Army and Whitlam had just been elected as PM. And we had just pulled out of Vietnam. And the Fetilin were considered communists (like the North Vietnamese) hence I believe Australiau0026#39;s lack of support for them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI recall one military expert warning us, Indonesia could prove a threat to Australia one day? Timor is only about 70 miles, I believe from Australiau0026#39;s Northern coast line.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, the film being set in East Timor was very well put together and edited. Considering it was on a strict budget, and the environment they were filming in is still a sensitive part of the world. Since the film was screened one Indonesian man has stepped forward to say he was there and executed the Bilabo five under orders (of course!) although his account has been refuted (of course!) by the u0026#39;powers that beu0026#39; in Indonesia.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow they have banned it seems to suggest they donu0026#39;t like it and I wonder why? Possibly because with the Muslim terrorists active in the area could drive them to more acts of violence against Australia.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, cinematography, music and also the script certainly should commend it to serious film buffs. I found the accents of some of the East Timorese when speaking English, sometimes hard to understand, but that might be just me of course. I donu0026#39;t consider it a spoiler though.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI hope it gets nominated for the Academy Awards certainly Anthonyu0026#39;s acting deserves some recognition. Well done all those East Timorese who stood in to take on their roles when those events and subsequent atrocities are still fresh in the older generationu0026#39;s minds.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI hired it on DVD by the way in Australia.”