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Search bait: Cinema COVER STORY A Boom Down Under And a push abroad by Australia 's film makers Among the best young film makers: Fred Schepisi, 41, educated for a while at a Catholic seminary, was an advertising executive when he made the leap to film. "All those European films like Wages of Fear seemed so exotic," he recalls. So Schepisi switched jobs to become manager of the Melbourne branch of a film production company, where he learned to write documentary scripts and shoot commercials. His big chance came with The Devil's Playground (1976), a semiautobiographical story of how a seminary tries to crush the spirit of a young boy. It was well received but earned nothing, a fate that also applied to his next feature, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), with Tommy Lewis, a gripping, brutal film about racial bigotry, the story of an aborigine pushed into a berserk lolling spree. Jimmie Blacksmith cost $1.6 million to make and was, at the time, Australia's most expensive movie. New Yorker Critic Pauline Kael described it as "serenely shocking [and] horribly funny, a movie about the cultural chasm that divides the natives from the Europeanspawned whites." Says Fred Schepisi, who is directing Marble Arch's $10 million Barbarosa, with Willie Nelson and Gary Busey, in Hollywood: "If you are an opera singer, you can't just sing in one opera house. You have to sing in all the great houses of the world. You want to see whatt the differences are, if any." TIME SIP terwde,- 2y , I IS I No. 37 F,110 e5 V-0 EJ t:,!, t-, Law Mr. Wizard Comes to Court New scientific evidence is helping to show juror's whodunit D id Wayne Williams murder Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne? No one saw either crime, and there were no fingerprints. But there is plenty of circumstantial evidence in the extraordinary Atlanta case, including carpet fibers found on the victims and bloodstains in Williams' station wagon. So prosecutors are placing their faith in test tubes, microscopes and forensic specialists; in hour upon hour of testimony, experts have said that all the scientific evidence points to Williams. Last week the defense fought back. Kansas State University Professor Randall Bresee claimed that the prosecution's fiber analysis was too imprecise. In fact, said Bresee, he had examined fibers from a carpet in Defense Attorney Mary Welcome's office and found them "microscopically similar" to those from Williams' home. No matter who prevails, the trial is highlighting a major development in the criminal courtroom. With the help of a variety of technical advances, more and more silent evidence is being turned into loudly damning testimony. The granddaddy of scientific evidence is the fingerprint, introduced in 1901. Because a person's print is unique, there is still no better physical evidence. But now there are a number of new ways of linking a criminal to a crime that are nearly as clear-cut. Suspects are being asked not only for fingerprints but for footprints, blood samples and pieces of hair. Over the past ten years, no area has developed faster than the examination of bloodstains. "Before, we used to be satisfied with identifying a blood sample as type A, B, AB or O. Now we have 13 or more different antigen and enzyme systems we can pick out," says Gary Howell, 34, director of the Kansas City regional crime lab. The probability that any two people will share the same assortment of these blood variables is .1% or less. Because of that, Howell was recently able to use two tiny bloodstains to help convict a double murderer. Another use of blood is also winning wide acceptance. Scrutiny of the size, shape and distribution of blood spatters tells much about the location and position of a person involved in a crime and thus may dispute a defendant's version of what happened. Blood that travels at an angle, for example, leaves an elliptical stain. Consultant Herbert Leon MacDonell, 53, of Corning, N.Y., the leading expert, is now sought out in more than 100 homicide cases a year. At the trial of Jean Harris last year he tried to persuade the juryunsuccessfully-that blood marks jibed with Harris' claim that the shooting of Dr. Herman Tarnower occurred accidentally during a struggle. Another famous trial, that of Theodore Bundy, has greatly helped to increase the use of bite-mark evidence. Bundy was convicted in 1979 of murdering two sorority sisters after photographs of bites found on one of them were matched with impressions taken of Bundy's teeth. Since then, the use of bite evidence has "skyrocketed," says Miami Dentist Richard Souviron, a frequent witness-not only in sex-murder cases but child-abuse investigations as well. Sometimes the findings even exonerate. The use of scientific evidence has become so common, says Washington University Law Professor Edward Imwinkelried, that a prosecutor who has none to offer sometimes feels obliged to explain why. Such testimony is particularly critical in rape cases for corroboration and in homicides, where there may be no eyewitnesses. One danger, though: it can become so complicated that the jury gets lost. That is often the only hope for defense attorneys, who can rarely afford to hire opposing experts. In cross-examination and final arguments, they hammer away at the witness's credentials or the inability to pin the crime on the defendant conclusively. S cientific advances do not always perform as promised. The reliability of some supposed wonders are so in doubt that many courts will not hear the resulting evidence. But more, not less, scientific evidence is likely in the future. Kansas City's Howell believes that the coming years will see a great increase in the use of weapon marks. Hair is still another source of information. A single strand can reveal a person's sex, race and certain other characteristics, and experts now have the ability to read far more from a sample. Says New York City Forensic Serologist Dr. Robert Shaler: "The hair is the garbage can of the human body. Everything you eat shows up there." Knowing that it grows about 1 mm a day, Shaler insists, "we can tell if you took aspirin yesterday and drank beer from an aluminum can a week ago." Until now, only Sherlock Holmes could deduce so much from so little. -By Bennett H. Beach. Reported by Jay Branegan/Chicago and Marc Levinson/Atlanta "I-I M E JUG, y PC C_ 34ecv1$145 w, 3 Cr,t.~:o41 . trla :or cdl~l kifluiig DARWIN One of Australia's most sensationa mu 0der ,trials opened yesterday when Mrs Lindy Chamber lain plead nine-weekdeath wa dingo or Prosec that Mrs seven t Azaria tw throat in car. The n pearance Rock in gripped t 11 . The in concluded by a din was held and Mrs trial. Her usband, Michael (3a),, a Seventh ay Adventist minister, is accused a" being an accessory after the fact;--Sapa-Reuter. d not guilty to killing her old daughter Azaria, whose originally blamed on a ild dn. itor [an Barker alleged Cltam'~erlain (34), who is cntits' pre.gnant, killed years ago by cutting her e, front seat of the family ystery of Azaria's disaprom a camp site at AyQrs he Australian desert has is country for two years. uest into the baby's death that she had been killed ,o. But a second inquest itA new forensic evidence, Chamberlain was, sent for Mrs Lfndy Chamberlaih poes intocourt to face a charge 6-f cuttingher baby's throat. r~' sc ^, - motion high in 'dingo' trial By Ernest Shirley, : stand mott}enta before Own Correspondent thee trial judge; Mr Jus BRISBANE - In an- tice Muiihead, opened other emotion-charged proceedings. ' day in the "DiAgo" MY Barker questrial in Darwin Sup- tioned her on her mereme Court a crowded mory of the events, of gallery watched as the August 17. 1980, the accused, bi r s Lindy night A z a r i a dis Chamberlain (34), repeatedly broke down and wept under relentless cross-examination by the prosecutor. After yesterday's drama, when two women jurors cried, a long queue gathered outside the courthouse waiting for the doors to open. Long before the court went into session court officials had to close the doors to prevent overcrowding. Mrs Chamberlain is charged with having murdered h e r nineweek-old baby, Azaria. Her husband, Michael (38), a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, is charged with having been an accessary after the fact. `i T h e Crown allegesNo," she respondedMrs Chamberlain cut "I ';prefer to go on, It's her baby's throat in been going on for two the front seat of the years now and, I want family car. to get it over with." T h e Chambtrlains Mr Barker again sa~~ a dingo (wild dog) sought details on where carried the child into she had seen the dingo the wilderness at Ayers and whether she had Rock ' in central Austra- seen . anything in its lia where the Chamber- t mouth. . lains with Azaria and ~ T h a t . brought the their two sons were ~ weeping retort: "For camping in August God's sake. Mr Barker 1980. T h e y h a v e you are talking a pleaded not euilty. my baby daughter, The prosecutor, Mr an object." ' Ian Barker, QC, today ~ At this point the questioned Mrs Cham- trial judge called an berlain closely on her adlournment. - claim that a dingo took When the court re. her baby. s u;m e d, 10 minutes later, Mrs Chamberlain ~appeared to have recovered her composure. )Sir' Barker said: "I am sorry if this distre'sses you but you understand the issues ,before this jury,-don't you?" Mrs, Chamberlain agtees she -was- aware th4 Crown asserted the dingo story was "mere faritasy" and alleged it wak she who killed the child. appeared. . M r s Chamberlain repeatedly brake down, sobbing and dabbing at tears. T! h e prosecutor asked: "Mrs Chamber. lain, you say this child was in the mouth of a dingo which was olgorousiy shaking !t t head at the entrance- to thO, tent. That's ~at you firmly believe?", Mrs Chamberlain, her head in her hands and visibly distressed, '-atfswered: "That's right.". The judge asked Twr if she wanted a: short brOak, saying he ~ Qiid not want -her to answer questions 'if ,{ ~M was distraught. 1, 1 ,. t At one stage. 'Mrs, Chamberlain sobbed: "For God's sake, Mr Barker, you are talking about my baby daughter, not an object." It was Mrs Chamberlain's second day under cross-examination. Dressed in 'a- pink maternity smock eight months pregnant Mrs Chamberlain resumed her seat in the witness AUSTRALIA A Guilty Verdict in The `Dingo Baby' Ca It all began on a warm evening in AU of 1980. Lindy and Michael Chamber were returning to a campsite at Ayers a popular tourist attraction in centiel,W, tralia, with their two sons and nine,* ~} old daughter, Azaria. What happenedhas been something of a mystery to Atutti~ ians ever since. According to the Chttmbtk~lains, Lindy suddenly heard a screazrt~c then watched in horror as a wild dinBa"ft ' ran off with tiny Azaria locked bet Wt hl# jaws. According to Australian prosecat^ however, there was no dingo at a11.:11iftdYl they argued, murdered her baby in the ftOttt seat of the family car and her husband 9" ' helped her bury the child's remains'10t week a jury in Darwin sorted throitBh'fIO contradictory testimony-and found UAdY guilty of killing her baby daughter The verdict brought to a closeahc ~ NEWSWEEK/NOVEMBER400 en-week period. Although Azaria's y has never been found, the prosecution t its case on strong circumstantial evi= ' ce: bloodstains in the Chamberlains' car d holes in the baby's discarded jump suit t.experts said could not have been made dog's ;teeth. sational, most expensive and longest- Many who followed the trial found mg Australian murder trial in years. Lindy's own testimony convincing. Under sa cost of more than $3 million, the "Din-, harsh examination by the prosecution, she Baby Case" brought 73 witnesses, 144' sobbed, "You ale:alking about our baby-I d th 3000fbj" Wh bits an morean, pages o tran- . . oect.en Lindy's voice cracked at an'pts to the Darwin courtroom during a` other point in her testimony, two jurorsbroke down in tears, prompting the judge tocall an adjournment. But when Lindy, 34,was sentenced to life in prison (where shewill give birth to her fourth child within thenext two weeks), she displayed a cool reserve serve typical of her demeanor through mostof the trial. Michael, 38, a pastor with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was fo4rvguilty of being an accessory after the fact. But the court gave him a suspended 18month sentence and allowed him to go free on a $500 bond. "He has suffered and suffered intensely," said the judge. The trial is likely to be on people's minds for quite some time. Six books about: the case are already under way, anda movie an' a television documentary are. now in the planning stages. But none of those commercial ventures are likely to explain howL--or why-Azaria Chamberlain died. AUSTRALIA GUILTY! screamed the newspaper headlines, as the country's most sensational murder trial in memory reached a stunning verdict. After hearing 73 witnesses in seven blisteringly hot weeks, a jury in Darwin deliberated little more than six hours before concluding that Lindy Chamberlain, 34, had murdered her nine-week-old daughter Azaria by cutting the baby's throat with a pair of scissors. Chamberlain's husband Michael, 38, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, was found guilty as an accessory after the fact. No motive was ever advanced for the killing, and no body was found. But the baby's bloodstained jumpsuit was recovered. A forensic expert testified that holes in it were caused by scissors, not by the teeth of a dingo dog, which Lindy Chamberlain had claimed took her baby. Michael Chamberlain was given an 18-month suspended sentence while Lindy, almost nine months pregnant with her fourth child, was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. Friends say she is hoping for a girl.  TIME, NOVEMBER 8, 1982 Cinema THE COCA-COLA KID Screenwriter Frank Moorhouse's plot sets two forms of American enterprise, corporate clout and individual initiative, against each other in Australia. A messianic troubleshooter (Eric Roberts), who believes that "the world will not be truly free until Coke is available everywhere," comes from the U.S. to Sydney to find his franchise challenged by a renegade beverage king (Bill Kerr) and his pathologically cuddlesome daughter (Greta Scacchi). Makavejev alleviates his satire with weird supporting characters-an Outback aunt named Haversham, a kangaroo with its paw in a splint, a cockatoo that makes kakadoodie-and plenty of redeeming prurient interest involving the two attractive, antagonistic young leads. -R.C. TIME, AUGUST 12, 1985 47 AUSTRALIA A Growing Fissure in the Rock A national symbol focuses dissent over aboriginal land rights A yers Rock is one of the world's largest monoliths, measuring over 1,000 feet tall and some five miles around at its base. It stands high over Uluru National Park, part of the seemingly endless desert that forms the heart of the Australian Outback. For Australia's indigenous people, the aborigines, this massive slab has been a sacred site for thousands of years. Thus the sunset ceremony there last Saturday was a momentous occasion in the aborigines' 40year struggle to recover their lands taken by European settlers nearly two centuries ago. Sir Ninian Stephen, Australia's Governor-General, handed the deed to the 511sq.-mi. national park to Aboriginal Elder Reggie Uluru. Immediately, Uluru handed Despite opposition, the aborigines have gained rights to almost 19% of South Australia and to small areas in New South Wales and Victoria. The right-wing government of Queensland, however, has refused to grant the aborigines title to any land. In Western Australia, where mining firms have opposed aboriginal land rights, similar legislation has also been defeated. The aborigines, however, have not given full support either to the Western Australian legislation or to the proposed federal changes. Both plans, they claim, deny aborigines the right to veto mining on native lands. Declares Aboriginal Leader Rob Riley: "Control over mining is an essential element of land-rights legislation." Master of all he surveys: an aborigine looks out at Ayers Rock in Uluru National Park over to Sir Ninian a document leasing the area back to the government. After the formalities, some 3,000 guests celebrated with a barbecue and corroboree. Overhead, a small plane towed a banner reading, AYERS ROCK FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS. Indeed, many Australians saw no reason for the hoopla. They oppose the landrights policy of Prime Minister Bob Hawke's government, which is attempting to push through legislation that would give aborigines title to 81,000 sq. mi. of the reserves and missions they currently occupy but do not own. Certain other areas would also be ceded, including national parks, the only proviso being that these would have to be leased back to the government. But the proposed legislation is being opposed by some state governments, which have considerable jurisdiction over aboriginal affairs. Only in the Northern Territory, which does not have full statehood, can the federal government easily carry out its plans. As a result, 166,000 sq. mi., or 32% of the territory's area, have been given back to the aborigines. Last weekend Ayers Rock and the surrounding national park became the latest gain by the country's 170,000 aborigines in their quest for land rights. Not so, says James Strong of the Australian Mining Industry Council. He notes that since 1976, when aborigines in the Northern Territory were granted a veto over mining along with land rights, not one new exploration or mining agreement has been signed with the native owners. That is a significant fact for an industry that earns $7.7 billion a year, or 44% of Australia's export income. Says the Territory's Chief Minister, Ian Tuxworth: "The nation's resources are being locked up forever, and Australia just can't afford it." The planned federal legislation now seems shelved indefinitely. Laments Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Clyde Holding: "The miners are opposed ... the aboriginal people are opposed." Consequently, the government was relieved at the opportunity to hand over Uluru National Park to the traditional owners in order to show its commitment to the stalled land-rights program. For aborigines, the Rock's sacred significance is comparable to that of the Vatican City for Catholics, as one Australian observer put it this week. But this has little effect on the average white Australian who will continue to view land rights with suspicion. The division looms as large as the Rock itself.  TIME, NOVEMBER 4, 1985 31 Contents HIGHLIGHTS Face-to-face with actor Sam Neill 4 2 WOMAN'S WEEKLY 15TH FEBRUARY 19$6 PAGE I (FRONT COVER) In the final chapter of theterrifying Omentrilogy,Sam Neill came into his own as the evil Damien,producing a riveting screen performance. WANTED: good-looking young men who have personality and can act. This is the sort of advertisement which film producers everywhere in the Englishspeaking world are now being sorely tempted to write. Quite simply, there is a serious shortage of new leading men to take over from Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, James Coburn and Burt Reynolds. One man hotly tipped to fill one of those roles is 38-year-old, British-born, New Zealand-raised, Australian star Sam Neill. When he flew to the United States not so long ago for the first showing on American television of his series, Reilly, Ace of Spies, the movie capital-starved of new faces and new talent-went overboard. Veteran actor and luminary of Tinsel Town, the late James Mason, first spotted Sam's potential after seeing him play an upper-class landowner who falls in love with a girl from the outback in the Australian film My Brilliant Career. James Mason was so sure there was a major new international star in the making that he wrote unsolicited letters of recommendation to a number of film producers, and presented the young hopeful with an air ticket to audition for film roles in America. The outcome was Omen III-The Final Conflict, in which Sam played Damien, the son of Satan. "As soon as I saw Sam on film," said Omen producer Harvey Bernhard, "I knew I had found the actor I was looking for." When producer Chris Burt chose Sam for the role of First World War super-spy Sidney Reilly in the ITV 15 million blockbuster series, it was because "he has a different emotional energy from other actors around him-a stillness that draws people to him." Similarly, when director Gillian Armstrong cast him opposite Judy Davis in My Brilliant Career-the film which launched his own brilliant career-it was simply because there was what she called "a no-contest situation". It doesn't matter that Sam Neill was born in Northern Ireland; raised in New Zealand by his English mother and New Zealander 'father, and found a firm movie footing in Australia. The message is the same: this lean 4 yraMftq,s WEEKLY ISTH FEBRUARY 1196 ...BUIt\ IJ\DERA \%MDERI\G STAR six-footer, with floppy brown hair and eyes like splinters of aquamarine is set on course to fulfil every Hollywood producer's dream. He is tomorrow's new sex symbol. At our own meeting Sam admitted, "I now have three filmson offer from the United States, one from Australia and one from Europe, so I feel spoilt for choice at the moment. It's a very pleasant position to be in." It is not all that many years ago, in fact, since he considered himself lucky to earn #4,000 for a role. Now, with the excitement of such films as Plenty with Meryl Streep (playing in cinemas across the country at the moment), and the American mini-series Kane and Abel (in which he plays wealthy Boston banker Kane opposite Peter Strauss's Polish immigrant Abel, and which has yet to be seen here) he is collecting #4,000 just for expenses! Sam's film and TV commitments are still firmly rooted in Australia. "I am very fond of the country and its film industry," he says. Nevertheless, he is now very much an international commodity. However, he definitely does not want to lose touch with this part of the world. It is in London that he has shared a five-year relationship with fellow New Zealander Lisa Harrow, who played Nancy Astor in the BBC TV series and who is the mother of their son Tim, who's three in April. Their romance still thrives, despite a brief rupture two years ago. He is, he concedes, a gypsy at heart. He holds both British and New Zealand passports, and has homes in Sydney, London and k was the wonderful Australian filmMy Brilliant Careerthat got Sam's own careerwell and truly off the ground. New York. He also recently bought a plot of land in New Zealand and building is now under way on a house he constantly refers to as "my bolt-hole to sanity". And it is during his filming commitments in England for the mini-series Strong Medicine, with Pamela Sue Martin, Patrick Duffy, Ben Cross and Dick Van Dyke, that Sam talks frankly about a life and career that has its own momentum. "I don't really interfere too much with fate, to be honest," he explains. "I do feel secure, but the yearning for security has never been a problem with me. "My career is not the 'be-all and end-all' of my existence: if it stopped today my heart wouldn't break. I've never been what you might call an ambitious man. My philosophy is simple: if people want me, they want me; and if they don't-too bad." If the distances he travels to work these days are anything to go by, then there is no doubt that people want him. He says: "The obvious change in my life is that each year I do more and more flying. In the past twelve Continued overleaf After five years together and the birth of theirson Tim, lovely actress Lisa Harrow and SamNeill are still very much a team. OUT OF TOWN Continued from page 6 affair with the greatest affection--and we're still very good friends. "Louise is married now, with two children, and I'm a godfather to one of them. We've kept in touch. I always pay them a call when I go back to New Zealand," says Sam Neill, who went on to appear in the Australian TV series The Sullivans, climbed into 12th-century armour to play a black-hearted knight in the TV movie version of Ivanhoe, and starred opposite Jodie Foster in The Blood of Others. "I've always had long-lasting relationships with women," says one of the screen's most magnetic stars. "I've never been the sort of person who `plays the field'. I'm simply not like that, and I think most men aren't. "In many respects I'm something of a romantic, a bit of a dreamer, which means I find it very difficult to be objective about the women I am involved with. I tend to idealise them." After an on-off relationship with Lisa Harrow for more than five years, they are still remarkably together. "Marriage?" he ponders aloud. "It's been so long since we've actually talked about it. If we ever do get married it will be on the spur of the moment. And it wouldn't actually make any difference to our lives. You see, I don't think marriage solves problems for people, or makes things worse." He smiles softly and explains that his parents are "tactful enough" not to mention the subject of marriage these days. "The secret of being a good parent is that one day you wake up and realise that your children are adults and are entitled to make their own decisions." As a parent himself he is, to use his own words, "a doting dad" as far as his young son, Tim, is concerned. "When Tim grows up, all I want him to be is happy and to do whatever he wants to do. I would never impose any personal ambitions on him," says Sam, whose own ambitions, meanwhile, are modest to the point of being non-existent-though he does drive an expensive BMW in England and is shipping his beloved Morgan out to Australia ("It's actually better suited to the Australian climate"). Despite a growing credit list of movies that include Enigma and a remake of the 1957 Peter Finch film Robbery Under Arms-and despite some very handsome fees-Sam laments that this has not necessarily made him super-rich. "My star sign is Virgo," he tells you, "which means I'm supposed to be obsessively mean with money. But I just can't hang on to cash: it just falls out of my pocket." For all that, he did save sufficient cash to buy his plot of land in New Zealand and get some drawings done to build a house. "It will be a very simple, austere cottage," he says. "In some ways it will reflect my own personality. I really dislike things that are `flash' and `showy'. I think of myself as being modest, so the house will be modest in every respect. "It's being made from stone and it will have a corrugated-iron roof; all the best New Zealand roofs are made from corrugated iron. It's a very humble material. "The house will be a cross between a New Zealand farm-shed and an Irish farmhouse, that kind of stripped-back simplicity. It will be a place I'll be able to escape to for peace and quiet and meditation, and where I'll be able to breathe some air. "I like to be alone sometimes," adds Sam, "but I equally like a good party once in a while with my family and friends. But then I like a whole bunch of things, like the Cotswolds, Scotland, white Burgundy, jam (in particnlar dark marmalade), Randy Newman, claret, Sibelius, the Irish writer Molly Keane, riding, mountains, the Blues, New York, a good movie with some Rowntree's fruit gums . . " He sits back in the chair, hands in pockets, and adds: "I'm not a perfect human being. I wish I was. I'm very indecisive (I prefer other people to make up my mind for me), and I'm very untidy about the house; when I've been in the bathroom you can see I've been there. "Do you know," he says reflectively, on quite a different subject, "I really don't care about getting older, I really don't care about riches or fame. All I ask from life is to be moderately happy, moderately successful. "I don't want to be the biggest phenomenon in the world. I don't need that. You just lose control of your life when that happens to you. "My philosophy is that with each new day life is just beginning. I feel as though the starting-gun has just gone off. Life is short and it behoves all of us to enjoy it as much as possible." The new young lion of films and TV gets up to go and, at the door, looks back at me and smiles. "I enjoy being alive," he says* 54 W6MAN'S WEEKLY IStN FESRUAQI( Iqg(, a Huisgenoot, 22 September 1988 ARTIKELS 14 Dingo-drama: ma oplaas heeltemal vrygespreek Julia Hayes 5 Deur JULIA HAYES V ROEER vanjaar het Meryl Streep 'n swart pruik oor haar blonde hare getrek om 'n rol te speel wat haar soos 'n tweede vel pas: die van 'n vrou wat deur die Voorsienigheid geteister word, maar nooit een oomblik ophou veg nie. Die keer sou die drama hom in die Australiese woestyn afspeel. Meryl sou Lindy Chamberlain wees - veroordeelde moordenares van haar eie kind. Maar wanneer die prent, Evil Angels, oor 'n paar maande begin draai, sal die grootste moment in Lindy se lewe nie daarin weerspieel word nie. Dit was die dag toe die hof haar van alle blaam vir die dood van haar baba onthef bet. Lindy se groot triomf na lang jare van stryd bet net verlede week gekom. 'n Australiese hooggeregshof bet haar veroordeling weens moord op haar baba omgekeer en haar vrygespreek. Terselfdertyd is haar man, Jim, onskuldig bevind aan medepligtigheid. Agt jaar gelede bet Lindy se baba gesterf. Haar dogtertjie bet eenvoudig in die Australiese nagdonkerte verdwyn asof sy nooit gebore was nie. En mettertyd bet sy daarin berus: Azaria was vir ewig weg. Maar een ding kon die donkerkop-vrou nooit aanvaar nie, en dit was die brandmerk wat sy sedert daardie nag op haar voorkop moes dra. Moordenaar, bet daar geskryf gestaan. Moordenaar van jou eie kind. Die dingo-moord bet destyds die verbeelding van die wereld aangegryp. Klein Azaria se dood bet al die elemente van 'n naelbyt-riller bevat: die gesin wat by die geheimsinnige Ayers Rock in die woestyn kampeer, die wildehond wat oenskynlik die baba wegvoer - en die oe vol agterdog wat dan op die ma kom rus. Het sy dalk haar kind vermoor? Sy bet, ja, bet 'n Australiese hof bevind, en Lindy lewenslank tronk toe gestuur. Maar daardie dag bet sy 'n eed geneem dat sy haar naam in ere sou laat herstel. Sy was onskuldig. Eendag sou hulle dit nog moes erken. Intussen bet baie gebeur om die openbare mening ten gunste van Lindy te laat swaai. Nuwe getuienis bet aan die lig gekom. Lindy is eers uit die gevangenis vrygelaat, later haar vonnis kwytgeskeld. Sy en haar gesin bet gevlug, na 'n afgesonderde sentrum van die Sewendedag-Adventistekerk, waarvan haar man 'n prediker was totdat 'n hof hulle weens die dood van hul dogtertjie veroordeel bet . Daar het Lindy die bande met haar gesin probeer herstel; met Jim, die seuns en die dog IMAGES 14 Hvisgenoot, 22 September 1988 HOOFFOTO: Meryl Streep as die veroordeelde moordenares Lindy Chamberlain in Evil Angels. LINKS: Sam Neill, as Michael Chamberlain, sit sy arm beskermend om sy vrou se skouer tydens die rolprent se verhoortoneel. ONDER: Die Chamberlains in die ware lewe. tertjie wat in die tronk gebore is en kort daarna van haar weggeneem is. En sy bet vroue wat sy in die tronk leer ken bet, probeer help om aan te pas in die gemeenskap daar buite. Een bet sy selfs maande lank in haar huis ingeneem. Nou, met hul naam weer skoon, kan die Chamberlains 'n nuwe lewe begin. Jim sal heel moontlik weer prediker word. Hy en Lindy sal hul paspoorte terugkry en hul droom kan bewaarheid om na hul kerk se hoofkantoor in Amerika te reis. Hulle hoop om dan ook vir Meryl Streep te ontmoet. En nou begin nog 'n stryd: die om skadevergoeding vir Dit bly een van die vreemdste sake in die regsgeskiedenis van die wereld ... die van Lindy Chamberlain wie se baba na bewering deur 'n Australiese wildehond verslind is. En haar verbete geveg om nie die brandmerk van 'n moordenaar te dra nie. Verlede week is Lindy oplaas van alle blaam onthef ... HEEL LINKS: In nog 'n toneel uit die rolprent hou Lindy (Streep) haar baba beskermend vas terwyl 'n dingo na hulle kyk. LINKS: 'n Gelukkige Lindy (Streep) speel met haar baba op Ayers Rock kort voor die kleintjie se dood, en LINKS ONDER is dieselfde toneel in die ware lewe - 'n foto uit die familie-album. Huisgenoot, 22 September 1988 Lu.u, aw..rae.rw.se wgnr%Wj ent met 11IerYIS'h'eeP Dingo-drama: triomF van n veronregte ma 15 Dingo: U 40 ndy seslepende stryd meer as R2 miljoen aan regskoste en die ontbering van die drie en 'n halwe jare wat Lindy agter die tralies moes deurbring. Die Chamberlains oorweeg dit nou om 'n eis vir meer as R40 miljoen in te stel vir moontlik die grootste mistasting in die geskiedenis van die Australiese regspleging. In die maande waarin Evil Angels geskiet is, het Lindy goed bevriend geraak met Meryl, en die vervaardiger van die prent, Verity Lambert. Die twee vroue was van die begin af net so oortuig van Lindy se onskuld as sy self, en hul steun bet by baie Australiers die laaste bietjie twyfel oor Lindy se onskuld laat verdwyn. Saam bet die drie vroue by Ayers Rock in die woestyn alles herskep net soos dit daardie nag gebeur bet. En voor Lindy se oe bet die hele tragedie van daardie nag hom nogmaals afgespeel, net soos duisend keer sedertdien voor haar geestesoog ... DAAR is die rots, 'rl misterieuse kolos teen die naglug in die woestyn. Daar, onder, is die tentjie waarin hulle kampeer, Jim, haar man, leke-predikant van die SewendedagAdventistekerk, die kinders en sy. Non beweeg 'n skadu voor die tent verby. Die volgende oomblik storm sy gillend die naglug in. Haar baba, klein Azaria! 'n Dingo bet haar kindjie gegryp, ag, Vader, nee ... Mense kom, skarrel soos miere met flitse in die donker daar onder op die rooi woestynsand rond. Hulle kry niks. Sy huil nie meer nie. Sy is stil, byna gelate. Nege weke lank was klein Azaria vir haar gegee, nou is sy weg. Dis die Heer se wil, se sy, dat haar kindjie moes sterf. Die Heer se wil? Watter vreemde woorde van 'n ma wie se kind deur 'n wildehond verskeur is, fluister die mense non. Dis te se, as dit ooit 'n bond was. 'n Week lank seek hulle vergeefs, kry dan die bloedbevlekte doek, onderhemp en broekpakkie voor die bek van 'n wildehond se skuilplek aan die voet van Ayers Rock. Hulle kry ook die bloed in Jim se motor. Sy verduidelik, Jim verduidelik dat 'n ryloper wat hulle opgelaai bet sy vinger gesny bet. Maar die polisie glo haar nie, sy kan dit sien. Dit kan Azaria se bloed wees daar op die vloer. Azaria het 'n baadjie gedra die nag toe die bond haar kom gryp het, se sy nou. Soek dit, julle sal sien dis 'n bond wat dit verskeur het! Hulle soek, maar nie baie ernstig nie. Hulle kry niks. Hulle glo haar steeds nie. Dan kom hulle om haar weg te neem. Sy bet haar kindjie keelaf gesny, se hulle. Sy sal moet rekenskap gee. Die hofsaak breek aan. Die hele wereld leer Lindy Chamberlain ken. Onskuldig, se sy. Sy kon maar stilgebly bet. Hulle glo haar nogmaals nie. Langer as drie jaar sit sy agter die tralies voordat die Britse toeris van die rots aftuimel. David Brett was sy naam, hulle weet nou nog nie of dit selfmoord was of bloot 'n ongeluk nie. Maar toe die polisie aan die voet van die rots sy lyk Pan soek, kry hulle die baadjie daar le. Bloedbevlek, aan flarde. Azaria s'n. Twee dae later sluit hulle haar seldeur oop. "Jy is vry," se hulle, "jy kan maar gaan." Maar nog nie onskuldig nie. Agttien maande daarna sit die koninklike kommissie. Hulle skeld haar die res van die vonnis kwyt. Maar die skandvlek hang steeds oor haar naam. En die een vraag wat niemand heel van die begin af won antwoord nie, bet steeds onbeantwoord gebly: Waarom son 'n ma, normaal en geestesgesond, 'n baba in die wereld bring, haar twee :naande lank met die grootste toewyding en liefde versorg en haar dan keel-af sny? Verlede week bet die hooggeregshof toe uiteindelik geantwoord: Nee, sekerlik son sy nie. ) Huisgenoot, 22 September 1988 17 ARTIKELS 178 Dingo-vrou - vry maar steeds gekruisig Edward Parker HtA I'5 Genoot Z 3 MC, 19 19 y IGqQ Nuwe rolprent oor Lindy Chamberlain se stryd... wat vandag nog voortduur Dingo-vrou D In9ONVrOU vry maar IMJL sweds gekru i Meryl Streep vertolk haar rol - die vrou van smart in die bekende dingo-verhaal. Maar tot vandag toe het die veragting van Lindy Chamberlain nie opgehou nie, wil mense eerder glo sy is skuldig as onskuldig ... O Deur EDWARD PARKER P ons rolprentskerms is dit deesdae Meryl Streep wat - met 'n gitswart pruik op haar kop - die smart van Lindy Chamberlain in die rolprent A Cry in the Dark uitbeeld. Die verhaal is bekend: Nege jaar gelede het 'n Australiese wildehond, 'n dingo, Lindy se dogtertjie, Azaria, toe skaars ses weke oud, gegryp en in die donker met haar weggehardloop. Lindy is weens moord skuldig bevind en het drie jaar in die tronk gesit. Eers nadat Azaria se pajamabaadjie in die veld gevind is, is sy oplaas onskuldig bevind. Maar tot vandag toe het die smart en hoon nie opgehou nie en Lindy dra 'n seer in haar rond wat nooit sal genees nie. Die rolprent was skaars voltooi, toe word 'n TV-onderhoud in Australie met haar gevoer. Binne minute was die TV-netwerk se sentrale geblokkeer soos honderde oproepe tegelyk instroom: "Haal daardie moordenaar van die kassie af!" was die kreet van feitlik almal wat gebel bet. Dit is nou twee jaar sedert 178 Lindy Chamberlain nit die tronk vrygelaat is. Sedertdien het sy geweldig verander. Weg is die gespanne, maer vrou met die reguit hare wat op 'n kort,:, af, byna harde manier met j oernaliste gepraat bet. Sy is nou ontspanne,p hare is korter en krullerig, haar gesig 'n bietjie voller. Op 'n manier lyk sy sagter. "Ons bet nie meer ons oorlogsdrag aan nie," verduidelik sy. "Ons is nou vryer om te praat. Nie dat ons nie meer versigtig is vir die pers nie, dit sal ons altyd wees, oor wat gebeur het." Dis egter duidelik dat haar ]ewe en die van haar gesin onherroeplik verander bet. "Die letsels is vir ewig daar," se Lindy. "Ons eet, drink en slaap dit steeds. "Wanneer ek op straat by 'n polisieman verbystap, krimp ek nog ineen. Hulle bet my probeer breek (in die tronk), maar hulle kon nie." Sy sal nooit vergeet hoe hulle klein Kahlia, die baba wat sy in die tronk gehad bet, van haar weggeneem bet nie. "Kahlia is nou vyf, maar ek bet nooit haar eerste jare saam met haar beleef nie." Maar vir Lindy is die stryd nog nie verby nie. "Ek wee]: mense wil eerder glo ek is;, skuldig as onskuldig. En ekweet hulle is siek daarvan om van ons te hoor. Maar ek sa:l aanhou veg totdat my naam heeltemal skoon is." (Tegnies is daar steeds 'n moordklag teen haar.) L INDY erken sy is vandag 'n sterker mens as tevore. Meer selfstandig, kragdadig en veral onafhanklik. Daarby bet al die druk haar huwelik net sterker gemaak, nooit laat knak nie. Daar is gese dat dit net die hofsaak is wat haar en Michael bymekaargehou het. Maar albei ontken dit heftig. "Ons verhouding is veel dieper as dit," se Lindy. "Die dinge wat twee mense in die begin na mekaar trek, hou hulle byeen. Maar ons moes van voor af leer om getroud te wees toe ek uit die tronk kom." Die Chamberlains bet nou twee jaar gehad om te dink waarom feitlik 'n hele land teen hulle gedraai bet, waarom hulle sulke uiterste gevoelens by die publiek wakker gemaak bet. "Ek dink die Australiers is baie liggeraak oor hul geloof," se Michael, wat 'n pastoor van die Sewendedag-Adventiste was toe Azaria verdwyn bet. "Hulle wil nie glo dat die Christendom bestaan nie. As hulle dit moet erken, sou dit beteken hulle moet hul lewe verander en dan word dit 'n bedreiging vir hulle. "Hulle bet ons veroordeel om hul eie gewetes te sus. Hulle was teen ons gekant omdat ons twee mense was wat 'n Christelike lewe probeer lei het." Lindy bet intussen 'n eis van miljoene ingestel vir die skuldigbevinding en die jare dat sy onskuldig in die tronk was. Maar nou, se Lindy, dink die mense weer sy en Michael is klaar welgesteld omdat hul name so baie in die koerante verskyn het. "Ek hoor die mense se ons bet geen vergoeding nodig nie omdat ons ryk is. "Hulle dink nie aan ons persoonlike skuld en wat ons ons regsmense skuld nie. Michael het sy werk verloor. Hy kan nooit weer 'n pastoor wees nie. Die publiek bet gehelp met die regskuld, maar dis nie alles betaal nie. Intussen moet ons nog leef ook." Tog, deur die lang jare van hul nagmerrie bet hulle nooit hul geloof in God verloor nie. Daarby is hulle van plan om in Australie te bly, ondanks al die nydigheid teen hulle. Want hulle wonder of mense in ander lande hulle hoegenaamd beter sou behandel ... ) 179 Lindy en Mi chael Chamberlain en hul kinders, Aiden (14), Kahlia (5) en Reagan (12). Kah lia is gebore terwyl Lindy in die tronk was - en is daar van haar weggeneem. Meryl s waai appels 14, in die Wit Huis Meryl, wat op die oomblik hier by ons te sien is in die rolprent A Cry in the Dark, het 'n paar jaar gelede haar eerste voorsmakie van die stryd teen besmetting gehad, toe sy in die rolprent Silkwood lekkasies by 'n kernaanleg wou blootle. FEATURES 108 Dingo woman: freed, but crucified you ~u~ e ~ New film about Cindy Chamberlain's struggle which is still going on Dingo rree but still crucified cif d sti cru ie M eryl Streep stars as the grieving mother in the film of the famous dingo saga. But even today Lindy Chamberlain is still held in contempt because people would rather find her guilty than innocent ... By EDWARD PARKER I T is Meryl Streep - with a shock of black hair - who portrays the grief of Lindy Chamberlain in the film Cry in the Dark about the controversial mystery. Nine years ago an Australian wild dog, a dingo, grabbed Lindy's baby daughter Azaria who was barely six weeks old, and made off with her into the dark night. Lindy was found guilty of murder and sat in prison for three years. Only after Azaria's little pyjama top was found in the bush was Lindy finally cleared. But to this day the grief and the taunting have not stopped and Lindy carries inside her a pain that will never heal. The film was barely completed when Australian TV interviewed Lindy herself. Within minutes the network's telephone exchange waS blocked with hundreds of people all trying to have their say. "Take that murderess off the screen!" cried practically every caller. It is now two years since Lindy Chamberlain was released from prison. Since then she has changed dramatically. 108 Gone is the tense, thin woman with the dead-straight hair who spoke in a curt, almost hard manner to journalists. She's now relaxed, her hair is shorter and curly, her face has filled out. In a way s looks softer than before.' 0" , "We are no longer wearing our combat uniform," she explains. "We can speak more freely. Not that we aren't still wary of the press, we will always be cautious about what happened." It is more than obvious that her life, and that of her family, has changed dramatically. "The scars will always be there," says Lindy. "We still eat, drink and sleep the tragedy. "When I walk past a policeman in the street I flinch uncontrollably. They tried to break me (in prison) but they couldn't." She'll never forget how little Kahlia, the baby she had in prison, was taken away from her. "Kahlia is now five but I did not experience her first year with her." The fight is not yet over for Lindy. "I know people would rather believe I was guilty than not guilty. I know they are sick of hearing about us. But I will keep fighting until my name is completely cleared." (Technically there is still a murder charge against her.) Lindy says she is now a stronger person than before. More self-sufficient, energetic - and, especially, independent. And on top of that the pressure strengthened her marriage: not once did it show signs of cracking. In fact some said it was only the court case that w4s holding her and Michael together. Both hotly deny this. "Our relationship is much deeper than that," said Lindy. "The things that initially attract two people keep them together. But we had to learn about married life all over again after I came out of prison." The Chamberlains have had two years to think why a whole country turned against them, why they awoke such extreme emotions in the public. "I think the Australians are over-sensitive when it comes to religion," said Michael, who was a pastor for the Seventh Day Adventists when little Azaria disappeared. "They don't want to believe that Christianity exists. If they were to admit it, that would mean a whole change of lifestyle and then it becomes a threat to them. "They condemned us to salve their own consciences. They were against us because we were two people who were trying to lead a Christian life." Lindy is suing the state for millions over the guilty verdict and for the years she spent in prison. "But now," she says, "the public believes Michael and I are already financially well off because our names are always in the newspapers. I hear people say we don't need any compensation because we are already rich. "They don't think about our personal debts and what we owe our lawyers. Michael lost his job. He can never again be a pastor. The public did help with some of the legal fees but not all of them have been paid off. And in the meantime we have to keep on living." Even so, throughout their long years of suffering not once did they lose faith in God. And they are planning to stay in Australia, in spite of all the anger against them, because they wonder if people in other countries would treat them any better. P5 109 Lindy and Michael Chamberlain withtheir childrenAiden (14),Kahlia (5) andReagan (12).Kahlia wasborn whileLindy was inprison - andtaken awayfrom her. Meryl frets over fruits Meryl, at present on our movie screens in A Cry in the Dark, had her first taste of battle in the war against contamination a few years ago when she starred in Silkwood, a movie about exposing evidence of radiation leaks. A Cry in the Dark Australia, 1988 Director: Fred Schepisi Cert-15. dist-Pathe. p.c-Evil Angels Films. For Cannon Films, Inc./Cannon International. In association with Cinema Verity Limited. With financial assistance from The Australian Film Commission. exec. p-Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus. p-Verity Lambert. line p-Roy Stevens. Cannon p. exec-Rony Yakov. p. co-ordinator-Sue Jarvis. p. managerCarol Hughes. unit managers-Michael Batchelor, Tick Carroll. location managers-Tony Leach, Robin Clifton. post p. sup-Peter Beilby, Entertainment Media. casting-Rhonda Schepisi, Forcast Ltd., (extras) Sue Parker. asst. d-Steve Andrews, Phil Patterson, Tobe Pease, Janine Schepisi, John Meredith, Melanie Turner, Tony Fashse. sc-Robert Caswell, Fred Schepisi. Based on the book Evil Angels by John Bryson. ph-Ian Baker. In colour. camera op-Ian Jones. steadicam op-Ian Jones, Geoff Hall. video-(d.) Tony Leach, (ph.) Steve Thompson, Brian Sollars, (technician) Steven Marriner, (ed.) Rosemary Cox. (op.) Jim Dunwoodie. ed-Jill Bilcock. p. designers-Wendy Dickson, George Liddle. a.d-Dale Duguid, Brian Edmonds. a. dept. co-ordinator-Wendy Huxford. set dressers-Viv Wilson, Jill Eden. draughtsman -Philip Schemnitz. scenic artist - Ian Richter. m -Bruce Smeaton. original m. performed by-Joe Chindamo & Loose Change. cost. design-Bruce Finlayson. cost. supJulie Barton. costumers- Sandra Cichello, Joan Davis. make-up-(Meryl Streep) J. Roy Helland, (artist) Noriko Spencer. title design-Alex Stitt. sup. ed. ed-Craig Carter, Terry Rodman. sd. ed-Livia Ruzic, Glenn Newnham, Tim Chau, Gary Woodyard. sd. rec-Gary Wilkins, (dial.) Peter Fenton, (m.) Martin Oswin, Robin Gray, Allan Eaton Sound. foley rec-John Herron, David Knight. Dolby stereo. Dolby engineer-Stephen Murphy. sd. transfers-Eugene Wilson Sound Servicesy foley artist sd. effects-Phil Heywood. p. assistantsMelanie Turner, Tony Faehse. doubles-(Meryl Sttleep) Beth Cameron, Maria Kinnes, (Sam Neill) Norm Martin, Stephen Liddell, (for Aidan) Michael Kiefer, (for Reagan) Mark Chmiel. stand-ins- (Meryl Streep) Julianna Krygger, (Sam Neill) lain Murton. dog wrangler-Evanne Chesson. l.p-The Family: Meryl Streep (Lindy Chamberlain), Sam Neill (Michael Chamberlain), Dale Reeves (Aidan, age 6), David Hoflin (Aidan, age 8), Jason Reason (Aidan, age 11), Michael Wetter (Reagan, age 4), Kane Barton (Reagan, age 6), Trent Roberts (Reagan, age 9), Lauren Shepherd, Bethany Ann Prickett, Alison O'Connell and Aliza Dason (Azaria), Jane Coker (Kahlia, New-born), Rae-Leigh Henson (Kahlia, age 18 Months), Nicolette Minster (Kahlia, age 4), Brian Jones (Cliff Murchison), Dorothy Alison (Avis Murchison); Alice Springs Court: Maurice Fields (Barritt), Peter Hosking (Macknay), Matthew Barker (O'Loughlin), Bruce Kilpatrick (Peter Dean); Darwin Court: Charles Tingwell (7ustice Muirhead), Bruce Myles (Barker), Neil Fitzpatrick (Phillips), Dennis Miller (Sturgess), Lewis Fitz-Gerald (Tipple), Brendan Higgins (Kirkham), Ian Swan (Cavanagh), Robert Wallace (Pauling), Sandy Gore (7oy Kuhn, Kevin Miles (Professor Cameron), Edgar Metcalfe (Dr. Brown), Gary Files (Professor Chaikin), Peter Aanensen (Sims), Jon Finlayson (Professor Boettcher), David Ravenswood (Professor Nairn), Roderick Williams (Les Harris); Eva Godly, Reg Evans, Douglas Hedge, James Wright, Luciano Catenacci, Bill Johnston, Robin Dene, Geoffrey O'Connell, Michael Croft, George Viskich, Merrin Canning and Valma Pratt (The fury); The Media: Jim Holt (7ohn Eldridge), John Howard (Lyle Morris), Frank Holden (Leslie Thompson), Tim Robertson (Wallace), Patsy Stephen (Anne Houghton), Ian Gilmour (7ohn Buckland), Peter Sardi (De Luca), Bill Garner (Mark Furnell), Marion McKenzie (Monya Chatfield), Johnny Quinn (Frank Kennedy), Deborra-Lee Furness (Magazine Reporter), Chuck Faulkner (Conrad Grey), Pat Thomson (Sandra Kamouris), Terrie Waddell (Mary Walsh), James Higgins (Chandla), Quentin Maclaine (Stanbury), Greta Mendoza, Vincent Vaccari, Abbe Holmes and David Wilson (Additional Yournahsts), John Heywood (David Hall), Jeh: Allan (Ted 7arksmn), Pcter By;ne (George Samson), Maureer Edwards (Kate Woodman), Justin Gaffney (Colin McRae), Lynne Ruthven (Alice Steel), Bruce Carter (Newsreader), Peter Flett (Boshoff), Lindy McConchie (Conrad Grey's Guest), Charles Dance (TV Panel Guest), James Condon (Reginald Scholes), James K. Taylor (7ustice Gallagher), Mike Perso and Philip Holder (Newsreaders); The Police and Rangers: Nick Tate (Charlwood), Mervyn Drake (Gilroy), Vincent Gil (Roff), Burt Cooper (Gilligan), Mark Little (Constable Morris), Tony Martin (Lincoln), Bruce Venables (Metcalf), Lawrence Held (Lumb), Paul Young (Sergeant Cocks), Trevor Kent (Bomb-scare Policeman), lain Murton (Operation Ochre Policeman), Daryl Pellizzer (Beer-garden Policeman); Ayers Rock: Bill McCluskey (Greg Lowe), Debra Lawrance (Sally Lowe), Sunday Rennie (Chantelle Lowe), Warwick Moss (Bill West), Brenda Addie (7udy West), Emma Crapper (Catherine West), Caroline Gillmer (Amy Whittaker), Reg Gorman (Mr. Whittaker), Steve Dodd (Nipper Winmatti), David Bradshaw (Murray Haby), Sally Cooper (Bobby Downs), Jeff Truman (Mr. McCombe), Marilynne Paspaley (Mrs. McCombe), Patricia Thompson (Flo Wilkins), Peter Corbett (Barber), Jan Friedl (Ininti Store), Beverly Gardiner and Janette Kearns (Soup Ladies), Pintapinta (Nuwe), Alice Nampitjimpa (Barbara), Yuyuya Nampitjimpa (Daisy); Mount Isa: Graham Litchfield and Bill Kupfer (Truckies), Don Reid (Pastor Kennawav), Susan Leith (7enny Richards); Avondale: Alan Hopgood (President Cox), Bruce Clarkson (Les Smith); Darwin: Bob Baines (Chief Minister), Ian McFadyen (Attorney General), Maggie Millar (Sister), Ruby Hunter (Prisoner Rhoda), Ron Falk (Pastor Olsen), Billie Hammerberg (Mrs. Herron); Gossipers: Don Bridges (Farmer), John Bishop (Salesman), Roy Thompson (Truckie), George Harlem (Factory Worker), Peter Tabor (TV Producer), David Kirkpatrick (TV Film Editor), Gary Samolin and Mark Mitchell (School Teachers), Glenn Robbins (Young Father), Robert Ratti (Fruiterer), Shane Gooch (Butcher), Peter Mazaris (Florist), Marijke Mann, Eleanora Varenti and Peter Tulloch (Dinner Party), Paul Karo (Lecturer), Julian Branagan and Andrew Maj (Students), Gillian Norwood (Tennis Lady), Max Davidson and John Ford (Bowlers), Marty Field (Commuter), Timothy Belland John Larking (Barristers), John Hannan and Beth Child (Trendies), Kim Gygell and Ray Hare (Actors), Paula Ruzek (Editor), Rick Yakubian (Executive). 10,951 ft. 121 mins. 1980. Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, their two young sons and ten-week-old baby Azaria, are camping at Ayers Rock, Australia's most famous tourist attraction, when they are startled by a baby's cry at night and Lindy sees a wild dog, a dingo, leaving their tent, apparently carrying something. She finds Azaria's basket in the tent empty, and the other campers join the frantic Chamberlains in a torch-light search of the surrounding countryside. The baby's torn and bloodstained clothing is eventually found but no body. The benumbed Chamberlains are taken to a nearby motel (though they're worried about the cost), while media interest in the extraordinary incident-there are no other reported cases of dingos carrying off children-begins to build. Michael himself agrees to take photographs for one newspaper, and the Chamberlains (particularly Lindy) are disconcertingly composed, when interviewed on TV. Rumour and increasing popular doubt that a dingo killed the baby is fuelled by the fact that the Chamberlains are Seventh Day Adventists and that the name Azaria may have connotations of `sacrifice in the wilderness'. An inquest in Alice Springs concludes that a dingo was to blame, and the judge cautions against further ill-founded gossip. The police continue to investigate, however; the Chamberlains find themselves increasingly hounded (the pressure telling particularly on Michael), and a concerted police swoop is made on the couple's home and on other witnesses to Lindy's movements at the campsite at the time of Azaria's disappearance. A British forensic expert, Dr. Cameron, testifies that the rips in the baby's clothing could not have been made by an animal's teeth, and that the bloodstains are more consistent with the baby's throat having been cut (a further piece of clothing, a matinee jacket, which Lindy claims Azaria was wearing and which may have shown traces of the dingo's saliva, has never been found). In the Northern territory capital of Darwin, Lindy (now pregnant again) is put on trial for murder, with Michael charged as an accessory. Lindy preserves her composure under prosecution examination but Michael breaks down. Cameron's iorensic evidence in another case is shown to have been mistaken; a bloody hand print on the baby's clothes is established not to be Lindy's; and stains suspected to be blood in the Chamberlains' car proves more likely to be rust. The judge directs for an acquittal, but Lindy is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment; Michael receives an eighteen-month suspended sentence so that he can look after the children. Subsequently, during the search for a climber killed on Ayers Rock, the missing matinee jacket is found, carefully buried. After serving three-and-a-half years of her sentence, Lindy is released on compassionate grounds; welcomed home by her family and her daughter, now a toddler, she announces to her fellow congregationalists that the fight for justice has only begun. A caption states that, in September 1988, the Chamberlains were cleared of all charges. j-{ ( kill &1 1/11? t~ I-, i-'C _ In his reconstruction of Australia's sensational `dingo baby' murder case, Fred Schepisi goes for two kinds of courtroom drama which might usefully have counterpointed each other, but which from the film's first scenes are set up to contradict each other. One is a generic drama of mystery and suspense, of ambiguous motive and perhaps finally inscrutable purpose; the other is a crusading pi;.ce of cine-journai_ism which, sets out to expose a miscarriage of justice and indict the true villains in media hysteria and public ignorance and prejudice. As a reconstruction, the film is fairly rivetted on Meryl Streep's recreation of what is virtually another historical character: an impeccable 'strine accent, a helmet of dark hair, the equally armour-like dark glasses, the tough, forthright manner and refusal to be manipulated by either media or legal counsel and, what proves her downfall, her strangeseeming composure after her child's death. The film might still have gone on to argue that this is not evidence that she slit her baby's throat in a ritual religious murder, but A Cry in the Dark has already stacked this deck-negating any further need for argument -by showing mother and daughter at the outset clambering over Ayers Rock, bonded in an idyllic sunset glow. What follows is a film which scrupulously allows the actress to trace the lineaments of her recreation-particularly as strains in the Chamberlain marriage begin to appear, and Lindy is forced to prop up Sam Neill's less completely developed Michael-but allows no ambiguity as to the case itself. Perhaps because the film so early and easily sets Lindy Chamberlain up as the persecuted victim, leaving itself little to do but run through z. straightforward narrative of her legal tribu lations (while giving the audience little to watch but the protracted arguing back and forth over the forcnsic evidenre), it's obliged to compensate by setting the media up equally quickly as the main culprit, more predator (as the final image suggests) than any wild dog. The film's attacks on the rumour-mongering and lurid speculation of the media-with the responses, observations and casual cynicism of various reporters and newspeople worked, patchwork-fashion, into the account of the trials-often seem to be pandering to the same techniques and glib judgments. In the process, the legal issues, as opposed to the litany of evidence, raised by the two trials are none too clearly presented. The judge at the initial inquest warns of the deleterious effects of the sensational coverage; he symbolises a rule of law that requires that Lindy Chamberlain be judged fairly. But in its opening scenes, the film has already confused the presumption of innocence with actual innocence, opting for the kind of dramatic short-cuts and emotive reporting typical of the newshounds whom it shallowly mirrors. -FEATURE FILMS.', ~ Cry in t-!-.. eDa*t, .3 176:'. Tracked by predators-MerS!1 StreeD " +' ., 0 / P0 - I / 5J k 1o ~es L cs J~.,r^- LOUISE SWEET Show Business , Sex, Lies, Action! Young artists and old controversies at Cannes BY RICHARD CORLISS Meryl Streep-no surprise-took Best Actress as the fiercely bereaved Australian mother in A Cry in the Dark. Streep, who by now must have more trophies than Ramar of the Jungle, did not bother to show up on prize night. Earlier, she had appeared, only to be strafed by the flash guns of the paparazzi. As she scanned the press center, Streep looked as if she were facing a pack of rabid dingoes. That was just about the biggest offscreen drama at a festival whose signature films cozied up to the social and cinematic status quo. Fightfor Usis an expose that shocks as much for its political message as for the grotesque atrocities it I depicts. Fight for Us is more-than a cry in the dark; it is a scream from an eviscerated people.  THE AMERI-CANNES WAY: Winner Streep's drop-by brought on a dingo attack of paparaus. rimE Ju.I e 5" 19fs ~ ""'.i,/('+y~ ru n; e:; She was a late starter - she was 26 before she even enrolled at Yale's School of Drama, but Meryl Streep has made up for lost time. In 12 years of movie acting she's received seven Oscar nominations and won twice. Her latest challenges include A Cry in the Dark and the forthcoming Evita. JOHAN SI0IAALlVV'OOD reports. W.~ o be called The world's greatest actress is perhaps stretching it a bit far, but there's no doubt: Meryl Streep is good. Very good In the 12 short years since she made an impressive feature film debut in Julia with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, she's had seven Oscar nominations and won twice. And she's not finished yet. She picks up challenging roles like some people pick up the bill after a night on the town. Take her latest. The script of A Cry In the Dark was the last thing she needed when she arrived home with her new baby. Revolted, she threw the words aside after only 40 pages. 'Get this out of my sight." she said, "I can't touch this stuff." Then Meryl met Lindy Chamberlain - and changed her mind. After only an hour with her, Meryl was prepared to take on what she called the most challenging role of her life For Lindy Chamberlain is the young mother who claims that her nine-week-old baby was snatched from a tent and killed by a dingo, a wild dog, in a remote area of Australia near Ayers rock on a cold night in August 1980. She was accused of murdering baby Azaria, although her body was never found, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Then, after eight years of legal wrangling and torment, judges quashed her conviction freeing her and _ clearing husband Michael, who had been convicted of being an accessory to murder. Said Meryl: "I found Lindy a tiny little lady - teeny but tough. I've met tough guys, but she is formidable. I had a lot of fears about meeting her. I think she thought I was too tall, too blonde, that my nose was too long and that I was too American. "On my side, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take on the responsibility and do it honourably. But I had no doubts about her innocence. There's something about her that's invincible. "I've met survivors from the Nazi concentration camps, and there's something in their eyes that says they've been to hell and back. Lindy has that." Filming had to be very carefully done because Lindy was then still a convicted murderess. "Everything we said and did could have been used in a court to further incriminate her," said Meryl. "Every bit of it had to be true, and, oh boy! that's a hard thing to do." In the film, also known in some areas as Evil Angels, the part of Lindy's husband Michael, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, is played by Sam Neill. It turned out to be the biggest film ever undertaken in Australia with a speaking cast of 350, and nearly 4 000 extras But already A Cry in the Dark, is well behind Meryl. She moved on to the next challenge, the coveted role of Evita, the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice smash-hit musical based on the life of Eva Peron, wife of the Argentine dictator. It's a role any actress would die for. Actually, Meryl sees a link between Lindy and Evita. "It's two sides of the same story." she said. "No matter what Lindy Chamberlain did on TV or said in the newspapers. people hated her. No matter what Evita did, or what was found out about her and the excesses of her administration, people loved her, almost canonised her." And then there's Christina Onassis. Although hardly cold in her grave, three Hollywood companies have writers busy producing a script of the shipping heiress' life - and Meryl has been pencilled in for the title role But filming can't start for a year - Evita has to be finished first. There wVta!k, also that she was considering an offer to play Princess Michael of Kent in a sizzling version of the life of Britain s most controversial royal, known as Princess Pushy. She'd certainly have to act hard at that, because Meryl herself is far from being pushy. Never has been. ,I was really ugly"",!" with braces on my teeth and thick glasses" M ary Louise Streep was born in Summit. New Jersey, in June, 1949. Her father was a pharmaceutical chemist, and her mother a commercial artist. As a child, Meryl had few friends. She's on record as saying that as a schoolgirl in New Jersey she was really ugly, with braces on my teeth, pudgy faced, badly permed hair, and thick glasses". She had a manner that her younger brother Harry - who now runs a dance school in New York - cheerfully called "pretty ghastly - she was bossy, showoffy, a 98 woman's Value July 1989 Actress Who's Streeps (~ TpRP real pain". The children were spoiled. Meryl remembers her childhood as years "when we were given all that was going". Her Mum and Dad were also "culture mad" forever taking them to the theatre and ballet. Meryl had a good voice which her mother believed could be trained and it was only a short step from standing in front of a singing teacher to" taking over the school stage. "I was 15 when I was given the star role of Marion, the librarian, in The Musician Man, " she said. "I'd seen the show on Broadway, and just felt that the part was perfect. On the opening night I stood on the stage at school, and at the end of the show the audience all stood up and applauded. It was an incredible experience for me." Her parents had hopes of Meryl becoming a concert singer, but instead she decided to follow in Mum's footsteps and studied design at Vassar, the exclusive women's college in New York State. There she became involved in theatricals, and at the ripe old age of 26 enrolled at the Yale School of Drama. She was spotted and signed up by famed New York producer Joseph Papp. She soon made up for being a late starter. In the year 1975 - 76 she appeared in a host of Broadway plays, It was, while playing in In 12 years of movie acting she's received seven Oscar nominations and won twice. Measure For Measure that she met actor John Cazale, better known for his part as the turncoat brother in Godfather ll. They fell in love, but a year later John developed bone cancer and died shortly after giving his last screen performance - alongside Meryl in the movie that was to start her on the road to super-stardom, Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. John Cazale didn't see Meryl's step to stardom - he died before The Deer Hunter was released. For the last six months Meryl had turned her back on work to nurse him to the end. She then desperately relaunched herself into her career, co-starring with Alan Alda in his movie The Seduction of Joe Tynan. But the man who came to her aid in her emotional crisis was a close friend of her brother's, the. New York sculptor Don Gummer. In six months they married - in September 1978. There were the usual gossips who suggested that Meryl had 'married on the rebound'. They have been proved wrong. The Gummers have three children - there's Henry, now nine, Mary five, and Grace three. Says Meryl: "I'm a wife and mother first, an actress sometimes." At around R7,5 million a picture,'plus percentages, she can afford to be choosy, but when she is in a movie it's a constant fight for perfection. As producers began to queue up with offers of work, she threw out all the emptyheaded heroine parts and settled for a meaty role in Woody Allen's Manhattan, as Woody's feminist lesbian exwife. This led to the all important first Oscar for her part as the woman who walks out on husband Dustin Hoffman in Kramer versus Kramer. As the tragic Polish survivor of a concentration camp in Sophie's Choice she won her second Oscar. For the part she learned German from a neighbour and Polish from a language tutor. Before flashback concentration camp scenes, she went on an extended liquid diet to become suitably thin and emaciated. There was the film Plenty, with Charles Dance and Sting; there was Out Of Africa, with Robert Redford; Heartburn, opposite Jack Nicholson, and Ironweed, also with Nicholson; The French Lieutenant's Woman, with Jeremy irons; and the harrowing TV movie Holocaust, for which she got an Emmy. There were the days, even up to a couple of years ago, when Meryl lived in New York and much preferred to use the subway to taking taxis, and liked to do her own shopping at local supermarkets. But now she's had to retreat into the Connecticut countryside. She said "Now I have the children I have to think more about security. I don't walk around with a posse of bodyguards, so I do get bothered by people stopping me and staring at me. It got so I couldn't even go shopping without someone peering over my shoulder to see what size knickers I was buying." So now home is on a 90-acre estate in the little town of Salisbury. There's a giant 20acre lake which partly surrounds the house. She can go to the local shops without hassle, townsfolk call out "Hi, Meryl", and she likes to watch Henry playing hockey for his junior school. And of course, there's husband Don. A barn has been converted into a studio where he works at sculpting all day, and sometimes into the night. He believes the foundation of their marriage is trust and friendship. He feels that their relationship is symbiotic: "She's learned how to look at objects, and I've learned how to look at people, he says. In simple terms, she will not sacrifice her family for her career. So it is not surprising that sometimes she feels she is being pulled in different directions by the demands made on her as an actress, wife and mother. "But I haven't shattered yet," she said. "Thank God I know who my real people are - my husband and my family. . "At home they know the real me - just plain old Meryl!" V 1981 A redhead in The French Lieutenant's Woman. 1983 In Silkwood she gets involved in a nuclear power cover-up and gets another Oscar nomination. 1986 She portrays the intrepid Danish writer Karen Blixen, in Out of Africa. 1989 A short black wig and ' an Australian accent transform her into the mother in the Dingo Baby : trial in A Cry in the Dark. woman's Value July 1989 99 Deur KAREN HART Diiiwelse Streep! S0 tussendeur al die geoefen aan haar verskillende aksente kry Meryl Streep darerri kans vir 'n bietjie komedie, dar ksy haar nuwe rolprent, Sh, Devil. Sy was die Poolse immigrant in Sophie's Choice, ook die Deense skrywer Karen Blixen in Out of Africa. En met haar Australiese aksent in A Cry in the Dark is sy op Cannes as beste aktrise aangewys en ook vir 'n Oscar benoem. Nlv-s G~,,;C;;-~ Jo l~ 13, i y~s~T P0 j t /4 NO. 95 PHOTiO BLOUBUSTER 1~ Min S.A. No mat- --~7 /A Type of ~~7 "an9o Type of ` 1 Man's V Canvas Sophia I 1989 ter who sall concrete ~.J name ~ shoes "6olden J Girls" Trial woman' Nooft Abom. - ~- I snowman ~ 11 Mole ~/ Day Royal before Smooth Picked -~ ~ ~ ~ _ Shore ~~r rsnces and T V _ bdft Intoned h t Beautiful N( , Animal ~, Y~ ! poueh women Perfect Greek Island L < Hsadwsar _ Nj Urpe V ~. Urge The Green I_ beryl ~ /~ ~ . ~ V Symbol r ~ r Large A W-- r G t / plants for In ~~ . l ~ M T Doctor Obtain ~ (abbr) Pro- claimed Combin- Organ of an" hearing Until loam Abw to ~ I / -7 k 7 Blow up ._. ~ A* tc ~ Finery Jew si I come 0 krs Absurd acts Freeze Trans- ~ D V ~ V Affirm- Yttrium action alive r0~er symbol) Gaelic C C~upIdM shot Up l \ ~I A L t- (~sflx) N ~IF-. 0 P A A 1 " I You and Trane ' The , 80 me 1111 (French) gross Come In Responds ---.~ ~ ~ -- Ei' i. c . Moil[ ties tNor ~'~ I ~J iT~ A 1 Noon ~ ~ agIngent - (symbol) Over- '~ ~ Unl- ~ (- r ~ dose i ~..~ 1 J ~ ~--~ ' (.__ lateral A F~ L ' ~ Nautical ~ ~~ Road F~ Mineral E N y spring Y Flower Smells , (` Blisters ~ y Stop In , Seventh -F- _ ballet note il ~m, YOU 17 August 1989 Wednesday 23 August 1989 THE CITIZEN No compensation for `dingo baby' mother SYDNEY. - A woman who claimed a wild dog snatched and ate her newborn child says she hasn't received pledged government compensation after her pardon on a conviction of killing the infant. Lindy Chamberlain became a household name in 1980 when she said a dingo carried off her 6week-old daughter Azaria while the family camped in the outback near Avers Rock, a sacred aboriginal site. Last year, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal in Darwin overturned the woman's sentence of life imprisonment with hard lahour. She had spent about lour years in jail. It also quashed the conviction of her husband. Michael, a former pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, of being an accessorv to murder. Mrs Chamberlain (41). held a news conference on Monday in which she said she was o\crd prom i~rd comprm;itiun h\ the "Maybe an apology is a little hard to swallow and let's face it, compensation is an apology," said Mrs Chamberlain, whose story became the US-released film "A Cry in The Dark" starring Meryl Streep. One figure leaked by unidentified sources in the Northern Territory government put the promised compensation at about R8,25 million. That figure could not be confirmed vesterday. Despite the movie and eight best-selling books about her case, Mrs Chamberlain claimed she has received little money from the media publicity. And she said her husband Michael has only eked out a living chopping firewood while the family cannot afford new shoes for her three school-age children. The couple said they owe R2,75 million in legal fees for their protracted court battle. the Chamhrrlain drama began on a cold night in August 1980 when Mrs At first, the Chamberlains' story was believed. But later Mrs Chamberlain was accused of slitting the infant's throat. The baby's body was never found, but bloodstains were found in the couple's tent. On October 29, 1982, the Chamberlains were found guilty and Mrs Chamberlain was sentenced to life in prison, where she to gave birth to a second daughter, Kahlia. Her husband was sentenced to a suspended 18month sentence. The couple has two other sons, Aiden and Reagan. In February 1986, a breakthrough in the case came when a British tourist jumped off the huge monolith to his death. Trackers investigating the suicide found the tattered remains of Azaria's jacket, which Mrs Chamberlain swore the baby was wearing the night she vanished. The discovery proved Mrs Chamberlain had not been lying about that aspect of her baby's death and prompted officials to reopen the case, leading to her pardon in 1987 and the overturning of the convictions last September. -- S;tpa-AY Northern Territory gov- Chamberlain cried out at ernment which pros- the family campside in ecuted the "dingo baby" central Australia: "A case. dingo's fot mv baby". In the open fields balloonists taking part in the American hot-air balloon tournament filled their enormous craft with hot air, so that they hung billowing like large upside-down lightbulbs in the air. One by one the balloons took off, and the sky was transformed with their multicoloured floral pattern. But hot-air balloons can be dangerous ... Robert Mock's Chariots of Fire ascended quickly to an altitude of 1 000 m above the ground: The balloon fell to Earth: slowly at first then faster and faster. Mock (52) calmly asked onlookers over the radio to get safely out of the way, and he also had a chance to say goodbye to his wife before the balloon - by this time with no air left - hit the ground with enormous force. Falling balloonisti; radio farewell to his wife Nine days later 13 people died when Australia's biggest balloon fell in the desert near Ayers Rock, the tourist attraction at the centre of the country where Lindy Chamberlain's little girl was killed by a dingo a few years ago. YOU 31 August 1989 6867 AOIdSLV9ON 8 olouoglt lqpA2ri :rnri i3g DA ul, onori ibx onori `LW3e071(t LL pd0d)p A07, n3g AD lpx 'qT'rOx'q `Diniai nlti Lu.(ip Sisnax iag DA i3~i~d pdod)odu lui"dionp sri axiY44a D'Pl DA 1Dx 3gnri3 aou `no~od noi IDisu oiD o9oi sxlLuri `Slu pig&ncw ~,yldwodu nlu, max (5?dod) o(.g Ug4 i3dpu lax3 oi) d:ox9p oi nil, Soi2d) ald)luhou(I pdod) Diri ltyyu nDilt o}ouo noy DU`SanDri Ha o-~od noi9 `uUdi3 ,~nd3W 4xlgDnori Lt iDn13 nom odsintnL--iri 5D}ouo Slu `701n1q1 LL 3xL1],91d(lk `pl3dldxp ALL], plk 79(1d311 `m311 DlAodX WIN 'Ll.f)3e01C(i ALU,9 (10], OWd Aol. 3~l1JlG3 5011(l,f, o lpx 101d -lus)axig aii) blnodx snaiolflndi pxinn(vl LL Sminpu `S, 13nax 3101L %pri nLu, Dg A39 `Smnad)odu `D13&yo nltjL noi annIi Lt Dig) Lt as)mioxw oi `lLyya biri Dim `p~nx9oldA,a nD~pd -pumipx oi `noi SDnDri 5h. `ltxogxs plri Dlpx on3rimiox9 sxltg3dd lgiau oi imdu oi ipx S(ioi od(Ori oi im Ha pdgnn noi sri IL tnluw sri ltriodgxs s,klur, nx}pncvl Dlri :D}'PdiDad nlLw DIAOdX Olin nldu snL~3 aou `Dldoi9i Uxiiwikadu plri 31) `sivariag Scnvi 5muo `=a~}9afl '(igpzo)i,7 o2D luLnnd}I) )1.1nQ ay1 ui drj oZ Ssd3ri Su. 532aD ;~ixlpu Do Sao~ilu3 lr~x `alnlpi AU Ulan IV. ~rhbd~,nn~~ 1ax i3rh-odk arinoxg udidi; ynd3w Li inni3 oIw 11 EVIEWED IN THIS A Cry in the Dark rc43e 3 NEW RELEASES AT LOW PRICES A CRY IN THE DARK #64.95 Pc~) IF- i y "VIDEO VIEWING SCORE . A very poor film .... Not perfect but .. Below average a good film . . . Worth seeing . U . . . Don't miss it Reviewers: CAS Chris Adam-Smith, SK Stuart Kirkham,AB Allan Bryce, BE Bob Eborall, JA Jon Abbott,NJ Nick Jouhal, EP Eamonn Percival, JB Jim Bluck Of- ; A CRY IN THE DARK Meryl Streep, Sam Neil Pathe Video 117 minutes, 1989 Certificate `15' VHS, Beta claimed that their baby was taken from their campsite at Ayers Rock by a wild dog. No-one believed this improbable story and subseqently the couple were the centre of a showpiece trial for murder. 'A Cry In The Dark' accurately, but slowly plots the course of these events, from the dingo snatch in the desert to the court-room tension and final verdict. Throughout the movie Meryl Streep ably does her Aussie impression, well supported by screen hubbie, Sam Neil, and a host of extras who play the parts of your average Australians in the street, all giving their own verdicts on the trial. These lager touting Bruce and Sheila's are not as cuddly as Paul Hogan would have us believe and their hatred of the accused baby killer maintains the energy in this otherwise dog-earred drama. As with most family traumas it's the kids who end up being the scene stealers and this maxim is true for this movie, except, of course, for the scene when the dingo steals the kid. SF ... Another film, another accent, Meryl Streep stars in this award-wining, Australian-set drama as Lindy Chamberlain, the wife of a serious God-botherer charged with the murder of her baby daughter. This bizarre, but true story set the world's press alight in 1980 when the Chamberlains I 4 [9) -- 1) e`~,,.~ GREAT X SIX REASONS WHY `ArE KNOW YOU'Li ~ A P45 e- 9(0 A Cry in the Dark Meryl Streep IDESS TOP 40/PHILIPS VIDEO CHART These are the most rented video cassettes compiled from retailreports by the TOP 40 Market Research Department THIS MONTH DECEMBER/JANUARY 1990 TITLE STARRING COMPANY ACRYINTHEDARK Meryl Streep NU-METRO The following video outlets assist in compiling this chart CINDA PARK VIDEO Boksburg 896-3111 COCO VISION Pretoria 701939 DESERE VIDEO Nigel 739-3410 FILM FANATIX Craignal 1787-5104 J & J VIDEOS Vryheid 3781 KENSINGTON GARDENS VIDEO Kensing!on 675-1360 MOVIE GO ROUND Selection Park 8181821 MOVIE MAGIC Cape i own 456435 MURRAY VIDEO Ladysmith 24901 NOR WOOD VIDEO Norwood 7284656 PLAZA VIDEO Bethlehem 35101 PETERS VIDEO Bloemlon:ein 47-6527 6TH AVE VIDEO 9enoni 849-7018 SANDTON VIDEO Parkmore 783-9501 TELEMATE VIDEO BAR Florida 4721670 1 THE VILLAGE VIDEO SHOP Winds., Park 6787016 VIDEO BAR Springs 818-5523 VIDEO COMP Kempton Park 972-7037 VIDEO DREAM Germis ton 825-4327 VIDEOLAND East London 53433 VIDEOLAND Pietersburg 74891 VIDEO MADNESS Vanderbljlpark 331549 VIDEOMARK Rosettenvilfe 435 3631 VIDEORAMA Cyrildene 616-6201 VIDEO SUPER Kimber!ey 24062 VIDEO SUPREME Nonhcliff 782-2810 VIDEO TAVERN Pon Eli:abeth 305381 VIDEOTOWN Primrose 486-1605 VIDEOTOWN Randburg 7895389 WHICH VIDEO Springs 818-3217 TOP 40 VALID FROM 6TH DECEMBER 1989 TO 16TH JANUARY1990 7. A CRY IN THE DARK C 4A '70P ~ z H"/"e- Cry in the Dark, A(1988)**''/z Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Bruce Myles. Another excellent turn from Streep, as an Australian mother accused of murdering her baby. Based on a true story (previously filmed as Who Killed Baby Azaria?), the powerful film details the mother's lynching in the press because she isn't properly submissive. (Dir: Fred Schepisi, 121 mins.)t i 1~1~12 /,q Dingo case: offer on fees a MELBOURNE - The Northern Ter:r itory govern-% ment yesterday offered to cover part of the' R2,76 million legal fees of Lindy Chamberlain, of the celebrated dingo-baby case. Lindy was cleared of murdering her baby daughter, Azaria, when her conviction was quashed after she had served three years of a life -,entence. She threatened to sue the Territory government for R10,76 million for wrongful imprisonmera and legal fees. Lindy would not disclose the amount of the offer. Page 6 .A-,M-ttt THE CITIZEN Wednesday 1 August 1990 Dingo case Lindy: The saga continues By Robert Woodward , SYDNEY. - Early in August, 1980, a Seventh Day Adventist preacher, his wife and three children locked up their house in the Australian mining town of Mount Isa and headed west for a holiday. Michael Chamberlain had wanted to drive north to fish off the Northern Territory coast, but his wife Lindy persuaded him to spend a few days at Ayers Rock. The decision was to cost their baby daughter. Azaria, her life and turn Lindy, who spent threeand-a-half years in jail for Azaria's murder, into an international celebrity during one of the most bizarre criminal cases of recent times. Ten years later, "Lindy" still means only onc person in Australia. Mention the case in a bar and half the people present are likely to insist there was no way a dingo could have dragged Azaria out of the Chamberlains' tent at Ayers Rock and killed her as Lindy maintained in a series of inquests and trials. Propaganda Many Australians refused to see the 1988 film "A Cry in the Dark", for which American actress Meryl Streep won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Lindy. They say the film was propaganda for the Chamberlains. The family's deeply religious background, the mystery and Aboriginal rites associated with Ayers Rock, and the fact Azaria's body was never found led to wild rumours fuelled by sensational media coverage. Lindy's outspoken defence and her refusal to be cowed by gossip or fierce questioning provoked suspicion in the Northern Territory, a rough, desolate, maledominated part of the world. Even to the most objective observer, her matterof-fact explanation in a television interview at the time of how the dingo must have clawed and ripped her nine-week-old baby appeared unreal in its detachment. Cleared by an initial inquest, Lindy was committed for trial in February, 1982, after a second inquest. At the trial no motive was put forward for Lindy murdering her child, witnesses confirmed her version of events and key evidence by a British forensic scientist, who said Lindy had cut Azaria's throat, was hotly disputed by the defence. But in October, 1982, when seven months pregnant with daughter Kahlia, Lindy, then (34), was found guilty of Azaria's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael was given an 18month suspended sentence for complicity. Mrs LINDY CHAMBERLAIN ... seeking compensation. In February, 1986, a baby's jacket, identified as Azaria's, was found at the base of Ayers Rock and five days later Lindy was released from jail. struck out the convictions. The saga is far from over for the Chamberlain family. Lindy and Michael are seeking four million dollars (R8,1 million) in compensation for personal hardship from the Northern Territory government. Apart from their own harrowing experiences, the Chamberlains maintain their children - they have two teenage boys as well as Kahlia - will never be able to lead a normal life. The family now lives near Newcastle on the New South Wales coast in a town that is a Seventh Day Adventist stronghold. Michael Chamber lain resigned from the ministry in January, 1984. and last year told journalists he was working as ti woodcutter. The family is also claiming 1.5 million dollars (R3 million) in legal costs in order to repa\ - their church, which supported them throughout their ordeal. The Chamberlains issued a statement recentk saying they had totally lost confidence in the Northern Territory government, which they accused of dragging its feet over the compensation case. The government had demanded details of the family's financial position, which the Chamberlains insisted was irrelevant, and questioned the size of the claim for legal expenses. Pardoned She was pardoned in June, 1987, after a Royal Commission, the sixth official investigation into Azaria's death, said there were "serious doubts" about her guilt. But the Northern Territory government refused to lift the convictions, and it was not until September, 1988, that an appeal court ruled the Chamberlains had been victims of a miscarriage of justice and Autobiography The Chamberlains rarely appear in public. Lindy is working on her autobiography, called "Through My Eyes", which was due for release on the 10th anniversary of Azaria's death but has been delayed until October. It will provide one of Australia's most famous women with her best opportunity to put forward her case. But whatever she writes, she is unlikely to convince those sceptics who still find it hard to believe her scream of August 17, 1980: "The dingo's got my baby". - Sapa-Reuter A noted American film critic asks ... Does Hollywood Hate Religion? BY MICHAEL MEDVED _ Hunger for money can explain almost evervthing in Hollvwood. but not why ambitious producers keep launching expensive projects that slam religion. Their mysterious behaviour becomes even more difficult to understand when one looks back at the exceedingly rare films of recent vears that have a more sympathetic view of organized faith. A Cry in the Dark, based on a true story, vvon an Oscar nomination for Meryl Streep. Streep played the wife of a Seventh-Day Adventist minister falsely accused of murdering her own baby. The unshakable faith of husband and wife and support from their close-knit church communitv enable them to survive this nightmare ordeal, which was caused in part b} the anti-religious bigotry of their accusers. These distinguished films all Nvon surprisingly large audiences, especiallti- when compared with the tendentious, anti-religious films. Yet even these sympathetic portravals failed to show organized faith as relevant to the lives of ordinary people. A Cr-v in the Dark portrays a misunderstood sect in a lonely corner= of Australia. PuorocRAPH -I INAI 1~;rroRe SIII1I)T,N IS -,'I ) 1989 MICHAEL MEDVED. CONDENSED FROM IMPRIMIS (DECEMBER 19891, THE MONTHLY JOURNALOF HILLSDALE COLLEGE, HILLSDALE, MICHIGAN s 1J' ~ Q S h ~~2,vvt S.~C,j/~ ~~ 1 MiNi ONE CUlT CINEMA TEL 642-8915 49 PRETORIA STREET (OPP AMBASSADOR HOTEL) HILLBROW P R 0 G R A M M E: (Subject to alteration without prior notice) TIMES-OF-SHOWS: 3pm, 6pm, 9pm BOOKING-AT-CO*SPUTICKET ADMISSION-PRICES: R7,00; STUDENTS: R5,50; PENSIONERS: R1,50;PLEASE NOTE: We screen the best copy available from the film co.6Pm_ONLY, -SPECIAL SHOW SUNDAY 28 OCT:"A.CRY IN THE DARK"MERYL STREEP IN AUSTRALIA'S INFAMOUS'DINGO'TRIAL-------------------------- No two situations are ever identical. But reading reports on black Australians - including those. of the_ London-based Minority Rights Group, the World Council of Churches and Muirhead Commission of Inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in custody - one is struck by the strong and even compelling parallels between their situation and that of South Africa's indigenes or aboriginals. "A worrying feature was the fact that over half of these deaths (13) were reported to be hue to hanging," the commissioner, Judge J H Muirhead, said. "The Aboriginal rates of custody are disturbingly high ... the gross representation of Aborigines in Australia's prisons appears to be increasing rather than decreasing." Mr Justice Muirhead effectively admitted official and collective culpability in the conclusion of his 1988 interim report. He described the deaths as a "consequence of history, of appalling neglect (and) of ignorance". He was still working on the final report at the time but was concerned the commission's mammoth task might be impeded for reasons of political expediency. But, he insisted, "Australia must know the truth" or be condemned to live with its fear of the truth. An Australian Embassy spokesman told Saturday Star the final report was expected by the end of the year. ScJv._ j ~ S a( 60 ~ 60 `~ , TM) s ;.(~ ,e s o~ t~e so,mk L ct. 0 ` Q. vl `Az c:c; v,\ M)V ~r be c eWe q q ~ BUSHFIRE MOON Starring Charles Tingwel In January/Januarie Movies/Flieke A CRY IN THE DARK Based on a sensational true Australian court case. The movie tells the story of Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) who was found guilty of the murder of her own baby. Mrs Chamberlain always maintained that nine-week-old Azaria had been carried off by a dingo during a camping trip. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Myles. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1987). Sunday Star December 30 1990 Wall to wall TV films in January lan Gray THERE is a wealth of movies in the line-up for all three major channels in January. Among M-Net s major movie attractions are "A Cry in the Dark". Some of the highlights: M-NET: 'A Cry in the Dark", with Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain, charged with killing her baby daughter who she maintained was carried away by dingoes. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Miles. VERSATILE ... Meryl Streep in `Cry in the Dark'. Movies based on true stories includes The sensational Australian "Dingo" court trial of a mother suspected of killing her own baby is related in "A Cry In The Dark" with Meryl Streep in the leading role. 19qO ivl-Net has a great line-up of movies during the month of January: A CRY IN TI-IE DARK, starring Sam Neill and Alei74,Streep, is based on the true story of Australians Michael and Lincly Chamberlain whose nine week old baby girl disappeared from their family tent ... dragged off by a dingo? i`fy~ Key Lo Lhif book Each entry lists title and year of release. The letter "C" before a running time indicates that the film was made in color. "D:" indicates the name of the director. This is followed by a listing of the principal cast members. Alternate titles (if any) are noted at the end of the entry. Ratings range from ****, for the very best, to *1/2, for the very worst. There is no * rating; instead, for these bottom-of-the-barrelmovies, we use the citation BOMB. V This symbol indicates the title is available on homevideo. Cry in the Dark, A(1988-U.S.-Australian) C-121m. ***'fi D: Fred Schepisi. Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Bruce Myles, Charles Tingwell, Nick Tate, Neil Fitzpatrick, Maurie Fields, Lewis Fitz-gerald. Astonishing true story of Lindy Chamberlin, an Australian woman accused of murdering her baby, despite her claims that the child was carried off by a dingo (wild dog). Writer-director Schepisi tells his story with almost documentary-like reality, eloquently attacking the process of trial by rumor that made Chamberlin and her husband the most maligned couple in Australia. Streep and Neill are heartbreakingly good.V [Z44 l Rb mvi1 f 1 RJ '5' \ AND VqwO rot',a H! ~ J~a~,r,ok/ M-NET G,.Jz JG.v,vt,r I,9q 1 INDEX I N D E K S MOVIES/FLIEKE Classification Klassifikasie Dates Datums Cry in the Dark, A (true drama/ware verhuul) * 21 Movies for the first time ever on M-NET/21 Flieke vir die eerste keer onit op M-NET 0 2-12 (adult theme/volwasse tema) 13 16?128 5 S T A R C H A T T E R MERYL IS AL WEER 'IEMAND ANDERS' VAN sterre gepraat: daar gaan ook nie 'n maand verby dat van die grootstes nie op M-NET te sien is nie. Neem nou maar Meryl Streep, wat weer eens 'n persoonlikheidsverandering ondergaan met haar vertolking van Lindy Chamberlain - die vrou wat daarvan aangekla is dat sy haar baba vermoor het in die opspraakwekkende `wildehond-saak" wat so lewensgetrou deur regisseur Fred Schepisi herskep is in A Cry in the Dark. 8 20 I Vir elke rol het die talentvolle aktrise verskillende stemtone en aksente gebruik en haar fisieke voorkoms verander. In A Cry in the Dark is sy weer bykans onherkenbaar met kort, donker hare - en haar tipiese nasale "Aussie"-uitspraak sal M-NET-kykers vandeesmaand beslis verstom. - BOB EVELEIGH MOVIES *xFLIEKE A CRY IN THE DARK * i/op 13, 16, 21, 28 CAST: Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Bruce Myles. DIR: Fred Schepisi (1988). Based on a sensational true Australian court case. The movie tells the story of Lindy Chamberlain who was found guilty of the murder of her own baby. Mrs Chamberlain always maintained that nine-week-old Azaria had been carried off by a dingo during a camping trip. The death soon became a national scandal in which especially the mother became a victim of the press because of her unsubmissive, unemotional testimony. 125 Gegrond op'n opspraakwekkende ware Australiese hofsaak. Die prent handel oor Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep), wat skuldig bevind is aan moord op haar baba. Mev Chamberlain fret steeds volgehou dat die nege week oue Azaria tydens'n kampeervakansie deur'n wilde hond weggedra is. Die dood het in 'n nasionale skandaal ontaard, waarin veral die ma die slagoffer van die pers geword het omdat sy nie'n onderdanige en emosionele getuie was nie. Ook met Sam Neill en Bruce Myles. Regie deur Fred Schepisi (1987). Drama 2-12 M-NE-r c..~at c7c.y1 JC~P' }~ ~~W' PARENTAL CONTROL OUERBEHEER CLASSIFICATION OF PROGRAMME CONTENT * 0'rem,erc) PARENTAL CONTROL PC1 = 2-21 PC2 = 2-18 PC3 = 2-16 PC4 = 2-12 48 ~ (Sex) t (Violence) r (Language) 0 (Other) SUN 13 SON A A drama starring Meryl Streep. 156 I WED 16 WOENS I 23:45 A CRY IN THE DARK 2-12 'n Drama met Meryl Streep. 58 MON 21 MAAN I 19:00 A CRY IN THE DARK 2-12 'n Drama met Meryl Streep. 68 MON 28 MAAN 10:30 A CRY IN THE DARK 2-12 A drama starring Meryl Streep. ---~ 65 ~- STARCROSS 30 Once you have filled in the correct answers to the clues supplied, you will have the names of nine stars, movies or events which are mentioned in this Programme Guide, in the remaining squares. Write only these nine names, along with your own name, postal address and M-NET account number on a postcard or the back of a sealed envelope and post it to STARCROSS 30, M-NET Publicity Services, P O Box 2817, Northcliff 2115. Entries must reach us by Friday, 18 January, at 17:00. 86 M-NET G,,:dt 7anvci,,r3 iy9 ) STARCROSS 30 2 Atomic 3 ~, . (abbr) . - Haughty manners Often 41- M P E ~ R~ N T H E D A~ 5th . % (abbr) Attempt Indies A It pre ~, { /,J A L Fru Used vowel U ~d~ ~ V D ~ or the eudal rhng s stem Solidi- (abbr) Sharp side of a blade Number (abbr) Before tied Perform oils 40 R E~ ~ ~ TS ~~ M Editor . ~ Dull . C H y Dull N Not 50 N abbrl E pain A (, ~ sound Symbol cenum Boat r Grant Currency V'. A T T A~'~ 0' M ~ C t~ 1 Musco I I.. 1~ vile and S b ot e Reported . E ~/~~ ~' A t op .~, /~ 0 _ Father P by the N Y Y ~J or N V ~ meda snare Also W Hitlers A Attacked Pad ,-+ Nano N M 7 ~. Artillery police with a (abbr ...~ metre ') nuclear v (abbr) bomb Memento Tollga e.T III If f7 1 III If C 0 N K out A U) L EY M~ O() R E bed 101- P Ocean Exces- K Dayof N, E Ibdem ., 13 Prefi ~ D I U (abbr) sive ' - VctorY ~' (~r) /` md ca ng self- ( 1945) 8 May two M NET L Y If t~ Part o ~ f~] Eastern Make 1) N~ . L sold more O ~ the ear `~ P~~ro ull i/ La m N than D (abbr) 500 000 No an Last , N A L 1 Male 'I 11h A 4th president . A D I S ~ N A drug oH letter of the USA M o erdose spnng of Greek 08139 1817) (abbr) alphabet S ,~ . ~ It bears K Lutem L ~.-j Symbol ./' C? N acorns sm9 ( ~ fo as ho mone cobalt fruit (abbr) N U T S Recently xii-N y w L 1~ married L.. ~n pe so 88 M-NET GOIAe J