The Chamberlain Case: Press Cuttings 1981–2005

OCR: 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 Jenuat'(h 199 Y STERRE-RAA1 30 V In die aangehaalde i Beves Help H ndoe stof i werk (Let elk) m kledmg 9 9 stu Reeks plan Moeras Uraan E N1 p ~ R~ o~' r 1~ ~ S k4 '~iwA C R Y~ N T: E D A R K Klein U 1 I. 9K-1- Nederlandse vorm ~ Simbool Songod )0- R A O; s albester V van e e Or urn ) Sierlik Mot. lub Koepel R *TA T~, ~0 M I N o Udroep ~ Lys van Pdester ~ Uur ~H Orals ~ ' Voegwoord at Vd van n sake onder (Let elk) ~'~ R teenstelling u idru m lit8 e voor die die ou ag hot Kelte pun straal q~e rook Onbeken Olm (Let afk) 1011110- E ~~j q,~~ ~A R M N I U S Kort , 0 R A Nommer Khsma ~/. "y E M A wr .A, (a~) f ~ N , leonor , Va Verdek ~ 5 L U t P 5 K U i P Resuttaat M St0~ b0e~k skiatar ~1,J4 T Bruto Nagroof- Rome s ~ I I Romemse Romemse B Bilfoen . N (afk) voel 2' 150 000 (a ) Op reke mng (a ) Ampke D u D L E Y M v o R E s00" ~ R ~ + Rome se ~ lemand Indiese Afr g u~ P 5, onMied munbiuk S ' L E Bowel Tydperk 10- A Romemse D K(aol~it'r .K L 500 Ook M G n ~~88 ~Q R~ N G ~ A Voalo ~T ~ N .~ p M E N Swd ~S Ee Ste S T ans e I~e ~A[ ' 1n ' [y (afk) persons (atk) eksame 1 O Dink-. Hat Wad p A P /~m U t oep 'r vermoe (afk) omring 1 van deur'n s rieLSker Aldus 9 ~' , } Ronde N Noord Amptenaar wat 'ly v d~ngl (afk) mate en gewigte van 'namptelike merk voorsien 89 Trouble brewing First published in Great Britain in 1991rcuN n 7088 4985 7 INDEX T The one about the dingo farm .. .. . . . 38 110 MERYL STREEP IN CRY IN THE DARK ON M-NET PICK OF THE FLICKS Robin York looks at the best of the week's new TV movies A CRY IN THE DARK 1/2 M-Net, Sunday at 8.30 pm US/Australia, 1988. Directed by Fred Schepisi Starring Meryl Streep, Sam Neil A REAL blockbuster for Streep fans. She excels as Lindy Chamberlain, the real-life Australian mother whose nonchalance over the death of her baby, which she alleged was taken by a dingo while the family were on a camping trip, drew such an unfavourable reaction from the Aussie Press that she and her husband were eventually tried for murder. On" 7/ 199 ~~~~ ~ y II II iii 8.30 A Cry In The Dark Based on a sensational 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 I' C+'`SO +'1 tl'' t M-Net movies for this coming week are filled with action and drama and must not be missed by the Sylvester Stallone fans. A Cry In The Dark will be screened on Sunday, January 13 at S.30pm and again on January 16, 21 and 28. &Acrcwi-ew ~ 1:caenUctle. Pc,J e. ~2 r~S Ne vi 5 i C/9 l The Star TONIGHT! Friday January 11 1991 TELEVISION * - Recommended viewing  - M-Net Encoded Viewing SUNDAY M-NET * 8.30  A Cry In The Dark (2-12): Based on the true Australian court case in which Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) 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 NeilI. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). Par Meryl Streep stars in "A Cry in the Dark" onM-Net. i~'tq i MERYL THE MARVEL: Miss Streep is just one of the great stars on TV and radio this weekend. Your guide: Page 2. Pa3e- I TELEVISION SUNDAY ON TRIAL: Meryl Streep isLindy Chamberlain in "Cryin the Dark" (M-Net,8.30 pm). 2 8.30  A Cry in the Dark (2-12): Based on the true Australian court case in which Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) 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 the mother became a victim of the press because of her unsubmissive, unemotional testimony. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Myles. Directed by Fred Scheaisi (1988). ON THE BOX FILM = F TODAY 13 JANUARY PICK ~r, THE DAY bVACtC1~ S Ctn: 60!NL.~AY, GUnJcty C.,%vctej l3, f"iCl~ A CRY IN THE DARK M-Net, Sunday, 8.30-llpm Meryl Streep stars in this film, based on a true incident. An Australian couple's baby is mysteriously killed and they become the innocent victims of the press. ,y ,1 . I 8.30 A Cry In the Dark F (2-12): Based on a sensational true Australian court case. Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) was found guilty of the murder of her own baby, although always maintaining that nine-week-old Azaria had been carried off by a dingo during a camping trip. Sam Neill stars as her husband. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). WED S 16 JANUARY i1 he . 11.45 A Cry in the Dark (2-12): See Sunday for details. F 1taCte- ~Jr YOUR TOP TV- MOVIES * Poor;'" Moderate; "'" Excellent. A CRY IN THE DARK *** (t98A). 17cry1 titrrep, Sum Neill. 1)ocn-drumn based nn ilie l.indv ( humbcrlin trial nfter the n(ituru~u~ ,.diuy~o murdr, ,, of h~~r bubp in AuY ~ralia. '11 Ncl. 'Pod:ry. 11.311pm. sjfjCs r..~ ij ~S1 ~ ~ )3 ~~~ ,~~~.~ ~9~i e is- Sunday Times Magazine January 13, 1991 34 BARCODES FOR THE PICK OF THIS WEEKS PROGRAMMES M-NET 20.30 A Cry In The Dark II ii 35 TV i~ FEATURE FILM * RECOMMENDED VIEWING TODAY January 13 20.30 A Cry In The Dark (1988): Based on the controver sial Australian court case, this movie tells the story of Lindy Chamberlain who was found guilty of the murder of her baby, although she always maintained that 9-week-old Azaria had been carried off by a dingo. Starring Meryl Streep. (2-12) 37 wo't WEDNESDAY January 16 23.45 A Cry In The Dark (1988): Repeat. See Sun 13 at 20.30 16 The Star TONIGHT! Wednesday January 16 1991 TELEVISION  - M-Net Encoded Viewing - Recommended viewing M-NET 11.45  A Cry In The Dark: (2-12) 0 (Adult theme): 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. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Myles. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). YOU 17 January 1991 Q programmes MONDAY, JANUARY 21 M-Net 7 00: A Cry in the Dark fij, -11T Saturday Star WEEKEND January 19 1991 TELEVISION 2 camin Attrac-tion s PERCY BANESHIK Leaping a week, co-ordinate your watches and diaries for next Sunday, January 27. There's an item on TV1 worth anticipating - a courtroom drama entitled The Penalty Phaze. It promises well, since it addresses the quandary of a judge who has to weigh his own conscience when he can either condemn an admitted murderer, as the public demands, or dismiss him on a legal technicality. On the same legal conscience level, on M-Net on the following Monday, January 28, you might watch A Cry in the Dark. It is a re-run of the film, which will have already been featured in the pay-station's programmes three times this month, but it is a remarkable re-creation of a real-life courtroom drama, albeit in Australia. Meryl Streep is particularly fine playing Lindy Chamberlain, the accused in what became known as the ."dingo" case, when she was charged with murdering her child which she claimed had been carried off by a wild dog. Absolutely riveting. You can catch it this Monday if you want to compare it, albeit with the elapse of a week between viewings, with the "Penalty Phaze" example; one of its three flightings this month is to be seen on M-Net this coming Monday night. THE WEEK ON TV FILM = F I-/ MONDAY 21 JANUARY M N I: T PREMIUM TIME 7.00 A Cry In The Dark F (2-12): (Adult Theme). Based on a sensational true Australian court case about a woman (Meryl Streep) who was found guilty of the murder of her baby. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). 1$ SUNDAY JANUARY 20 1991 BARCODES FOR THE PICK OF THIS WEEK"S PROGRAMMES M-NET 19.00 A Cry In The Dark 3~ ~ FEATURE FILM * RECOMMENDED VIEW?Nu 3s MONDAY January 21 L1Lii1Lti PREMIUM TIME ii I II 19.00 A Cry In The Dark (1988): Based on the controversial Australian court case, this 1 movie tells the story of Lindy 7~ Chamberlain who was found guilty of the murder of her baby, although she always maintained that 9-week-old ~ Azaria had been carried off by a dingo. Starring Meryl Slreep. (2-12) TV 36 Sunday Times Magazine January 20, 1991 12 The Star TONIGHT! Monday Jcmvary,21- 19911 TELEVISION - M-Net Encoded Viewing * - Recommended viewing M-NET 7.00  A Cry in the Dark (2-12): Based on a sensational true Australian court case. The movie tells the story of Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) found guilty of the murder of her own baby. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Myles. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). THE WEEK ON TV FILM = F 30 MONDAY 28 JANUARY T7 N I? T PREMIUM TIME 10.30 A Cry In The Dark F (Adult theme): Based on a sensational true Australian court case about Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) who was found guilty of the murder of her own baby. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). 32 SUNDAY JANUARY 27 1991 MON DAY 10.30 A Cry In The Dark (IM): Based on the controversial Australian court case, this movie tells the story of lindy Chamberlain who was found guilty of the murder of her baby, although she always maintained that 9-week-old Azaria had been carried off by a dingo. Starring Meryl Streep. (2-12) January 28 TV 38 Sunday Times Magazine January 27, 1991 T2 The Star TONIGHT! Monday January 28 1991 TELEVISION g- M-Net ^ncoded Viewing * Recommended viewing M-NET 10.30  A Cry in the Dark (2-12): Based on a sensational true Australian court case. The ,* movie tells the story of Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) who is found guilty of murdering her own baby. Also starring Sam Neill and Bruce Myles. Directed by Fred Schepisi (1988). Edgars Club FEBRUARY 1991 WINNING STREEP World Film Favourite Actress in the 1990 People's Choice Award. That's the mercurial Meryl Streep.Already she's laden with top showblz trophies - two Oscars, eight nominations, plus prizes as BestActress from Cannes, the New York Film Critics, a TV Bmmy, an Oble and Broadway Tony nomination.Lain P. :Sfcdsh reports. A Cry in the Dark took Streep off to Australia to co-star with New Zealand actor Sam Neill playing her Seventh Day Adventist pastor husband, Michael Chamberlain. Of her transformation into Aussie wife for the role, the critic of showbiz bible, Variety, commented: If one didn't know who Meryl Streep is, one could easily guess Lindy was played by a fine, unknown Australian actress." Likewise, the film* s Aussie director, Fred Schepisi, confirmed: '9t was a rough trip for Nleryl, but her performance had the hairs on my neck standing out." She was almost unrecognisable as a bag lady in Iron weed, hard-drinking with tangled hair and minus makeup, which preceded her Lindy Chamberlain portrayal 2s the distraught wife of Sam Neill in A Cry in the Dark. PO G ~ L 5 ~'~ 'Irv l1' Dear Ed I am a great fan of the New Zealand actor Sam Neill and have seen most of his films and TV work. Could you please give me some information about him and an address where I could write to him. Also, do you know if his latest film Dead Calm will be released in South Africa? Lynn Parktown North This is what 1 dug up on MrNei//: Born in NewZea/andin 1948 and educated at the University of Canterbury before going into acting and directing documentaries and shorts. His movies include Landfall, Ashes, Sleeping Dogs, The Journalist, My Brilliant Career, Just Out Of Reach, Attack Force Z, The Final Conflict, Possession, From a Far Country - Pope John Paul 11, Enigma, The Country Girls, The Blood of Others, Robbery Under Arms, Plenty, A Cry in the Dark and Dead Calm. Apparently none of the local distributors picked up Dead Calm so it looks as though we won't get to see it here. Write to Sam c/o Al Parker Ltd., 55 Park Lane, London W 1. -Ed. four Movie Scene February/March 1991 F ilmmaker Fred Schepisi, whose~i past work includes A Cry in, the Dark, Roxanne, and ~ Plenty : has strong opinions on,~ modern cinema. "I think movies, these days have got to take you oni a journey or an experience that'si ~special or different," he says. Well, you couldn't get any more special, and different than his latest offer-' ~ing, The Russia House, a nail-' biting espionage thriller that fea-j ;tures an all-star cast, including Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy 1Scheider, James Fox and a number of others. ""When I went on my first location, scout, it was incredible because I was there when they were making, historic changes in the coull ,recalls Schepisi. "You could feel the' excitement; there was uncertainty, land worry. ;"I thought le Carne's book was a~ real look at glasnost and the end of the cold war and a look at the ;people who should know better," continues Schepisi. The spymasters, of East and West are the people! who should appreciate that the', lcold war is over, but they seem to want to perpetuate it to keep their; jobs going.' 'Says Schepisi: "It's about a disillu-;I Isioned character who meets people' prepared to risk their lives to make' changes for the good of mankill Cit's about a man meeting a woman; ,who gives him strength to rehabili-; ~,Of their experiences filming in Rus-~, !sia, Schepisi notes, "The Russiansi; !are lovely people. They have, ~,warmth and humanity and they', want to help. Of course it was', difficult because we go about mak-I ling a film in a very different way ,from the Russian way and a lot of' adjustment to their ways of work-l ing was required. But they were in-j ~credibly co-operative, helpful and 'willing." ~Production began on October_ 2 1989 in Leningrad _ In IVevsky f'rospekt,j `one of the main tho'roughfares of i Leningrad, the filmmakers shot ill land among the crowds, which lell further realism to those scenes.; ._ . A night shoot, iin the Moscow Metro was enlight2 lening for the members of thel, ,production; not only were they able! ,to witness Muscovites on their way~ home -after a hard day's work, but ~ the Metro itself was chastening to', ,the Western eye., ~ With the pacy stofyline, superb cast and magnificent cinematography, The Russia House has everything' ', going for it. Schepisi himself' ', describes_ the film as "The dream' ~ticket"., _,_ 1~. SO "s seven teen tate himself." sixteen Movie Scene February/March 1991 _, FEATURES The dingo baby woman How she's surviving now KaCy Brav ery 82 SHE - I Main pic: Lindy, rebuilding her life ten years on. Above: A torturous trail from inquest to court to jail in Berrima. Right: The last picture of Azaria, on the day she died. 82 THE DINGO BABY WOMAN how .rhe.'r surviv Isle ing now THE NIGHTMARE HAS ENDED FORLINDY CHAMBERLAIN. NOW SHE'S MAKINGUP FOR LOST TIME. BY KATY BRAVERY "Bubby, no God, oh no, not my baby. It's not true. She is there. Something else, God, not her. She must be dead or she'd cry. Not a sound and those empty scattered blankets. M y feet feel like lead as I clear the fence and dive into the tent h eadlong. I scream to Michael as I run that the dingo has the baby, with one hand on R eagan to feel his heartbeat and check he is alive and the other lifting those awful scattered blankets. The basket rolls as I bump my hand on the edge. It wouldn't do that if she was in it. I think I'm going to be sick. I touch the carry basket. It's really empty. It's no bad dream - and it's still warm, even her dummy is still warm. She's so little. So little and so precious. Reagan has his sleeping bag hood up and his face buried in the pillow. He never sleeps like that. Not ever. Boot him hard. He wriggles at last. He's alive. Thank you God for his life - it could be both of them. Azaria, oh Azaria, -what's happened to you, what is happening to you? Your bed's still warm and it's so cold out there..." It's just over ten years since the evening when Lindy Chamberlain spotted a dingo near the campsite the family had chosen at Avers Rock in Australia. Ten vears since her husband Michael heard their nine-week-old babv Azaria cry from the tent where she had been settled for the night; since Lindy went to check and saw, through the dusk, a dingo emerging through the tent flap, its head down, vigorously shaking something that Lindy at first thought was a shoe. Until she ran forward and saw the ravaged tent that Azaria was sharing with her four-yearold brother Reagan, and her baby's empty basket. And, ten years on, suspicion and rumour still surround the "Dingo Baby Mother", Lindv Chamberlain. Did one of the dingos, seen earlier by many people at the campsite, take the baby, and run off with her into the outback? Or did Lindv herself take her child to their ~ car, cut her throat with nail scissors, stuff her body into a camera bag - all the time watched by her six-yearold son Aidan - then return to the tent and splash blood around in an attempt to simulate a dog attack' Unbelievable though it may seem now, this was the case that forensic scientists came up with and for which she was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, in 1982. Her husband Michael, then a Seventh-Day Adventist preacher, received a suspended sentence for being an accessory after the fact of "murder". Lindy spent more than three years in prison before the discovery near Ayers Rock of Azaria's jacket sparked a new investigation. The earlier forensic evidence was overturned ("blood" in the car was found most likely to have been the remains of an anti-rust chemical). A Royal Commission then cleared her and her husband of any involvement in Azaria's death, and they received a formal pardon. It seems the stuff of airport novels, and indeed it became the subject of a film, A Cry in the Dark - with Meryl Streep playing Lindy Chamberlain, complete with her strangled Australian diphthongs and the slightly bullish manner which helped to alienate public sympathy throughout the case. Both characteristics are true to the real-life Lindy. Now 42, she is a small, poised woman, plumping out slightly since her days as a middle-distance runner. But her face reveals little of the trauma she has suflered. Her clothes and jewellery seem deliberately down-played, as if their restraint would nip in the bud further mutterings that, financially, she had done well out of the whole affair. She is direct and confident in a manner that is admirable rather than repellant. One expects 10 83 SHE f-abrvar3 i`iq1 From far left: a family reunited. The Chamberlains: Michael, Kahlia, Reagan, Lindy and Aidan. Lindy's worries centre on how the long-drawn out process of reinstatement has affected her children and her relationship with them. Rumours implied that the stress had also damaged her marriage. 1 not to like her. But her sudden smiles, her air of acquired rather than natural professionalism, and the fact she seems genuinely friendly, despite having had so many kicks in the teeth from the media, make one end up regarding her with respect, even affection. Her whole demeanour seems to say, "This situation wasn't of my making, but I'm in it. And I'm going to win." Ten years on, she's still fighting. First, there is the compensation claim of some AUS $5.4 million (L2.5 million) for legal costs and the personal hardship she and her husband suffered, which Australia's Northern Territory Government is holding out on. She also said recently that she thought as many as 40% of Australians could still believe her to be guilty of her daughter's murder. And just before Christmas she was denying newspaper reports that she and Michael were debating divorce. It seems that Lindy is always centre stage - some say she's hounded by the press, others whispering that she courts publicity. Either way, the affair has taken an enormous toll on her and her family, and her role as a mother. The latest pull away from her children - Aidan (17), Reagan (14) and Kahlia (eight) - has been the 18 months spent writing a book about the Azaria affair, Through my Eyes. The book shot to the bestseller list in Australia and sparked criticism that yet again she had put her family second to publicity. It is too easy to see her as the notorious object of books, newspaper stories and films, rather than part of a family but Through my Eyes may go some way to redressing the balance, with its intense humanity and its revelations of the emotional life behind all the court cases. Lindy chose to start with a short tribute to Azaria: "This is the story of a little girl who lived, and breathed, and loved, and was loved. She was part of me. She grew within my body and when she died, part of me died, and nothing will ever alter the fact." 84 The effect on her children has remained one of her main concerns. "Kahlia hasn't known anything else apart from this case, it's been her whole life. Aidan was six at the time - it's been two-thirds of his life; and almost three-quarters of Reagan's," she says. "But, on the other hand, Reagan was once asked if he wished he wasn't a Chamberlain. His answer was, `Well, other kids don't get to hide from the media and watch helicopters landing by the house.' Kids are like that. Reagan tends to look on the bright side of things but Aidan gets angry; he can't talk about it, not unless he's really uptight. "People say, what's the worst thing? Apart from the fact that you lost a baby in the first place, you can't pin a `worst' down. If you could put them all on a scale they'd probably all read ten." Lindy is undoubtedly a survivor but her face still creases under the slightly dated makeup when she talks of the pain inflicted on her family, and on her as a mother. Recently she broke down on television when asked about the latest in Reagan's long series of eye operations (while she was in prison, Reagan nearly lost an eye when a bottle exploded in a bonfire - and Lindy was not allowed out to be with him). To maximise the time spent with her children, Lindy chose to write most of the book at home, sleeping while they were at school and waking up to spend the evening with them before staying up all night writing. "I had to stop now and then to go and break up the children fighting, and sometimes they'd say, `Oh, Mum, stop and come and look at this,' but otherwise they accepted it," she said. Not so some other Chamberlain-watchers. "People asked why I was bringing all this up again. But it's not as if it's . going to go away. Every week I have two or three phone calls iv Yui ~iviii.~ iii-papers, and when they appear, people think you've brought it up. It's not that I choose to keep it in front of me or behind me. It's there. It's part of my life." Writing the book brought back many memories: bitterness at the lies and deceit she encountered during the court cases and inquests, the horror of going to jail (though she made friends with and keeps in contact with a few of the women she met there) but most of all Azaria. No bodily remains have ever been found, and there has never been a tttneral, but Lindy says she has no problems in believing her daughter is dead. "There was such a finality about it on that night. I have never thought that, one day, she will just walk in through the door. "They sent back Azaria's clothes and we thought about burying them. But after all that had happened it seemed wrong to put them in the ground and let them rot. So we sent them to a forensic laboratory's museum section in Melbourne, where scientists have limited access to them. I think it would be more useful, they can at least contribute to science so that if it happens again they will have something to help them, to check them against. And I think it will happen again." Last year there was a handful of dingo attacks on children, and Lindy believes that it's only a matter of time before her nightmare happens to someone else. "People aren't told, there are no signs saying that they are dangerous wild animals. If we had known about the risks, we would have slept the three kids in the car that night and none of this would ever have happened." Slowly, hints of normality are creeping back into their family life. After the publicity tours for the book, Lindy is starting a part-time job helping to promote Australianmade goods. She admits that the family needs the money. Michael resigned as a minister because of the case and their main income at the height of the affair came from selling interviews about their story. Later this year, she plans an exhibition of her art - a previ ously unrevealed talent. But now she can catch up on the time she missed with her family. "N1 e're going to be up and doing things. Between 30 and 40 are probably the best years of your life, and I missed them. But they say life begins at 40, and for me it has. It's all part of your atti tude. You can look back and be absolutely devastated, or you can look forward. You just can't lose time in self-pity."  Opening quote from Liudy Chamberlain's autobiography Through my Eyes (published by Heinrmmin m7 7muuan) 29. 1-I4.99). Kahlia and her mother. In prison for three years, Lindy missed her daughter's infancy and saw her first begin to crawl on video. ~jrre ,-p ~s A h~~ Meryl has never been afraid of controversy when the question of women in the film business is raised. She has spoken out on numerous occasions about the lack of good roles for women and she recently hit out at the enormous salary differences between male and female actors. "Take Jack Nicholson, for example," she says. "He got $11 million for Batman! If I asked for that, they'd laugh in my face. Sure, I make enough that nobody's going to weep on my side of the table, but it's outrageous there are different rules for men and women. "Also, you look at the kind of roles women are getting nowadays. They're either hanging off a guy's arm or getting raped and mutilated. If a Martian landed on earth and did nothing but go to the movies, he would think that the chief occupation of women is prostitution. We're just not seeing the equivalent of what I grew up on - women like Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn and Carole Lombard." True as that may be, if any actress 8~, r1c. :4 reh;-LX{,t-,y ,9 91 i is going to be offered a role, you can be sure Meryl Streep's name will be high on the director's list. In fact, less commercial films like Plenty and A Cry In The Dark would probably never have been made if she hadn't agreed to be in them. "If it's a good script, I scurry around i trying to get the financing for it. I I want to be proud of my work." She laughs off the often-made comment that her choice of roles reflects her talent for imitating accents. "I just go where I think the writing's best or there's a particular passion I can relate to," she says. "That has nothing to do with what language or accent the character has. Some of my movies like Kramer vs Kramer and The DeerHunter had no accents at all!" Her one major regret is that apart from last year's She-Devil and Postcards From The Edge, her on-screen characters have rarely given her the opportunitv to lighten up for audiences. June Barker Sunday Star REVIEW February 10 1991 s SHE'S been released fromprison and pardoned, but stillAustralian Lindy Chamberlainhas to tell the world shedidn't murder her baby.Jane Kelly reports. ONE might have thought that any woman who had lost a baby, been convicted of that baby's murder, had another baby ripped away from her in prison, and seen her marriage nearly destroyed would be keen to forget the past, to concentrate only on what was left to her. Not so Lindy Chamberlain. Almost ten years after she saw a dingo snatch her nine-week-old daughter Azaria from the family tent at Ayers Rock, Lindy travelled to London to promote her 800-page autobiography, a book that is unflinchingly detailed and selfsearching, and which is bound to raise all the old questions again. Supporters have said she is the victim of the greatest miscarriage of justice in Australian history, but doubts about the Dingo Baby Case will always linger. The blockbuster movie, with her part played by Meryl Streep, left cinema audiences to make up their own minds about what really happened the night Lindy ran from her tent screaming: "My God, my God, the dingo's got my baby!" The suspicion that she did murder Azaria still hangs over her. Although released after serving 32 months in prison, and pardoned, an inquest verdict that Lindy may have killed her baby has never been squashed and she has received no compensation. It is an ordeal that began in the summer of 1980 when Lindy, then 32, and her husband Michael (36), a Searching for truth nd justice TOUGH EXTERIOR ... Lindy Chamberlain evoked mass public hatred while on trial for allegedly murdering her young daughter. pastor with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Mount Isa, Queensland, were camping at Ayers Rock with their three children, Aidan (six), Reagan (four), and nine-week-old Azaria. At 8.30pm on August 17, the baby disappeared from the family tent. An inquest in Alice Springs the following February found that Azaria had been killed by dingos. But the next year forensic evidence was produced suggesting that Azaria had been murdered. Pregnant After a second inquest ruled that Lindy could have been the murderer, the case went to trial and Lindy, who was seven months pregnant, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. The message of her book is that from the moment she entered that tent at Ayers Rock, Lindy Chamberlain, humdrum housewife, was as dead as the baby in the dingo's jaws. She was replaced by a different woman, hated by her country. As she puts it: "All people saw when they looked at me was a hardfaced, murdering bitch." Meeting her in person, surrounded by her three beautiful, blonde children, it is hard to understand the antipathy she once caused. In Meryl Streep's word she is "teeny and tough", wizened by the sun, a typical outback Aussie. But she believes it was her looks, together with certain circumstances, that condemned her. She says: "My temperament was to blame. My face is severe in repose. I don't look friendly. I don't like showing my emotions and people can perceive me wrongly. I wasn't emotionless, I broke down, but not in public." During the inquest and trial, the press made constant reference to how the couple seemed too calm and composed. They looked odd, and small outback communities do not like "odd" people. Lindy explains: "Mount Isa is a tiny town, there is a lot of crime there and a lot of suspicion. There had been a child murder in the town only a year before and people were anxious." The Chamberlains were the ideal target for hostility because they were from a little-understood religious sect, the Seventh-Day Adventists. "Rumours went around that Adventists performed child sacrifices. They said Azaria meant `sacrifice in the desert'," says Lindy. Strangely, and unluckily, she was also resented by the educated middle classes. For these well-meaning people, infanticide by a white woman was more acceptable than bad publicity for the endangered dingo. T-shirts appeared everwhere with the slogan: "The dingo is innocent". After being found guilty, she was flown more than a thousand kilometres away from her home to begin her sentence in Darwin Prison. On entry, although heavily pregnant, she was watched 24 hours a day. Her baby, Khalia, was taken away from her when she was two days old. She spent three years in the prison which was next to an abattoir. The women were kept awake at night by the sound of pigs being .night By day, in sweltering hot cells, they were physically sick from the smell of offal. She says: "I got my resilience because my father is a minister, and we moved every 12 months. It was a tough upbringing, not much money, lots of hidings. For once my temperament paid off, I knew how to control my face. If you looked afraid, the screws would kick you." Then in February 1986, the miracle happened. British climber David Brett was found dead and partially eaten by dingos on Ayers Rock. Police also found the mati nee jacket Lindy had sworn her baby was wearing when she was killed. One day after this discovery, she was released and went home to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Her own account of all this, "Through My Eyes", is the story of how a middle class family held together in extraordinary circumstances. When Lindy heard herself declared guilty she instantly offered her husband a divorce, which he refused. And, with the help of the grandparents, he kept the family together. The worst casualty was probably baby Khalia, who spent her infancy divided between her father and foster parents. Lindy said: "When I got home, she did not know me. That was very hard. We had to rebuild our relationship from scratch. My children were left motherless for what stretched into years. God alone knows the hurt that can never be erased." Bitter Ten years after it all began, she is not bitter. She says: "I can never catch up what I missed. Can you turn the clock back? I don't want revenge; I want truth and justice. I want our names cleared, that is why I have written this book." Lindy even allows herself a joke: "Of course, without what happened I would not have got to be played by Meryl Streep in a Hollywood film. She had a hard job. I don't mean she was too tall and blonde, I mean my character was beyond her. I am, what do they say, too complex?" And, for the first time, she flashed a winning smile. It was a spontaneous flash of the charm that she is too honest to produce to order. It is a comment on all of us - because she couldn't dissemble, she could not save herself. *Through My Eyes, by Lindy Chamberlain, is published by Heinemann. The Star TONIGtiT! Wednesday February 13 1991 FILM EXTRA Me, c 4c,-",P - a rt By ANDREW McDONALD HOLLYWOOD - Streep says she fears the future. "I'm 41 and, just realistically, the record of work being available for actresses over 40 in Hollywood is not good. Sometimes you feel it's an exercise in futility. I loved `A Cry in the Dark', for instance (the film about the Australian "Dingo Baby" case). I was proud to be in it. But when movies are advertised to reach one segment of the audience - men 16 to 25 and willing girlfriends - what can you do?" - BPI News Wire. QS I 0 -~ 1 1 15 , C,,JE. Sunday Star REVIEW February 17 1991 Art and Entertainment Percy Baneshik Film: Postcards from the Edge Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Meryl Streep, Dennis Quaid Streep, for her part, has departed from the stoically or passionately suffering roles of "Sophie's Choice" and "A Cry in the Dark", and comes on strong here as an actress capable of identifying with a practical character in the real-life story. fti3e 3 GEN'~~700T My hel duur voort din o-vrou PQ Qe I ( Fro . ,1 6 cove r` ARTIKELS 128 Dingo-ma se hel duur voort Loesie Boyle ~~q~ 6' s e s or~~a DOT, v e rag D IS al tien jaar sedert klein Azaria Chamberlain so grusaam gesterf bet in die skadu van die geheimsinnige Avers Rock in die Australiese agterveld - maar haar dood spook nog steeds by haar ma. Lindy Chamberlain weet hoe dit voel om permanent in die beskuldigdebank te staan. Die hof bet bevind dat sy nie haar baba doodgemaak bet nie, maar daar is nog talle mense wat dit net nie wil aanvaar nie. Sy sal nooit toegelaat word om daardie nag te vergeet toe sy haar babadogter se wiegie leeg en vol bloedspatsels in die gesin se vakansietent gekry bet nie. Lindy kan nog goed onthou hoe sy tent toe is om te gaan kvk of haar kind nog rustig slaap, en hoe sy toe 'n dingo gesien het wat in die nag wegsluip met iets in sy bek. Oomhlikke later bet sy besef die nege weke oue Azaria bet verdwyn, en ander kampeerders bet haar beangste gille gehoor: "Die dingo bet ons baba!" In daardie aaklige sekondes bet Lindy haar baba vir ewig verloor, en 'n voortslepende nagmerrie het begin ... vANDAG nog veg sy vir die hof se erkenning van haar aanspraak dat haar "lieflingdogtertjie" deur 'n dingo dood,oemaak is. Hoewel 'n Australiese hof haar vrygespreek bet van die aanklag dat sy haar baba doodgemaak het, word die saak nog steeds as 'n moordgeval beskou. "Al is ek nie meer 'n verdagte nie, is die amptelike mening nog steeds dat my kind vermoor is. Ek weet dis nie waar nie - Azaria is deur 'n dingo weggedra en doodgemaak," hou Lindy vol. Terwyl sy veg om die moord-uitspraak verander te kry, sukkel Lindy nog steeds om die pynlike feit te verwerk dat sy in baie mense se oe vir ewig gebrandmerk sal wees as die gevoellose vrou wat haar baba se keel afgesny het. n Koninklike kommissie bet in 1988 bevind dat sy dit nie gedoen bet nie, nadat sy drie jaar van 'n lewenslange gevangenisstraf vir moord uitgedien bet. Haar man, Michael, is vrygespreek van die aanklag dat hy sy baba se lykie weggemaak het en sy opgeskorte vonnis is opgehef. Maar hul amptelike kwvt skelding van skuld bet nie hul wande stilgemaak nie. In haar roerende outobiografie, Through My Eyes (Heinemann), wat verlede maand in Londen gepubliseer is, skrvf die 43-jarige Lindy: "Hier is ons nou, tien jaar later, en steeds is daar gerugte en agterdog." Waar Lindy ook al gaan, loop sy haar vas teen minagtende mense wat glo sy bet 'n verskriklike daad gepleeg. Partykeer beledig hulle haar op straat of treiter haar deur die geluid van dingo's na te boots. En daar gaan nie 'n week verby dat hulle haar nie be] en uitskel nie. Lindy se sv steur haar nie daaraan nie. maar Michael vind dit geweldig ontstellend. "Hy kan nie glo dat mense so ontsettend wreed kan wees nie," se Lindy. Lindy bet op die harde manier agtergekom hoe wreed mense regtig kan wees. Sy sal byvoorbeeld nooit die dag vergeet toe sy uit die tronk vrvgelaat is nie. Buite bet haar gesin gewag, Michael, seuns, Aiden en Reagan, en dogter, Kahlia, wat in die tronk gebore is. ivlaar ook huite die tronk was 'n klomp van haar landgenote, in `I'hempies met die woorde "Pas op, Kahlia, Mammie kom huis toe" daarop geskryf. Lindy kan die pyn wat sulke herinneringe bring nie wegwens nie, maar sy is vasheslote om ten minste iets te doen aan sommige van die onregte wat haar en haar gesin aangedoen is. Sv wil bv. nie net die moorduitspraak in dood weens 'n dingo laat verander nie, maar ook finansiele vergoeding he. Sy en Michael eis R11 miljoen van die regering van hul deelstaat. "Ons vra net wat ons toekom. Ons wil geld he vir die onreg wat ons aangedoen is. Ek is onskuldig. Die owerheid weet dit." AAR bowenal wil Lindy he die waarheid moet seevier. In die agttien maande dat sy aan haar outobiografie gewerk het, bet sv die tien jaar lange nagmerrie herleef wat begin bet met die verskriklike dood van Azaria -"toe sv dood is, is 'n deel van my dood, en niks sal dit ooit kan verander nie", skryf sy. Dis nie die eerste keer dat die bisarre verhaal vertel word nie. Dwarsoor die wereld het duisende artikels oor die "dingo-baba-moeder" in koerante en tydskrifte verskyn, en daar's selfs 'n fliek gemaak. A Cry in the Dark, met Mervi Streep in die rob van Lindv. "Dis 'n goeie weergawe van wat gebeur het," se Lindy, "maar ek wou mv eie saak sterker stel.'' Dis hoekom sv Through My Eyes geskryf bet, . n boek wat heskrvf word as die verhaal van " 'n doodgewone vrou wat in ongelooflike en tragiese gebeure verstrik geraak bet". In die boek van 768 bladsye word die smart beskrvf van 'n moeder wat haar baba verloor en dan van haar ander kinders geskei en in die tronk gestop word. Die vernietigende uitwerking van haar opspraakwekkende verhoor op haar gesin en veral haar man word ook beskrvf. Michael, wat vroeer 'n selfversekerde predikant van die Sewendedag-Adventiste-kerk was, maak deesdae 'n hestaan uit die kap en verkoop van vuurmaakhout in Cooranhong, waar die Chamberlains woon. "Ons hou net-net kop ho water," se Lindv. Die rolprent is pasweer op TVgesien ... een vandie opspraakwekkendste waredramas van dieafgelope dekade oor'n kind wat volgenshaar ma deur 'ndingo doodgemaakis. Nou het die maself 'n boek geskryfwaarin sy alles 'deurmy oe' herlewe. Envertel van die pynwanneer mense haarsteeds beswadder enbeledig ... Deur LOESJE BOYLE DiNGO"MA SKRYF BOEK 10 jaar van die wreedste onreg 128 Huisgenoor, 21 Februarie 1991 ,I i Fe, br un I q91 LINKS: Lindy Chamberlain en haar man, Michael. ONDER: Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in die rolprent A Cry in the Dark. persoonlik; dit vertel "die menslike kant van die verhaal - die kant wat mense wat nuus soek, nie raaksien nie". Tog, skryf sy, woorde "is te oppervlakkig om regtig die diepste seerkry te beskryf". Lindy en haar man bet "agt jaar van hel" deurgemaak voordat hulle amptelik gehoor het wat hulle altyd geweet het: dat hulle nie hul babadogter doodgemaak het nie. Maar hul "private hel" sal nooit end kry nie. Daar is dinge, se Lindy, wat hulle nooit sal vergeet nie. "Jy leer om daarmee saam te leef, ja, maar die pyn en die Mense g!o nog ek het my dogtertjie vermoor - Lindy Chamberlain REGS: AyersRock in Australit' waardie dramahom afgespeel bet. T HROUGH MY EYES is ook 'n aanklag teen Australie se polisie en howe. "Ons roem daarop dat iemand onskuldig is totdat die teendeel bewys is," se Lindy in die voorwoord tot haar boek, "maar enigiemand wat al in die beskuldigdebank gestaan het, weet dit beteken eintlik skuldig totdat jou onskuld bewys is." In die boek beskryf sy hoe verskriklik dit is om as 't ware in die media verhoor te word, om, soos sy dit stel, "in klein stukkies opgeskeur te word om die magtige mediamasjien te voer". Sy raai mense aan om nie so "liggelowig" te wees wanneer hulle gerugte hoor nie en om nie ander mense op grond van kwaadwillige skinderstories te veroordeel nie. Wat veral verskriklik was in die afgelope tien jaar, se Lindy, was die onjuiste berigte wat sy oor haar en haar gesin gelees bet. Met haar boek probeer sy hierdie skewe beeld van hulle regstel. Die boek is ook geweldig herinneringe bly." Azaria se lyk is nooit gevind nie. In die nag van haar verdwyning bet driehonderd vakansiegangers die bosse om Ayers Rock sonder sukses gefynkam. 'n Week later is haar klere gevind, vol bloedvlekke, naby 'n dingo-leplek. M Huisgenoot, 21 Februarie 1991 21 February !99/ 129 LEFT: Lindy Chamberlain and her husband, Michael. BELOW: Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in the film A Cry in the Dark. to go through "eight years of hell" before being officially told what they had always known: that they did not kill their baby girl. But their private hell will never end. There are some things, says Lindy, that they will never forget. "You learn to cope better, sure, but the hurt and the memories still stay." Azaria's body was never found. The night she disap People still believe i killed my baby - Lindy Chamberlain RIGHT: AyersRock inAustralia, thescene of thegruesomedrama. the introduction to her book. "But any person who has been through the system knows this means guilty till proven innocent." The autobiography illustrates the horror of trial by media and of being, in Lindy's words, "torn in shreds to feed the megalomanic media machine". She urges people to be less gullible about rumours and not to judge others on the basis of malicious gossip. One of the hardest things about her 10-year ordeal, says Lindy, has been reading reports about herself and her family which bear no resemblance to reality. Her book is an attempt to correct these distorted impressions. But it is also intensely personal; it tells "the human side of the story - the side that people looking at the news tend to forget". However, Lindy insists, words "just scratch the surface. They do not touch the deepest hurt, which cannot be expressed." Lindy and her husband had a peared, 300 holidaymakers at Ayers Rock searched the surrounding bush with torches but found nothing. A week later the clothes Azaria had been wearing were found, stained with blood, near a dingo lair. ) YOU 21 February 1991 105 'T'S been 10 years since baby Azaria Chamberlain disappeared in the shadow of mysterious Ayers Rock in Australia's outback - but the incident still casts a shadow over many lives and continues to haunt her mother. Lindy Chamberlain knows what it's like to be considered guilty until proven innocent. Even now that the courts have cleared her, many people won't accept that she doesn't have the blood of her infant on her hands. She will never be allowed to forget the night she looked into the family's holiday tent to check on her sleeping baby daughter - and found her crib empty and spattered with blood. On her way to the tent at the Ayers Rock campsite Lindy had noticed a dingo slinking off into the night carrying something in its mouth. Moments later, when she realised nine-week-old Azaria had disappeared, other campers heard Lindy's anguished scream: "The dingo's got the baby!" In those horrifying seconds she lost her baby for ever, and a continuing nightmare began ... Today Lindy is still fighting for legal recognition of her persistent claim that her "darling little girl" was killed by a dingo. Although she has been cleared of murdering her infant, the case is still on record as a murder. "My name has been deleted from the records, but now there is an open murder verdict for my daughter. I know the cause of her death was not murder - Azaria was taken and killed by a dingo," Lindy insists. While she is determined to set the official record straight, Lindy has had to come to terms with the painful fact that in many people's minds she will for ever be branded as a callous woman who slit her baby's throat. A Royal Commission cleared her of the charge in 1988, after she had served three years of a life sentence for murder. Her husband Michael was cleared of the charge that he had disposed of his dead baby's body and his suspended sentence was lifted. But their official pardon has not silenced their public enemies. In her touching autobiography Through My Eyes (Heinemann) published in London last month, 43-year-old Lindy says: "So here we are, 10 years later, and still the rumours and suspicion continue." Wherever she goes Lindy is confronted by the hurtful scorn of people who believe she is guilty of a hideous crime. They insult her in the streets or taunt her by imitating the noise made by dingoes; they call her on the telephone. Lindy says she still receives several abusive calls a week. She shrugs them off defiantly, but Michael finds them deeply upsetting. "He can't believe people can be so dreadfully cruel," says Lindy. She knows only too well just how cruel they can be. She will never forget, for example, the T-shirts worn by some Australians when she was released from jail to be reunited with Michael and their sons Aiden and Reagan, and daughter Kahlia, born in prison. Printed on the T-shirts were the words: "Watch out, Kahlia, Mummy's Coming Home." In the face of such painful memories, Lindy is determined to see justice done - and she wants financial compensation for the injustices she has suffered. The Chamberlains are claiming R11 million compensation from the Northern Territory government. "We want our due from them," Lindy says. "We are claiming payment for the wrong that has been done to us. I am innocent. The authorities know that." But perhaps most of all, Lindy wants the truth to be known. It took 18 months to write her autobiography and in the process she relived the 10year nightmare which began with the loss of Azaria. "When she died part of me died, and nothing will ever alter that fact," she writes. The bizarre story has been told many times. Newspapers and magazines throughout the world have carried countless articles about the "Dingo Baby Mum", and the story has been made into the film A Cry In The Dark with Meryl Streep playing Lindy. "It tells the story well," says Lindy, "but I wanted to put my own case more strongly." Through My Eyes is described as an account of "an ordinary woman caught up in extraordinary and tragic events". The 768-page book tells of a mother who loses her baby and and is then separated from her husband and surviving children while she is behind bars. It tells too of the destructive effect the sensational trial had on her family, in particular her husband. Michael, once a confident Seventh Day Adventist minister, has given up preaching and today cuts and sells firewood in Cooranbong where the Chamberlains live. "We only just manage to keep our heads above water," says Lindy. Through My Eyes is also an indictment of Australia's police force and courts. "We pride ourselves on saying someone is innocent till proven guilty," says Lindy in Accused ofmurdering herinfant daughter,Lindy Chamberlain went to jailprotesting herinnocence. Sheserved three yearsbefore she wasdeclared innocentand set free. Buteven today, 10years on, there arethose who don'tbelieve her.Australia's mostcelebrated real-lifedrama has beentelevised andmade into afeature film. Now,in a new book,Lindy tells of her10 years of hell ... GOMUM wRITES BO~K DIN Innocent: but my hell goes on By LOESJE BOYLE 104 YOU 21 February 1991 STERRE-RAAI 30 STARCROSS Die wenner van 'n stel Barotti-kantoormeubels van soliede eikehout en 'n skildery wat in opdrag deur die kunstenaar Willie Ploner geskilder sal word, is N MAREE, Lynnwood Glen. Hierdie waardevolle prys is in Januarie 1991 se Programgids aangebied. Die korrekte antwoorde was: 1. Empire of the Sun. 2. Maureen Stapleton. 3. Jonathan Silverman. 4. A Cry in the Dark. 5. Fats Domino. 6. Sam Neill. 7. Bob Dishy. 8. Dudley Moore. 9. Nuts. March '91 02 Maart '91 M--NET C40d ~,,I e Sunday Star. REVIEW March 24 1991 Film: The Russia House ------- __ - Director: Fred Schepisi Rina Minervini An almost genial cynicism, represented by the espionage gentlemen on all sides of the fence, is pitted against simple (even simplistic) decency, represented by Barley and Katya (Connery and Pfeiffer). These two innocents find themselves trying to manoeuvre in the very small space left between the spy bosses of three countries and a military scientist (Brandauer) who is trying to get Russia's defence secrets published in the West. And, of course, they fall in love while doing so - which is nice for the romantics among us. The love affair, like the espionage plot, is given an understated treatment by director Fred Schepisi, who, I suspect, may be something of an idealist himself. No sweaty clinches for the lovers, and the spies are not monsters of evil, just men of expediency. He films the story stylishly and at an even pace, allowing time to enjoy a setting that is everything the armchair traveller could wish: London, Lisbon, Moscow and Leningrad, all magnificently filmed by director of photography Ian Baker. "More cutbacks." Sunddy'Star COMICS Ma"rch 24'1991 VIDEOS BY MOTHIBI MTHETHWA Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) in "A Cry in the Dark". Movie: A CRY IN THE DARKStarring: MERYL STREEP,SAM NEILL Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Strcep) was accused of murdering her baby daughter. Her daughter had been dragged off by wild dingo dogs while the family was on a pleasure trip. In one of the world's most publicised court cases, the facts concerning Lindy's baby's disappearance were resolved after Lindy spent several years behind bars. Angered by media and world prejudice, she manages to clear her name. This is a dramatic, true story about a very brave woman. PACE April 1991 153 By Michael Sheather Pictures: Jason Capobianco and courtesy the Chamberlain family The Chamberlains are afamily defined in the eyesof the Australian public bya single event - the dingobaby case. It's only now thatLindy's daughter, Kahlia, isfinally finding her placein the world of her sister has haunted her family for almost 25 years RESSED in a black vest top, shorts and hiking boots, Kahlia Chamberlain readies herself for her mis sion. She's determined to finally crest Ayers Rock (Uluru), the landmark in Australia's red heart from which her elder sister, Azaria, disappeared 24 years ago. It's not the Rock she's conquering as much as the past. Eleven years ago, Kahlia, then 10, set out with much the same objective - to reach the top of the rock that has dominated so much of her family's life. But on that day in 1993 Kahlia failed. She made only a few tentative steps up the slope before she collapsed in tears, shaken by the realisation of her family's grief and the enormous emotional toll Azaria's tragic disappearance has wrung, and continues to wring, from them. This is a girl who was born while her mother was in custody wrongly accused of murder and whose life has been shaped by the tragic death of her sister. "When I came out here the first time I was still a little girl," 21-yearold Kahlia explains. "Until that moment I'd always had a sense that what happened to my family here was in some way not real, not part of my life. It was a story I'd heard over and over but it was like looking at the moon - I knew what it looked like but I'd never been there. "But when I was faced with the reality of the Rock for the first time it was real. It suddenly welled up inside me and as I climbed I started to cry. I sat with Mum until I stopped crying and then we came down. We walked around and I started to ask questions about what had happened. I'd never asked questions about that night before but I asked them then." FA-')R Kahlia Chamberlain that mc _)ment was the beginning of a jot.irney that continues to this day, brorzght into even sharper focus b,v recent sensational claims about Azaria's disappearance by a Melbourne pensioner. The Chamberlains are a family defined in the eyes of the public by a single event, a tragedy that entwined them, consumed them and, finally, reshaped them in a struggle that seemingly never ends. Kahlia is a forthright young woman who is only now finally coming to terms with the ordeal her family has been through. As a child she endured her parents' bitter divorce and the emotional confusion of divided loyalties. As a teenager she suffered years of dislocation and doubt after a traumatic move back from her new home in the United States to Australia, where she found herself the centre of hurtful rumours because of Lindy's infamous reputation. There were also times of guilt, flowing from the fact that she had not suffered as much as the rest of her family. It's only now that Kahlia is finally finding her place in the world as she defines a career and a future for herself. The mystery, drama and uncertainty that shrouds the Chamberlain case has always held a grim fascination. Azaria, only nine-and-a-half weeks old, disappeared on 17 August 1980 from the family's tent at a campsite near Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock. Azaria's mother, Lindy, claimed a dingo had taken the child and the case caused a sensation. Lindy was convicted of Azaria's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment before a 1986 inquiry set her free. Recently that fascination peaked once again when 78-year-old pensioner Frank Cole claimed he and some friends found baby Azaria's body in the mouth of a dingo he shot at Uluru on the night she disappeared in 1980. He claims they secretly buried the baby's body in the backyard of a Melbourne house. There have even been wild suggestions that Azaria may still be alive, living in the outback. But for Kahlia, the youngest child of Lindy and her ex-husband Michael Chamberlain, the claims are just that - claims that wash against the wall of an emotional defence system she set in place years ago. "I don't allow myself to have a reaction when things such as this surface," she says. "There has been too much pain, too much anguish for my family, to allow something like this to affect me. I see this only through their eyes and how it affects them. "At this point it seems there are too many inconsistencies in these stories for them to be true. I'm sure they'll be investigated but I'm not suddenly holding out hope that it's all going to be wrapped up in some neat little package." Even so the claim that Azaria may still be alive intrigues her. (Turn over) MAIN PICTURE: Kahlia Chamberlain at Ayers Rock, where her sister, Azaria, disappeared 24 years ago. INSET: The poster for A Cry in the Dark, the Hollywood movie in which Meryl Streep and Sam Neill portrayed Kahlia's parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain. BELOW RIGHT: Kahlia, then four days old, and her mom after Lindy was freed on bail in 1982. Soon afterwards her appeal was rejected and she was sent back to jail. (From previous page) "I simply don't know how I would react if that was found to be correct, as improbable as it seems. I think it would be almost too much for us to handle. Everything I have known and accepted during my life would be thrown up in the air. In some ways it could be frightening." These latest sensations, Kahlia says, are simply more ripples on the pond, unsettling sensations she has learnt to shut out over the years for her self-preservation. "The repercussions of Azaria's disappearance and the court case are never-ending. Just when I think that it might finally be over it comes back or starts again from another direction. I think in that kind of environment it's pretty natural that we'd put up walls, that we'd lock out as much as we can the things that have potential to hurt us." KAHLIA has lived with hurt for most of her life. She was born in the most traumatic of circumstances, delivered to her mother under prison guard on 17 November 1982. Warders were under orders to separate the mother and child immediately but sympathetic guards allowed the pair to bond for nearly an hour. "Then I was told by the warder it was time to leave," Lindy recalls. "I put Kahlia down myself rather than back from jail she was very much the princess who got whatever she wanted. Just a few days after I was released we got into the car on our way to an interview. It was our first outing as a family and Kahlia refused to sit in the back seat. I tried to explain that I was the mummy and I should sit in front. Finally, I persuaded her to sit on the floor between my legs. As we drove off she bit me." It took time to rekindle the normal bonds between mother and child. The dislocation was exacerbated by Lindy's time in jail which gave a hard edge to her strong personality. On her release Lindy resumed the role of disciplinarian as she tried to re-establish routine and normalcy. "My dad was always the cuddly one," Kahlia recalls. "I loved my mother very much and I was glad she was finally home but Mum became the one who always said 'no'. As the youngest and the only girl in the family I always got what I wanted which isn't healthy. I was so little and I sometimes thought Mum was really mean, though I loved her dearly and she was only trying to do what was best for me." The real test of their relationship came in 1989 when Lindy and Michael's marriage broke down. Kahlia, then seven, was old enough to understand that her parents didn't want to be together anymore but still too young to avoid being caught in the crossfire. "I was torn in two directions," she recalls. "I remember the fights. Mum sat us down and told us. I cried and cried. All I wanted was for them to stay together. Mum moved into the spare bedroom and we lived like that, all in the same house, for almost 12 months." As Lindy initiated the split she also bore the blame in Kahlia's young mind. "I saw her saying 'enough is enough'. I saw her saying 'no', that, it was over and so, for me, it was her fault," Kahlia says. "I blamed her though I now know that wasn't fair." The divorce became final in 1991. Kahlia wanted her mother's love and her father's. When she was with Lindy, Kahlia told her she wanted to be with her. When she was with Michael, she told him the have them take her from me. I walked out and didn't look back. I lost a piece of my soul that day and no one can ever give it back to me or to Kahlia. That was the true crime of what happened to us as a family." Though Kahlia and Lindy were reunited a few days later, after Lindy's release pending an appeal, the hurt ran deep. When Lindy was imprisoned a second time after her appeal failed, Kahlia went to live with a foster family Her father, Michael, looked after the couple's sons, Aidan and Reagan, at their home on the New South Wales Central Coast, but a three-month old babv was more than he could cope with. The foster family were new family friends, Wayne and Jenny Miller. "I don't remember much from that period of my life," says Kahlia who visited her mother only rarely because of distance and expense. "What I do remember, or at least BELOW: For think I remember, are photographs Kahlia Ayers of Mommy pinned up on a board. Rock wasn't just I'd point to her and say, 'That's my something to Mommy.' I say I think I remember climb, it was a because I've heard the story so landmark that many times that maybe it's a mem had to be con- ory I've created for myself because quered so she I have no other memories of my could make mother from that time." peace with her Eleven months later, when Wayne past. and Jenny moved to Brisbane, Kah lia's care fell to other foster parents, Jan and Owen Hughes. "The awful irony is that my life has been blessed in some ways because of the traumas my family has suffered," Kahlia says. "It sounds terrible but I was blessed with having the Millers and the Hughes care for me. My network of people whom I can love and be loved back is greater than most people. In some ways it has actually enhanced my life, not detracted from it." Yet in other ways the effects have been far from positive. When Lindy was released in 1986 after Azaria's matinee jacket was found at Uluru she came home to a family in disarray. Although she and Kahlia had forged the foundations of a relationship - as much as they could when their only time together was in a jail - the road to harmony was long. "She was always very independent," recalls Lindy. "When I came same. It led to a custody dispute. "Finally I realised what was happening," Lindy says. "I asked Kahlia what she really wanted. She's always been a very mature girl but she needed to sort out in her own mind what her path would be. As difficult as it was, I was quite prepared for her sake to let her live with Michael if that's what she wanted." "When Mom spoke to me she said, this is what has happened, we both still love you. Nothing bad was said about Dad," Kahlia explains. "And when I spoke to Dad, he exhibited his anger more - not in a violent way - but in the way he said things such as, 'This is what Mummy is doing to me', that he'd been hard done by. I tried not to have opinions about that." A few months after the divorce, La-idy met and fell in love with an. 'lmerican sales manager, Rick Crr_lghton, during a trip to Seattle. Lin-ay and Reagan planned to move to the US to be with Rick. Kahlia finally decided she wanted to live witi ~ her mother - but she had to tell her father. "That was difficult. I remember being afraid of telling Dad what I wanted, not because I was fright ened but because I didn't want to hurt him. It was an awful situation but he accepted it though in some ways it changed our relationship. "With hindsight Mum and Dad's divorce was for the best. I don't have a happy memory that actually involves both of them. I have happy memories but they are either with Mum or with Dad, never of the two of them together. In the end I made the best decision to grow up with Mum." During nearly six years in the US Kahlia blossomed. She did well at school and excelled in science, figuring on a career in chemistry. And it was during this period that she finally got to know her mother. "We got a chance to form a real motherdaughter relationship," Kahlia says. "That's when I really got to know her as a person and that person is wonderful and loving." AT the end of 1998 Lindy and Rick decided to return to Australia. It was a decision that shocked Kahlia. "I was devastated," she recalls. "I had a life and a set of friends whom I loved. I considered myself an American, not an Australian, and my whole life was being uprooted. I didn't want to go." It was a traumatic transition for a young girl. Rick and Lindy settled in Cooranbong, New South Wales, the largely Seventh Day Adventist community that had been there to help Lindy and Michael through the worst of their experiences. Michael had remarried, to Ingrid Bergner, the mother of one of Kahlia's close friends, and also lived there. "When we came to Australia I hated it," Kahlia says. "Suddenly everyone knew who I was. I'd forgotten. I thought everyone else would have forgotten as well. I couldn't believe that they hadn't. "I felt very alone and found it difficult to make new friends. I can remember coming home and sitting on Rick's knee and sobbing for what seemed like hours because I didn't have any friends." She also had to put up with the gossip and speculation that surrounded her mother. "I was too young to know that had happened before. But when I came back it was all too clear to me. People related to me not because I was Kahlia but because I was Lindy Chamberlain's daughter. That was very difficult, not just for me, but for Mum and Rick too. Almost everything Mum did she was criticised for and that meant she was very strict with me. I had to wear the right clothes and behave in the right way otherwise people would take the opportunity to pass judgments about Mum." Kahlia became the subject of gossip. When she started dating, just before her 16th birthday, many took the opportunity to attack Lindy as being an irresponsible mother. "The criticisms started coming back to Mum but to her credit she stood up for me," she says. "It wasn't going back to her as 'This is what your daughter is doing'. It was going back to her as 'This is what your daughter is doing. How could you have raised her that way?' It was a judgment about me but it was more a judgment about her. I was furious." High school was difficult for Kahlia. She felt lost and burdened by her mother's reputation. It made her introspective and caused her a great deal of angst. After completing school she moved out of home and took a job as a nursing assistant in a Sydney old age home. "It was a strange time for me. I had many problems coming to terms with who I was and what I wanted out of life. I had great difficulty meeting people with whom I had any kind of meaningful relationship. I'd introduce myself only as Kahlia and wouldn't tell people my full name in case they judged me by that. Sometimes I might know people for a year before I trusted them enough to tell them who I really was. "After such a long time of being careful about what I said I got exhausted and decided to fly in the opposite direction, becoming more open which is where I am today." All around her were reminders of the past. In 2001 Kahlia began studying for a nursing degree. "People don't always make the connection," she says. "But because I wear a name tag sometimes they do. When they realise who I am they ask me about my mum or what she's doing or whether she's still married. (Turn over) 6As we drove away Kahlia bit me 9 www.you.co.za 6 January 2005 47 (From previous page) Sometimes people assume they have a right to know, but they don't. "What I'm most often asked is what my mother is really like. The most honest answer I can give is that she's easy to love and respect but not always easy to like. "And I think that is what obviously resulted in her being so publicly hated as well. She's wonderful but you kind of have to get to know her before you realise that. "We have a fabulous relationship now. I look back to when I thought she was being hard and I realise I had a distorted view of her. "Children don't always understand everything that is going on and I know I made many wrong assumptions about her." She says welcoming Rick into the family has changed her life. "Rick is one of the people I hold in the highest regard. That's the same answer Aidan would give and that Reagan would give. He's somebody we really trust and respect, more than almost anybody else I can think of." THE Azaria Chamberlain story has become part of Australia's social fabric. Jokes are made about the "dingo lady" almost every day. Sometimes they're made in front of Kahlia. "One day I was at a hospital and a doctor asked me where I was from. I said, 'Cooranbong' and he made a crack about watching out for the 'dingo lady'. I looked at him and said, `You mean my mother?' He didn't know who I was. To his credit he apologised and said he was wrong. He said he'd never say anything like that again, not in front of me, not in front of anyone." There are times, such as Azaria's birthday, which make Kahlia reflective and she thinks about her older sister but those thoughts are always tinged with a disquieting notion that if Azaria were still alive she might not be. "If she hadn't died, then there's every chance that I might not be here," she says. "When I was little I used to think about what it would be like to have a big sister and wish she could be around as I grew older. But I also thought at the time maybe that meant I wouldn't have 481 16 January 2005 www.you.co.za been here. "That's when the selfishness kicks in and I start thinking about how I really like my life and who I am now. The hard fact is that I have done nothing but benefit because I'm alive. The major impact I've had is to witness the pain it has caused my family and continues to cause my family. "I wasn't as sensitive to their feelings as I could have been when I was growing up. It took me until I was a teenager before I began to be sensitive to the rest of my family because it wasn't a sensitive point for me. It took me until I went to Uluru, until I started sifting through some of the feelings I'd denied for so long, to have sensitivity for Mom, Aidan, Reagan and Dad. I wasn't there and it didn't happen to me ... but it did happen to them. That was a big realisation." That's part of the reason that walking to the top of Uluru was important for Kahlia. Finishing the climb gave her a sense of completion, a sense that perhaps life was turning full circle. "There was a time when I didn't like this place," she says. "In a way I blamed the Rock, where it all became real for me. The Rock, for me, became a bad place but with maturity those feelings have dissipated. "I now see it for what it is - beautiful and not responsible. And that's because I have changed. I know you have to take what is good from life and leave behind the things that hurt you." o The Azaria ChamiM* saga 17 AUGUST 1980 Azaria, infant daughter of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Michael Chamberlain and his wife Lindy, disappears at Uluru. 20 FEBRUARY 1981 Alice Springs Coroner Denis Barritt finds a wild dog or dingo took Azaria and that the Chamberlains were not responsible. 20 NOVEMBER 1981 The inquest finding is quashed after police and the Northern Territory government launch a new investigation. 2 FEBRUARY 1982 The second inquest commits Lindy Chamberlain to trial on the charge of murdering Azaria. Michael Chamberlain is charged as an accessory. 29 OCTOBER 1982 The Chamberlains are found guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court. Lindy, heavily pregnant, is sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael receives a suspended 18-month sentence. 17 NOVEMBER 1982 Kahlia is born to Lindy Charmberlain after a painful delivery in Darwin Hospital. The baby is taken from her mother one hour after her birth. 20 NOVEMBER 1982 Lindy is released from Darwin Prison on bail pending an appeal. 29 APRIL 1983 The court rejects the appeal and Lindy goes back to prison. 2 FEBRUARY 1986 A baby's jacket, identified as the one Azaria wore on the night she vanished, is found near Uluru. 7 FEBRUARY 1986 The Northern Territory remits Lindy Chamberlain's life sentence and releases her from prison. 2 JUNE 1987 The Morling Royal Commission throws out the Chamberlains' convictions and finds there is support for the view that Azaria was taken by a dingo. 15 SEPTEMBER 1988 The Supreme Court of Darwin quashes the Chamberlains' convictions and declares them innocent. 13 DECEMBER 1995 A third inquest clears the Chamberlains and delivers an open finding as to the cause of Azaria's death. 6Mom's easyto lovebut notalwayseasy tolikO ) MICHAEL SHEATHERIAUSTRALIAN WOMEN'SWEEKLY/ACP SYNDICATION