Fed: Damon Gameau finds it hard to let go of Balibo

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2009
Fed: Damon Gameau finds it hard to let go of Balibo

By Alyssa Braithwaite, National Entertainment Writer

SYDNEY, Aug 11 AAP - Damon Gameau signed up for an acting job on Robert Connolly's
film Balibo, but what he got was a life-changing experience.

Portraying Greg Shackleton, one of six Australian journalists murdered by invading
Indonesian forces in East Timor in 1975, affected Gameau so deeply he is still struggling
to move on 12 months after the filming wrapped.

"For me personally, I found it hard to let go - a year on and I realise it's all still
there," Gameau told AAP.

"You do have to treat that carefully sometimes, because it can carry over into your life.

"It's not really discussed about in acting. It's seen as a bit wanky.

"You're pretending to do things that are quite extreme, and if you really are committed
to it, it's going to take a toll on you."

The political thriller recreates the events surrounding the deaths of the men known
as the Balibo Five and the execution of fellow Australian journalist Roger East, who went
to East Timor to investigate their disappearance.

It also sheds light on atrocities suffered by the East Timorese people.

Gameau, 33, said he knew nothing about the Balibo incident before taking on the film.

When he and co-stars Anthony LaPaglia, Gyton Grantley, Nathan Phillips, Mark Leonard
Winter and Thomas Wright travelled to East Timor for filming they came to understand how
important the story was.

"We realised the gravity of this story and stopped treating it like a job, and it became
like a whole other thing," he said.

"All of us have said at various times it was life-changing and I think it's true.

"The whole thing just doesn't feel like we made a film, it always felt like something larger."

Gameau found the resilience of the East Timorese people inspirational, and knew that
when filming wrapped he couldn't just walk away and return to his own comfortable life.

He and Grantley plan to return to the country later this year to show the film dubbed
in Tetum, the language of East Timor, and say thanks to the people.

"We're going to go guerilla-style, maybe get two motorbikes, get a backpack and then
drive around the country and take a projector and show it on the walls of the villages
and make a little documentary," Gameau explained.

He is also planning a big event in Melbourne's Federation Square to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of East Timor's independence later this month.

Balibo will be released on Thursday, after a special screening for politicians to be
held at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

Gameau said he isn't even thinking about what film or TV show he might do next. But
when he does, it will be something he is just as passionate about.

"I feel like this chapter's not quite finished yet," he said.

"I couldn't just turn my back and go, thank you, film's out now.

"I still love acting, of course, but I'm going to make sure I do things that in some
way inspire or make a difference."

AAP acb/jl

KEYWORD: BALIBO (PIX AVAILABLE)

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