"When a friend of mine first told me that Australia played a part in the Apollo 11 mission, well, frankly I didn't believe it," says Rob Sitch. "We really don't have that big of a space program."
He shuffles his feet nervously, pacing around rows of seats. Sitch's new film, The Dish, has just been screened for critics and friends. Proud and yet a little uncomfortable so far from home, he talks fast and easily goes off on tangents.
"That was... wow... five, six years ago," he asks no one in particular. He shakes his head, "That long ago." He has a lot to wonder about. The film has not only become the 5th largest grossing film of all time in Australia (alongside such heavyweights as The Matrix and Gladiator) but has also won awards and acclaim across his country. And it's only the second film his creative team Working Dog has made.
Working Dog is composed of Santo Cliauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, and Sitch. Their first film was The Castle, which Sitch describes as "an exercise in low budget-filmmaking." It was finished over a ten-day shooting schedule, and was a runaway hit in its home country. After a warm reception at Sundance, the film was acquired by Miramax for worldwide distribution. Unfortunately, a marketing campaign comparing the film to The Full Monty was largely unsuccessful and the film failed to break one million dollars in its US run.
But Sitch is not an easily discouraged person. "Working on this film has been simply amazing. Receiving Fed-Ex packages from NASA every week was one of the coolest experiences of my life," he said.
The film has garnered audience appeal in the most unlikely of places, and Sitch hopes its success will continue in America. "There are so many stories and experiences coming out of a live broadcast from Australia 30 years ago, of all things," he said.
"Last year they couldn't even broadcast the Olympics live from Sydney! And yet, out it went, to 600 million people around the world. We've gotten letters all over Australia from people who lived in Parks, who used to work on the station, or who remember where they were when they saw the landing on the moon. Of course, the problem is you pick up anecdotes that you wish you knew before you filmed."
He goes on to recall the true origin of the girl who brought the scientists food, and a letter from the first private citizen who received a telegram from space. Whenever anyone brings up a small detail or question ("Did it really happen that way?") he responds with an even crazier account of what actually happened, and often ends his stories with, "We thought people simply wouldn't believe it."
"There was actually a team of German astronomers who were using the Dish at the same time as the characters in the film, and they helped them with some of the positioning drama that occurred. But when we tried to add them into the script, it came off as a little too sitcom-ish. People read it and thought we made up these crazy characters, when it fact it was completely authentic."
Someone from the audience asks if the astronauts have seen the film: "I'm not sure about Neil Armstrong, but we screened it for Buzz Aldrin yesterday. He liked it, although, we re-edited it and showed him a version where he walks on the moon first," he adds with a smile
"It's amazing how casually we can mention that," he adds quickly, "I mean, we're talking about walking on the moon." He pauses for emphasis, then gestures wildly, "That's the craziest thing science has ever done! And yet, for most Americans, it's fairly ho-hum. Nowadays, when a space shuttle lands, people say, 'I didn't even know one went up.' I'm convinced that the easiest way for aliens to invade unnoticed would be to just sneak aboard the space shuttle. The marines would even tow it in for them!"
He laughs and recomposes himself. "For Australia, the film is about celebrating a small part of our role in the Apollo 11 mission. I think it is always interesting to view an event this major through another country's eyes. Instead of having bias from patriotism or politics, you just get caught up in it. [The Dish] is a more objective prism for Americans to review their history, and I hope there's a certain appeal there."
The theater manager interrupts, announcing that the theater is needed for a showing of Double Take. Sitch is thrown off guard, and mutters a confused "Thank you for coming" before the representatives from Warner Brothers whisk him away. There is a feeling of confusion and abruptness, as he certainly had more to say but wasn't allowed to finish.
But the summation that concludes the press kit may convey his final thoughts about the film better than he could have in person. "The mission ultimately became something that was not about rockets at all. It transcended those television pictures live from the moon. It became about our spirits soaring. [I think] the film celebrates that achievement and the striving for greatness... things worth celebrating."
