Courier Mail
FRI 22 JUL 2005, Page 008
Timor role fires up a class act
By Natalie Gregg

FOR accomplished actor David Wenham, Cabbage Tree Point seemed an unlikely location.

But there, on the southern edge of Moreton Bay, is where the actor is filming a new ABC mini-series, Answered By Fire.

Wenham plays a Gold Coast policeman who volunteers for the United Nations mission in East Timor during the bloody 1999 referendum.

"This is a story I was well aware of (and) I feel passionate about being involved,'' Wenham said yesterday.

The mini-series, a co-production between the ABC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, also stars Melbourne-based Timorese actor Alex Tilman, who plays a translator.

Also starring is Canadian actor Isabelle Blais, who plays a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer.

The film is being shot at Cabbage Tree Point and Mt Tambourine, in the Gold Coast hinterland.

It took about six weeks to re-create two East Timorese villages and the United Nations compound.

Executive producer Roger Simpson said they were halfway through an eight-week shooting schedule.

"The cast have been fantastic, especially many of the Timorese,'' he said. "A lot of them have lived through the experience and here we are re-creating the story. It must be very moving for them and we are sensitive to that.''