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Southern Cross

(DVD NOW AVAILABLE)  

The West Australian

by Ron Banks (20th February, 2001)

It may be mid-winter now, but when ALLE NEWTON visited the set of the new ABC mini-series Southern Cross it was hot, hot, hot.

WA WRITER Gerald Glaskin's A Waltz Through the Hills was one of the most popular children's novels of the 1960s. His tale of a brother and sister making their way from their outback home to Perth after the death of their mother so they could return to their native England was much loved for its plucky adventures and the bushcraft of Jim, the Aboriginal who befriended them.

Local film producer Paul Barron turned Glaskin's story into an engaging telemovie in the late 90s with Ernie Dingo as the Aboriginal Bushman.

Now Perth producer Sue Taylor has revisited the story for a new television movie, updating the setting to reflect the contemporary issue of refugees and retitling the film Southern Cross.

Its central characters are two Chinese children living in a detention centre in WA's North-West. When their mother dies they fear the immigration authorities will send them to separate orphanages, so decide to escape and make their way to Perth to eventually return home to China.

They set out for the city across the remote outback, sustained by the rudimentary advice from a kindly detention centre worker (Bill Kerr) who unwittingly informs them that if they follow the Sourthern Cross south through Ballidu and Mullewa they will reach the river that flows down into Perth. Understandably, given the recent history of refugees, there is much consternation in the detention centre when their escape is discovered, with the harassed manger (Michael Loney) fearing political embarrassment if it becomes widely know two children have broken out.

The political sensitivity of the escape even leads Federal immigration authorities to send their top security man (Jeremy Callaghan) to coordinate the search.

But the children turn out to be pretty resourceful - both in making their way south quickly and in eluding the authorities. Their task is made easier by the chance meeting with Jim, a black man who befriends them and volunteers to help guide them towards the city.

Perth writer Ron Elliott wrote the new script for the film, with production company Taylor Media finding two new young stars in former Singaporeans Yeung-Ming Tan, 11, as Liang and Raegan Lousie Perreau s hi six-year old sister Bo.

Neither young actor has had any previous experience before the cameras, except for a commercial made for Singapore television by Yeun-Ming.

The children turned out to be natural performers, playing the roles with a good deal of warmth and an understate charm.

The warmth of the film is underscored by Heath Bergerson's Jim, whose kindness bolsters the children's flagging morale as the authorities begin to close in on them.

As with many children's films the men in charge behave with little compassion, but the workers below them - such as the cook (Laura Black) and the maintenance man (B McCluskey) - become more kindly disposed to the children when they realise the enormous reserves of courage and daring it has taken to flee into the bush.

There is a new ending to the story, but one that remains faithful to the idea that children who struggle to determine their own future should be rewarded.

In reworking the story to fit the modern issue of refugees, the team at Taylor Media has given Glaskin's classic tale a sharper, more contemporary edge.

The film was shot remarkably quickly near Karratha, Ballidu and several points south with the detention centre scenes filmed at the Longmore reform centre in Perth.

Filming was completed in October, with post-production finished only a couple of weeks before it goes to air.

Southern Cross screens on Channel 9 at 4pm on December 30.




The Sunday Times - Flight of the Innocents

by Allen Newton (30th December, 2001)

Taking a kinder view of illegals

ILLEGAL immigrants have become nothing more than numbers, according to WA film-maker Sue Taylor.

She wants to put a human face on the problems of illegal immigration with the screening today on Channel 9 of a WA-made family movie called Southern Cross.

Taylor said the telemovie, which goes to air at 4pm, had been made quickly. Pre-production started in September.

Starring veteran Aussie actor Bill Kerr and three young WA new-comers Heather Bergersan, Yeung-Ming Tan, 11, and Raegan Lousie Perreau, 8, the film is an update of a Waltz Through the Hills, with what Taylor said was "a contemporary edge".

Shot entirely in WA's Kalbarri gorges, the Wheatbelt and the Darling Ranges, the film follows the journey of two Chinese refugee children who escape their Outback detention centre after their mother dies and head to Perth.

Taylor said that, while illegal immigration wasn't an easy issue to tackle, she thought it was something that should be discussed more.

"And I thought doing it through a children's drama was an interesting approach," she said.

"I think, as a population, we are starting to think a little bit more compassionately about the issue now."

Taylor said a children's movie was a good way to explore what were, generally, adult issues.