Reporter Judith Wilkes leaves her husband and two sons in Sydney and goes to Malaysia to cover the story of the Vietnamese boat people. She becomes romantically involved with Kanan, and strikes up a friendship with Lady Minou Hobday, who keeps a regular vigil at "Turtle Beach" where the refugees try to secretly land, in the hope that one day her own children will arrive. Accompanying Minou one night, Judith witnesses a brutal massacre by the Malaysians, which spurs her on to expose the horrors of the internment camps at Bidong.
Acting
Greta Scacchi's face does ALL the heavy lifting.
Cinematography
Malaysian beaches look gorgeous before the horror hits.
Direction
Stephen Wallace tries to merge politics and soap opera.
Director
Stephen Wallace
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Blanche d'Alpuget's novel; she later became Bob Hawke's wife, Australian PM's controversial biographer.
The real Bidong Island held 40,000 Vietnamese refugees in brutal conditions through the 1980s.
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