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The People's Choice Award runner-up
at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, THE
DISH, Rob Sitch's (THE CASTLE) second feature film,
is the true tale of a small town in the outback that
takes "one giant leap for mankind".
During the dawn of the space era, the
pride of Parks in new South Wales was a state-of-the-art
telecommunications dish located in the middle of a sheep
pasture on the outskirts of the sleepy hamlet. The quaint
town of Parks gained international prominence when called
upon by NASA to play a key role in one of history's
most memorable moments, the television broadcast of
the moon walk by Neil Armstrong.
Cliff Buxton (Sam Neil, THE PIANO) is
the unruffled, pipe smoking leader who steadies his
unlikely team of technicians for the big event. His
colourful crew consists of Glenn, (Tom Long, HILDEGARDE)
the timid mathematician; Mitch, (Kevin Harrington, SEA
CHANGE) the cocky local in charge of equipment maintenance;
Rudi (Tayler Kane, THE QUEEN OF THE DAMMED) the clumsy
security guard, whose sister Janie (Eliza Szonert, NEIGHBOURS)
fearlessly flirts with Mitch and Al (Patrick Warburton,
SEINFELD) the token American sent by NASA to oversee
the project. Disaster looms when Parks loses contact
with the spacecraft at a critical moment and all that
everyone has worked for is suddenly thrown into jeopardy.
THE DISH earned nine nominations from
the Film Critics Circle of Australia and was also a
popular favorite at the 2000 Sundance Festival.
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