The Dish

The Dish is a film that creeps up on you almost unaware

It is a small town comedy set in a rural Australian town during the days preceding the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

Before the advent of the Internet, television acted as a powerful medium in bringing people together for national and world events. Audiences of 20 million were not uncommon for television shows in countries like the England

However on the July 20 1969, 600 million people around the world witnessed, on TV, the most remarkable achievement in the history of humanity: man walking on the moon. After ten years and billions of dollars, NASA had launched the Apollo XI programme and the entire globe watched with bated breath.

This is commonly know. What is not so apparent is how the television pictures of this event were transmitted back to earth.

'The Dish' tells the story of how a team of Australian scientists became vital cogs in NASA's enterprise to beam live pictures of the moon landing into homes across the globe. Originally intended as a back-up facility to Goldstone, California, a late schedule change meant the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia was entrusted with the task of relaying the historic images.

For a film where the ending is pre-ordained, 'The Dish' is a compelling account of the tension-filled, dramatic days leading up to the lunar landing. Against this momentous backdrop, it presents us with a range of quirky individuals. From Sam Neill's composed, avuncular head scientist, Cliff, to Roy Billing's excited Mayor Bob McIntyre.

With an eclectic soundtrack including music from Bert Kaempfert and Mason Williams, this is a tender memoir of one of the few occasions when the world united in awe. Quaint, charming and with the right mix of nostalgia, 'The Dish' is a funny, homespun tale which informs, inspires and entertains.