A CRY IN THE DARK
Australia / 1988 / 118 min / DCP / Historical drama

Director : Fred Schepisi

Script : Fred Schepisi, Robert Caswell
Cinematography : Ian Baker
Editing : Jill Bilcock
Music : Bruce Smeaton
Production : Richard Fletcher
Distribution : L’atelier d’images

Cast : Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Bruce Myles, Charles Tingwell

It is the true story of the Chamberlain family's tragedy when their baby daughter disappeared from their tent while they were camping at the Ayers Rock in the dead heart of Australia. It is the shameful story of a nation, fuelled by a sensationalist media, acting more on rumour, innuendo and suspicion than fact, obsessed with convicting the parents of murdering their child; refusing to believe the Chamberlain's explanation that she was taken by a Dingo - a wild dog.

Fred Schepisi

Born in Melbourne in 1939, Fred Schepisi began his production career in the advertising world and served as head of the Film House for almost 20 years where he directed both commercials and documentaries. His first feature-length film was « The Devil’s Playground » (1976) which won 6 AFI awards including Best Film and established his reputation as a talented director writer and producer. The success of his second film, « The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith » (1978), selected to screen in competition in Cannes, took him to the U.S. where he directed « Barbarosa » (1981), « Iceman » (1983), « Plenty » (1985), and « Roxanne » (1987) before returning to Australia to co-write and direct « Evil Angels » (a.k.a. « A Cry in the Dark « ) (1988) with Meryl Streep and Sam Neill. Fred Schepisi also directed the screen adaptation of John Guare’s play « Six Degrees of Separation » (1993), starring Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland and Will Smith. His other film credits include « The Russia House » (1990), « Mr. Baseball » (1992), « IQ » (1994), « Last Orders » (2001) and « It Runs in the Family » (2002). In 2004, he directed and co-produced for HBO the film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Richard Russo, « Empire Falls », with Paul Newman and Ed Harris. In 2011, he directed « The Eye of the Storm », based on the novel by acclaimed author Patrick White, and starring Charlotte Rampling and Geoffrey Rush, and in 2013, « Words and Pictures », with Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen. Fred Schepisi was awarded the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian film industry as a mentor, director, producer and screenwriter.