Answered by Fire
| Answered by Fire | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Barbara Samuels Katherine Thomson |
| Directed by | Jessica Hobbs |
| Starring | David Wenham Isabelle Blais Alex Tilman |
| Theme music composer | Michel Corriveau |
| Country of origin | Canada Australia |
| Original languages | English Tetum Indonesian |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Justin Bodle Mikael Borglund |
| Cinematography | Mark Wareham |
| Editors | Dominique Fortin Geoffrey Lamb |
| Running time | 190 minutes |
| Production companies | Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier Terra Rossa Pictures Muse Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC CBC |
| Release | 28 May 2006 |
Answered by Fire is a two-part television film based on the 1999 conflicts in East Timor that led to its independence in 2002. The film is based on "Dancing with the Devil: A Personal Account of Policing the East Timor Vote for Independence", which was written by David Savage, an Australian Federal Police Officer who was based in Maliana during the vote and where the fictional "Nunura" is based, who returned to East Timor to lead investigations into the crimes against humanity committed there. The book is published by Monash University Asia Institute, Melbourne David Savage was a technical and script consultant during the filming and also played a minor role.
The film stars David Wenham, Isabelle Blais and Alex Tilman. It is a co-production between ABC in Australia and CBC in Canada and was also shown in Portugal on RTP as Timor: A Ferro e Fogo (literally "Timor: By Iron and Fire") with Portuguese subtitles. It has also been shown on the Australia Network, which is available in Indonesia via satellite and cable, as well as other countries in Asia and the Pacific and ION Television in the United States. It was released on DVD in Brazil as Resposta à Bala (literally "Answered by the Bullet") with a dubbed soundtrack in Brazilian Portuguese.
The film was filmed in areas of Queensland, Australia. Many of the extras and some of the minor characters were East Timorese locals, who had been living in the regions affected by violence during the crisis. Some found themselves disoriented by the accuracy of the sets and locations for their resemblance to areas of East Timor.
The film won two awards from Australian Film Institute (AFI).