Australian Premiere of North by Northwest
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Your invitation to the premiere of a groundbreaking documentary on the greatest Australian sporting event never known…
Darwin Sailing Club, Closing Time, 10 August, 1973: Six drunken sailors make a bet. Whoever can sail their yacht 425 miles across the Timor Sea and reach the colony of Portuguese Timor first wins … a carton of beer.
Off they went, on basic craft, some with only a sextant to guide th
em, some with children as young as 12, others stocked with nothing more than water, rum and two-minute noodles. But history was made, with the event now recognised as the first Australian yacht race to a foreign port.
North by Northwest tells the incredible true story Darwin Dili Yacht Rally. Held for the first time in 1973 and then again in 1974 with a fourfold increase in the number of competing yachts, it was permanently put on hold when Indonesia invaded and annexed a newly independent East Timor in 1975.
Following a 24-year-long military occupation and a decade-long transitional period, East Timor is now safe, secure and free – a tropical island paradise heaving with cultural heritage, warm welcoming people and some of the most spectacular blue-water sailing routes in the world.
Produced with the assistance of the office East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta and presented by Gyton Grantley (Underbelly, Balibo), North by Northwest will premiere at :
Camera Club
Beach Road Hotel,
71 Beach Road, Bondi
on September 20, 2011 @ 7.30pm.
Statement from East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta:
“I decided to support this project because I believe it will change the international image of East Timor and because it will encourage foreigners to come and enjoy our natural landscapes and the good nature of our people. It will contribute to job creation and poverty alleviation.”
