Twilight Time is directed by John Hughes (After Mabo, Senses of Cinema) and examines the role that Desmond Ball, Australian writer and activist, had in protesting direct American influence over Australia. Ball also counselled the United States government against nuclear escalation in the 1970s.
Des Ball’s life was one of protest and resistance against foreign interests and operations on Australian soil, and while being declared a “person of interest” by ASIO, he continued to investigate, research, and write about operations like the Pine Gap facility, elements surrounding the Petrov Affair, and the shadow wars of Southeast Asia, involving Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, and East Timor.
John Hughes’ relatively brief documentary touches upon Ball’s career using archival footage of interviews with Ball from the 1960s right through until the 90s, mixed with new interviews from his contemporaries and remaining family.
Twilight Time might fascinate those who enjoy conspiracy narratives, regardless of truth, but feels totally at odds with itself. The archival footage direction and editing is fine enough, perhaps making for a decent video essay on YouTube. But the rather random intersplicing of modern interviews of varying quality with long passages about conspiracies surrounding Pine Gap and Gough Whitlam all feel like a distraction.
There may be some truth to what is being presented by the modern researchers and writers, some of whom were colleagues of Des Ball, but the documentary does little to make this feel important. There is a small touch of a personal angle, with some looks at Ball’s remaining family and how they carry on, but even this feels somewhat obligatory.
Twilight Time’s lack of a budget becomes a disservice to what could have been a powerful education to the Australian people about what is potentially being done to our country, and thus emerges as an unrealised and unmemorable work-in-progress.
Twilight Time was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Cinema/streaming release is TBA.
