The Dish

July 1969. In the Australian town of Parkes a giant radio telescope stands in the middle of a sheep paddock. When Apollo 11 lands, this is one of the stations that will carry the pictures to the world. Three Australian technicians and an observer from NASA keep watch. Then the power fails and the satellite's position is wiped from the computer's memory, leaving the crew to hunt for Apollo in the sky by hand. A storm is coming as well, and the dish should not turn in that wind. The register is not heroic but provincial comedy: the mayor is worried about protocol, the town band plays the wrong anthem, and everyone is torn between witnessing world history and getting to dinner. That difference in scale is what works. Rob Sitch directed. Sam Neill plays Cliff, the chief technician. The Parkes radio telescope is real and did take part in the Apollo 11 broadcast; the film tells that day from the town's point of view. Who it is for: anyone who likes Australian comedy and films that look at space history from the side. Who it is not for: anyone expecting suspense. Everyone knows the outcome, the plot runs on small crises, and how much the film reshapes the facts became a matter of argument.