We'll fight them on the beaches

So, when George Basha, a Lebanese filmmaker born and raised in the Australian city of Sydney, wanted to make a film about the Cronulla race riots between young, white Australians and their Arab, mainly Lebanese neighbours that rocked the seaside suburb in 2005, he couldn’t find a single studio interested in even looking at his script. There wasn’t so much as a cent in grant money from the Australian Film Board, usually one of the more supporting and enlightened in world cinema. “People couldn’t understand the life I’ve lived in Western Sydney, they couldn’t understand it on paper,” George says, more with an element of defiant glee than bitterness. “It makes it very hard to sell the story to people that aren’t from that area. Very hard.

 

 

George Basha was raised in those very streets. He had to deal with the same themes that are both depicted in the film and which sparked the tensions that set them aflame for real in 2005. Living in a country which seemed to thrive on its hatred of post-colonial immigration, a feeling which put John Howard’s right-wing party in power, Basha and many of his compatriots had to prove themselves not only to the white Aussies, but also to the gang-ridden Lebanese community. “Glassings, brawls, drugs deals, purchasing and selling weapons – you name it,” he says. “From watching a guy get shot a couple of metres from where I was standing to being in a building that was sprayed with bullets, I’ve seen it or it’s happened to one of my best mates.” The turning point came when a close friend was set alight for an unpaid debt. “After that I was determined to clean up my act. Break the cycle. I enrolled in an acting class and decided to find my true identity – something that was not easy as a son of immigrants.

 

Great would be an understatement. This low-budget “Middle East western” – as it’s been nauseatingly described – has been doing exceptionally well since its February release, garnering critical acclaim from the country’s top film critics and being screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “It’s doing fantastically at the box office, and plenty of people are going out to watch it, so it’s been overwhelming to say the least!” he beams. “I don’t think in my wildest dreams I thought I’d be getting such positive reactions.” 

 

“I never thought it was a risk to hire these kids; the ones we chose were aspiring actors who wanted to have a crack, and they didn’t know how to do it. So we gave them the chance and they were fantastic – as good as any actors I have worked with before.” 

 

And there are plenty of ideas for next time – ones that take a break from racism – including taking the 20-hour flight to Lebanon for his next project. “I’m going over there this summer just to check out sites. There are some fantastic places to shoot there, and making an Australian film in Lebanon is a very possible option, since it’ll bring a different landscape to my work.” While he’s in the region, Basha may also be visiting Dubai, which has shown enormous interest in The Combination to be screened during its high profile film festival later in December. 

 

“It’ll be great for Middle Eastern audiences to see it in their countries, since we Arabs rarely get to make a film about ourselves in America or Australia,” he concludes. “We don’t have that opportunity, and I hope that they are in the end proud of this film.” 

 

For a full version of this article, see NOX33.