The Dish

Set in July 1969, this Australian comedy drama follows the staff of a radio telescope facility near the rural town of Parkes as the Apollo 11 mission approaches. The telescope, known as The Dish, turns out to be the best placed instrument in the southern hemisphere for receiving the signals from the Moon, which makes a small team of scientists and the surrounding community unlikely participants in one of the twentieth century's most watched events. When the signal is interrupted shortly before the landing, the group has to find a way to restore the broadcast in time.

Rob Sitch directed the film, his second feature after The Castle, from a screenplay he wrote with Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy, who also produced it. Sam Neill plays the station's leader, Cliff Buxton, with Patrick Warburton as a visiting NASA official and Kevin Harrington, Tom Long and Eliza Szonert among the staff, alongside Roy Billing as the town's mayor. The film is a Working Dog production.

Released in 2000, it took about 2 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 out of 10 from roughly 18,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.8 out of 10 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 7.7 out of 10 from 99 reviews places it above the audience scores on both sites.