NZIFF 2019 Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan

Directed by: Kriv Stenders

In this powerful war film, Vietnam, the forgotten conflict in ANZAC history, is remembered through the heroic deeds of Australian and New Zealand troops engaged in the brutal fight for Long Tan.

Honouring the unheralded bravery of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in the ‘Battle of Long Tan’, one of the most savage and decisive engagements in ANZAC history, director Kriv Stenders’ film is a war story of uncommon emotional intensity. Daunting combat scenes recall the against-the-odds bravado of Lone Survivor and Black Hawk Down, but it is the internal fight of the men outnumbered – and how they chose to define heroism in the moment – that resonates loudest of all.

“On 18 August 1966, for three and a half hours in a rubber plantation called Long Tan, Major Harry Smith and his inexperienced company, of mainly conscripts, fought for their lives against 2,500 seasoned Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers. With their ammunition running out, casualties mounting, and the enemy massing for a final assault, each man searches for the strength to go forward with honour, decency and courage.

A tremendous cast… bring the battle and each soldiers’ heroism vividly to life. Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan is the important story of men caught up in a politically unpopular war, whose courage has long been under-acknowledged.” — Sydney Film Festival