A Cry in the Dark

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A Cry in the Dark (US and Europe title) or Evil Angels (Australian title) is a film (1988 release) based on the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, a ten-week-old baby girl who went missing from a campground near Uluru (Ayer's Rock) on 17 August 1980.

Director Fred Schepisi returned to Australia to make this film, which was based on a true story of the disappearance and assumed death of Azaria Chamberlain.

The film closely followed the actual events of the disappearance and the trial that followed, but the overriding theme of the film was how the media and often ill-informed public rapidly came to a judgement of the guilt of Lindy Chamberlain; based on suspicions of her religion and her perceived lack of emotion on television news coverage as she attended the trial.

The screenplay was written by Schepisi and Robert Caswell, and was based on the book Evil Angels by John Bryson, a former lawyer. It was produced by Verity Lambert, whose production company Cinema Verity was one of the partners in the film.

A Cry in the Dark was critically applauded both in Australia and overseas. In 1989, it was nominated for four Golden Globes including best director and best picture—drama. Schepisi was nominated for a Golden Palm, and Streep won the best actress award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, the film was nominated for three Australian Film Institute awards and won five: best actor (Sam Neill), best actress (Meryl Streep), best director, best film, and best adapted screenplay. In addition, Streep was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film.

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