Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Linc Beswick explaining what happened when the car he was driving ran over a Lebanese-Australian teenager. Images of the housing estate in south-western Sydney where both live, a damaged house and the accident scene are interspersed with Beswick’s account of how the 'Lebs’ damaged the house, frightened him off and then, as he was driving away, one 'came out in front’ of him. Beswick admits he was stoned at the time. The clip concludes with Beswick commenting that he knows that 'whatever way, I’m going to cop it … it’s only natural’.

Educational value points

• Beswick’s comments in the interview almost casually reveal the ethnic stereotypes that shape his thinking and actions. Except for his victim’s family, he denies Lebanese-Australians much individuality, grouping them together as 'Lebs’ and positioning them as 'different’ by describing their actions as unintelligible. By exaggerating the numbers of Lebanese-Australians threatening trouble, he tries to convince the audience that Lebanese-Australians are dangerous.

• Beswick’s words expose the violence prevalent in the south-western Sydney community where he lives. His comments reveal that he considers taking violent action to avenge harm done to the family to be quite natural – something he would do himself. In explaining why he thought the men coming towards him were carrying weapons, he says 'anyone would think the worst’ when seeing someone with their hands out of sight.

• Filmmaker Tom Zubrycki superimposes images of the damaged house and the street where the accident happened over Beswick’s explanations to allow viewers to compare the two and decide whether Beswick is credible or not. The clip shows the first of two interviews with Beswick in the documentary. The second, made closer to the court case in which he is committed for trial, shows Beswick forgetting some things and exaggerating others.

• Cannabis use, rather than racial hatred, is the reason Beswick gives for running over the young Lebanese-Australian, Billal Etter, and there is evidence to show that cannabis is playing an increasing role in road accidents. Depressant drugs such as cannabis tend to slow reactions, reduce concentration and make complex driving situations difficult to negotiate. In 2003, 28 per cent of young men surveyed admitted to driving while under the influence of an illicit drug.

• Zubrycki’s decision to film much of the Beswick interview in close-up with the interviewer out of sight creates intimacy between the interviewee and the viewer. Extreme close-ups give viewers the somewhat illusionary sense that they can use the interviewee’s gestures (such as eye shifts and shrugs of the shoulders) to make valid judgements about what he is thinking and feeling.

• The clip shows how film can be edited to present a viewpoint that, as in this case, offers the viewer an alternative perspective. Following the extreme-close-up interview in which Beswick expresses remorse and describes the incident, Zubrycki inserts a long shot depicting Beswick alone in a wide open space, facing away from the camera. That and the following two shots put the viewer in Beswick’s shoes and add power to his assertion that he is fearful of reprisal.

This clip starts approximately 31 minutes into the documentary.

A dry suburban nature strip behind a block of units. We see a dog through a gate then a shot of two cars in a garage of the units. Interview with Linc Beswick. Outside the unit. There are images of the damaged house and scenes from the incident shown throughout the interview.

Linc Beswick I’ve got nothing against that family. They haven’t done nothing to me. I haven’t done nothing to them. So I just want to get my story across instead of everyone thinking ‘oh, he’s a bastard’, you know, ‘he just goes out and runs people over’. That’s not my style.

Interviewer Do you think about what the family is going through?

Linc Oh yeah. I think about the grief and all that they are going through. I feel sorry for them. Yeah, I feel real sorry for them. But I don’t know.

Interviewer Were you involved in the fight the previous night?

Linc Oh no, I just heard that there about 20 Lebs on the roof and all around just bashing everyone, with baseball bats and I thought ‘ oh yeah’. The house was just – oh, you couldn’t describe how the house was. Pitch fork through the door and smashed windows and… oh, it was bad. So I went up to Jimmy’s to see how he was…

Interviewer Was it Jimmy?

Linc Jimmy. Yeah, he’s the next door neighbour. I wasn’t involved so I thought ‘I’m sweet going up there’. As I pulled up behind Jimmy’s house, they all came out the back yard, about four of them. They had their hands behind their back. They could’ve been carrying anything. They could’ve been carrying a gun, a baseball bat, anything. I just thought the worst. Like anybody would think the worst if anyone was coming up towards them with their hands behind their back, so I just took off and when I went on the other side of the road he came out in front of me. I was stoned. I was smoking pot. I just froze. I run him over and then just went straight to the police station.

Interviewer Were you drinking at the time?

Linc No. No, I don’t drink.

Interviewer You said you were stoned.

Linc Yeah stoned. I’m always stoned but (laughs).

Linc stands in an open playing field, there are people playing sport far below and there is the sound of children playing in the background. Cuts back to interview.

But I know that whatever way I’m going to cop it. I know that for a fact. I’ve heard that there’s a hitman after me and I walk out of my door and they see me, they’re going to kill me and if they walk past clapping their hands, that’s supposed to be a sign of death or something. I don’t know.

Interviewer You’re talking about ‘they’?

Linc Oh, all the Lebs. But there’s never one that walks past the door. There’s always 10 of them, 20 of them. But I see their side too. I’d do the same if it happened to my family. It’s only natural.