Where would you expect to see priceless paintings in Australia? Museums and galleries are obvious answers, although the New Norcia Monastery, 130km northeast of Perth in Western Australia, is not usually top of most people’s mind as a notable art gallery. Still, it is the subject of Marc Fennell’s new art-theft documentary, The Mission.
This three-part series zooms into a bizarre heist that happened in the 1980s, when two bumbling criminals stole 26 European paintings from this Spanish Benedictine monastery – some paintings were slashed from the frames – and the investigation came down to the wire as police tried to locate the artworks before they could be sent abroad.
Marc Fennell at New Norcia. Credit: SBS
On the surface, this sounds like a retelling of an art heist that takes Fennell to Perth, Sydney, London, and Manila. But as we have learned from his previous documentary Framed and podcast-turned-documentary Stuff the British Stole, Fennell excels at taking an interesting story and unpicking it to show the politics, power and colonisation themes that are also at play.
Why did he choose to investigate this particular art heist? “We made the documentary Framed which was well received. The director Corrin Grant and I were talking, and someone mentioned this crime in WA,” Fennell explains as he discusses The Mission. “There were potentially millions of dollars of art in the bush and it was stolen. We had a real ‘wha??’ moment because the story starts weird and gets weirder.”
And it is weird. Why was there a Spanish Benedictine monastery in a small town in WA to begin with? Why did it house priceless art? Why was the artwork en route to Philippines? Who was the intended buyer? Why were the criminals so clueless and more Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels than Ocean’s 11?
Fennell and the team got hold of the court documents and started digging. “It sounded like a movie script! That’s where the idea of a re-creation came up.” The Mission, also directed by Grant, features interviews with the investigators from the case, art curators and artists but it also uses actors complete with ‘80s garb to re-create the scene of the crime, the planning process and the getaway. This creative choice allows viewers to better understand the interactions between all the different players, in ways that a standard docu-drama could not.
Ken Gregson, retired detective and former Western Australian Major Crimes Squad lead investigator, who led the wild cross-country search for the stolen paintings, is among those featured in the documentary. Credit: SBS
Still, there are limitations to recreating every detail. The team could not find a gold Ford Falcon – an ostentatious muscle car that sticks out rather than blend in – which the thieves used as a getaway vehicle. “Do you know what hard it is to find an ‘80s gold Falcon?” Fennell asks viewers, as he sits in the passenger seat of a standard grey car. “Use your imagination!”
In theory, this story has a fairly satisfactory ending (we won’t say more, for those who don’t know the outcome). But the documentary is not just about the heist (and nor is its multi-layered title).
“It was common for monasteries to have art that was gifted or acquired by patrons. But we don’t have many monasteries in Australia and what’s remarkable is that this is in the middle of the bush. Drive for an hour outside Perth, turn a corner and you see the building. It doesn’t look like anything else in the country. It’s like stepping into another time. Why is this here? How? It’s deeply strange.”
Fennell dives further into the history of the monastery and considers its dark legacy; today, New Norcia stands a reminder that beautiful places can have an ugly past which is not always acknowledged. (In 2020 the site installed a memorial that acknowledged traumatic events of New Norcia’s history.)
Noongar-Balladong woman Dallas Phillips is one of those who speak in the documentary about harrowing experiences at New Norcia.
“I just wish these places were bit more honest,” he says. “All these places in the UK, US and Australia are traditionally so polite about it. Now my mission is to add honesty to the situation. It is uncomfortable. People view museums as passive; they were [simply] custodians but now journalists are asking questions. It’s not just me.”
Fennell has been a multi-hyphenated journalist for a while; he hosts podcasts, documentaries and even a quiz show but he simply describes himself as ‘professionally curious.’ “I started as a film critic and went from there. I chuck things at the wall and see what sticks. I’m lucky that people are onboard with the strange.”
The three-part seriesThe Mission is streaming now . The Mission is subtitled in five languages, streaming on SBS On Demand in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.
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The Mission
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Watch more from Marc Fennell at SBS On Demand:
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The Kingdom
