Aussie director Robert Connolly working on Julian Assange movie script

Robert Connolly has revealed that he is currently working on the script about the life of Julian Assange.

The award-winning Australian director, who is best known for Anthony LaPaglia film Balibo, said that the Channel Ten telemovie will be based on the teenage years of the previously Melbourne-based computer hacker and freedom of information activist.

According to the Herald Sun, the novel and film will both be called Underground. Connolly admitted that he was shocked by what he has learned about Melbourne's 1980s "hacking community", adding: "It was an incredible time and... Melbourne was pretty much the world's centre for computer hacking."

Connolly said that he was asked to work on the TV drama after being praised for directing a few episodes of recent ABC series The Slap starring Melissa George and Sophie Okonedo.

He said: "It feels like a golden era of television again and it is great to be a part of it."

In October this year, WikiLeaks co-founder Assange announced that the whistleblowing website would be suspending all its publishing operations.

More recently, the 40-year-old failed in his appeal against an extradition order from the UK to Sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault.

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