This is the story of Jelena Dokic’s extraordinary survival. How she survived as a refugee, twice. How she survived on the tennis court to become world No. 4. But most importantly, how she survived her father, Damir Dokic, the tennis dad from hell.
A tragic, raw, though ultimately uplifting tale of resilience, Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, inspired by the book of the same name, details her hellish ascent to becoming one of the best tennis players in the women’s game, and her heart-breaking fall from the top. Her gutsy honesty will leave you in awe. Her fight back from darkness will uplift you. Most of all, her will to survive will inspire you.
As the film arrives in Australian theatres, Peter Gray spoke with co-directors Jessica Halloran and Ivan O’Mahoney about what surprised them during their research and balancing the tone between motivation and melancholy.
I’m around the same age as Jelena, and when I was watching this film, there were moments from her matches that I remember seeing on television as a kid. I remember seeing things about her father, but also never really knew the extent. It’s so awful to see that someone who should’ve experienced so much joy with what she achieved had it taken away.
Jessica Halloran: Oh, it’s extraordinary. You’re so spot on. Just not being able to have friends? Everyone was viewed as the enemy, and to have that happen as a teenager, and to have to hire and fire people? It’s grotesque.
Jess, you obviously already had a relationship established with Jelena through writing about her and then collaborating on her book. Was there any difficulty in balancing the rawness the story needed, but keeping it inspiring?
Jessica Halloran: Yeah, I think this is where having co-directed with Ivan, it’s why we produced and directed it the way we have. That’s the power of having two people on this, because obviously having written her book, and being so close to it all, as well as having the experience of being a journalist, it has its advantages. But then having Ivan come in with his experience, his understanding of the major issue of gender-based violence and family violence through his previous work, I think that’s where we’ve come together. Hopefully people are saying it’s a compelling and powerful piece on her life.
Ivan O’Mahoney: Yeah, I think what was interesting when, looking back on how the editing process worked, especially when Jess and I were paper editing and trying to stay ahead of our editor with the scenes that we were scripting, we were mapping out Jelena’s journey based on the interviews that we did and looking for things that perhaps had not been revealed in the book. Obviously we had the story beats we needed, but Jelena went deeper this time, and it turned the story into a narrative that told her story from A to Z.
I was looking at all the interviews and what those people said compared to Jelena’s recollections of those same events, the dates or tournaments. In the end that made for a really juxtaposition. If you’ve read the book (‘Unbreakable’) you have an idea, but there’s more to it, and she was more comfortable to share here as the years have gone by. She’s seen that the response to the book has been encouraging and supportive.
Do you almost have to trust the tone of the film? You reached out to both of her parents who declined. Was there ever an idea of what the film could possibly be having their involvement?
Ivan O’Mahoney: I would have really liked to interview Jelena’s mother and father. I think in stories like this, where they are so complex, we would have learned a fair bit from it. You could ask, “Why? This is her story. Why would you need those perspectives?” Yes, this is about her and what she experienced, but to know that Jelena’s mother just essentially stood by and kind of went along with Jelena’s dad, it would have been interesting to hear why that was. Was she happy for Jelena to lift the family out of poverty? And, therefore, whatever the dad did was condoned. Or was she scared? Maybe it’s a bit of both. Life is complicated.
With everything revealed in the film, was there anything that surprised the both of you? Either through what Jelena spoke of, through the found footage, or other interviews?
Jessica Halloran: I feel like Lindsay Davenport’s interview is incredible. I thought what she had to say…Ivan worked really hard to get her to on the record for us, and we were both fortunate to go to Los Angeles and sit down with her and interview her. Just to see the empathy and that visceral reaction. She broke down many times. You see it once in the film, but she just speaks so vividly about going up and putting her arm around (Jelena’s) shoulder and not saying anything. You see in the footage of the press conference at the Australian Open of her saying, like, “This really isn’t okay.”
Ivan O’Mahoney: When you were asking that question, my thoughts immediately went to Lindsay Davenport as well, though for slightly different reasons. I thought the realisation that when stuff like this happened to Jelena, that it didn’t just affect her. When Lindsay walks out on court at the 2000 Australian Open and Jelena gets booed off court, for Lindsay that was the worst experience in her professional career as well. She didn’t want to play a player who was disowned by the public all of a sudden. She gained no joy from it. Yeah, they may have been a competitive advantage, but it wasn’t being played in an atmosphere she was comfortable with.
And I think (her father) Damir’s behaviour, even though he wasn’t there on that occasion, I think he was still banned, still had an effect on people. He made everybody around Jelena uncomfortable. And a lot of people were struggling and trying to work out what to do. Do they support Jelena? Do they just jeep going? Where do they draw the line between actually saying something or not? And to Lindsay’s credit, she did. It was a small moment in the locker room after the game, but it meant an awful lot to her.
I think there were a lot of people who didn’t fully grasp the extent of the abuse. They weren’t engaged enough with Jelena to really care about it. I also think Lindsay is a pretty rare voice within the tour at that time. I think she was extremely competitive. I don’t think there was a lot of space for empathy amongst players, and when we spoke to Pam Shriver in Los Angeles she was explaining how in the time of the “Original Nine”, the first nine women, including Billie Jean King, who started the tour that became the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association), they would go to every tournament in two buses and share hotel rooms. They knew each other inside out. They were not just competitors, but they were really good friends.
And what they did for the sport, which was to make women play tennis on equal footing with men, with proper money involved and proper sponsors, is also one of the reasons why issues like (Jelena’s) were able to fester. Because it became so individual with the money involved. They’re now not travelling together. Everybody’s got their own team, their own policy, their own manager, or parents. People forget Jennifer Capriati was only 13 when she was on the WTA. I don’t know what the situation is like today, but I think it’s extremely competitive and I think that the systems have definitely improved. But a voice like Lindsay’s at that time was pretty extraordinary.
Jessica Halloran: The other thing we got on film was her talking about how wholesome her childhood was. She was the eldest of, I think, four. They all played sport. And because she was on this incredible tennis circuit, it didn’t mean that her parents had to turn up. They’re like, “You do you.” They were so chilled out, which is why, I think, she had the viewpoint she had. She just walked in and went, “Well, this is outrageous.”
How involved is Jelena when it comes to the subjects you’re planning on interviewing?
Jessica Halloran: We just went ahead with who we wanted to speak with. Jelena didn’t have editorial control over the film. So we pushed ahead and we spoke to them. It was like the book, I spoke to a lot of the people in the background. (Jelena) would never say “No, you can’t talk to that person.” She understood that, holistically, we needed to cover this story properly. We were doing our job, and she entrusted us to do that.
How do you feel that Unbreakable has impacted the both of you from a writing and directing perspective?
Jessica Halloran: Well, this is the first time I’ve ever written and directed a film, or co-directed, in my life. I have to thank Ivan for entrusting me on such a big project, and backing me. This has been, professionally, one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I think, going forward, it’s just opened my eyes up to a whole different world. And I hope to work with Ivan again in the future. If he’ll have me back (laughs).
Ivan O’Mahoney: It’s funny, the grass is always greener on the other side. Jess got really interested in making a documentary, and I’m now really interested in writing a book. So, maybe our next project, I’ll write the book and Jess can direct.
Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story is now screening in Australian theatres.
