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in the archive
Documentary production
Approvals 2009-2010

National Documentary Program


The Tall Man
Blackfella Films
1 x 84 min
Producer Darren Dale
Director Tony Krawitz
Website www.blackfellafilms.com.au
Synopsis This is the story of Palm Island, the tropical paradise where one morning Cameron Doomadgee swore at a policeman and 45 minutes later lay dead in a watch-house cell.

Forgotten Australians
Consuelo Pty Ltd
1 x 55 min
Producer Nell White
Director Nicola Woolmington
Synopsis The untold story of the 500,000 Australian children brought up in institutions and the struggle two of them had to bring it to public attention.

Ned’s Head
Prospero Productions
1 x 52 min
Producers Ed Punchard & Julia Redwood
Director Rebecca Ciallella
Website www.prospero.com.au
Synopsis A science/history landmark investigatory documentary into what is arguably Australia’s most significant national relic.

Charles Bean's Great War
360 Degree Films Pty Ltd
Producers John Moore, Lisa Horler
Director Wain Fimeri
Sales & Distribution NGTI & SBS
Synopsis In this dramatised documentary, Charles Bean, war correspondent, obsessive historian and reluctant mythmaker, tells us all about his remarkable life. From the playing fields of England via the Australian outback, to the maelstrom of the Great War. Charles Bean wrote the truth yet everyone thought he created a myth. He loved Australia the way most people love another person and, as so often happens in love, Australia let him down.

Second Australians (working title)
Renegade Films Pty Ltd
Producers Alex West, Lucy Maclaren
Series Producer Jacob Hickey
Series Director Ben Shackleford
Sales & Distribution SBS Content Sales
Synopsis This major new series tells the story of the birth of modern ‘migrant Australia’ and uncovers the secret history of who we are – the end result of a remarkable and unique ‘social experiment’. This is the story of how the world came to Australia – and helped Australia reshape what was humanly possible in the world.

AFTER THE FIRES
December Films
Producers Tony Wright, Stephen Amezdroz
Director Dione Gilmour
Sales and Distribution ABC TV
Synopsis After the Fires is a 12-month observational study of the flora and fauna of the Great Dividing Range as they recover from the effects of the February 2009 bushfires.

INSIDE THE FIRESTORM
Renegade
Producers Alex West, Lucy Maclaren
Director Jacob Hickey
Sales and Distribution ABC TV, TVF
Synopsis On 7 February 2009 Australia suffered its worst peacetime disaster. ‘Black Saturday’ claimed 173 lives, left almost 8,000 homeless and destroyed close to half a million hectares of Victorian bushland. Inside the Firestorm tells the story of what happened.

A THOUSAND DIFFERENT ANGLES
Producer / Director / Writer Amanda King
Sales and Distribution ABC TV
Synopsis While many of Inge King’s sculptures are installed in Australian public spaces, few people would be aware that they are the work of a tiny 90-year-old who continues to produce large-scale boldly imaginative pieces.

WARSHIP
Prospero Productions
Producers Ed Punchard, Julia Redwood
Sales and Distribution National Geographic Channel
With unparalleled access to the Royal Australian Navy, Warship offers rare insight into the running of a warship operating at the frontline of Australia’s national defence.

Domestic one-offs
 

Driving to D-Day
Intomedia Pty Ltd
Producer/Writer/Director Stuart Scowcroft
Broadcaster The History Channel
Sales & Distribution Intomedia
Synopsis Across a continent to the invasion beaches of Normandy, 30 eccentric Australians drive through history in antique military vehicles to commemorate the landings that liberated Europe.

Paul Cox
A co-production between Frontline Films and Rebel Films
Producer Jeni McMahon
Co-producer/Writer/Director/DOP David Bradbury
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis After a life-saving liver transplant unorthodox filmmaker Paul Cox contemplates his own mortality and his life’s work.

Recipe for Murder
Stray Dog Pictures for Jumping Dog Productions
Producer Susan Lambert
Co-producer Frank Haines
Writer/Director Sonia Bible
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales & Distribution ABC Commercial
Synopsis Sydney, 1953... Women went on a killing spree. Their weapon... one lethal ingredient in a Recipe for Murder.

Scarlet Road
Paradigm Pictures       
Producer Pat Fiske
Director/Co-producer Catherine Scott
Broadcaster SBS
Synopsis Scarlet Road follows the extraordinary work of Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton. Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, she specialises in a new and emerging clientele – people with disability.

THE ART OF WALKING
Flaming Star Films Pty Ltd
Producer Sharyn Prentice
Director Rosie Jones
Broadcaster ABC TV  
Synopsis On a 50-mile trek from Los Angeles airport to the heart of Hollywood, notorious writer and cultural provocateur, Will Self, interrogates the meaning of walking in a globalised, industrialised world.

THE INQUISITION
Pony Films
Producer Dylan Blowen
Director/Writer Rachel Landers
Broadcaster ABC TV Sales, ABC Commercial
Synopsis A study of the Wood Royal Commission, which gripped the Australian public’s imagination for almost three years as it rolled out like a twisting, shocking thriller. It surged to life through the persistence and resolve of the independent politician John Hatton.

GIRLS' OWN WAR STORIES
Iguana Films
Producer/Director Jenny Ainge 
Writer Paul Roy
Broadcaster ABC TV  
Synopsis Tells the intimate stories of 10 Australian women and how WWII changed their lives. WWII was one of the greatest social catalysts for Australian women. The film explores the remarkable courage and resourcefulness of Australian women in a time of great turmoil and danger.

PHOTOGRAPHY HIJACKED
Valarc Films
Producer Matteo Bruno
Director Jack Pam
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis Photography Hijacked is an exploration into the dynamic and diverse world of contemporary photography told through the eyes of the practitioner.

KIRBY
Film Art Doco Pty Ltd
Producer Sue Maslin
Director/Writer Daryl Dellora   
Broadcaster ABC TV Sales, Film Art Doco      
Synopsis With filming starting during his final days before retiring from the High Court of Australia, this documentary about Justice Michael Kirby explores the personal, moral and spiritual convictions which provide the framework for understanding one of Australia’s greatest legal minds.

THE TROUBLE WITH ST MARY'S
Soul Vision Films Pty Ltd
Producer/Writer/Director Peter Hegedus
Producer Veronica Fury
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis On February 21 2009, Father Peter Kennedy of St Mary’s Church in Brisbane, became the first Catholic priest ever to be sacked in Australia. His transgressions included questioning the Virgin Birth, blessing same sex unions and allowing women to recite the Eucharist. In the eyes of Rome, Peter Kennedy is a heretic. This documentary follows the story of Peter Kennedy and the people whose lives have been affected by his sacking. Ultimately The Trouble with St Mary's investigates the future of the Catholic Church on the dawn of the 21st century.


Domestic series


The Family
Shine Australia Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Mark Fennessy and Carl Fennessy
Broadcaster SBS
Sales & Distribution SBS Content Sales, Shine International
Synopsis An eight-part documentary series that lifts the lid on family dynamics to build an intimate portrait of family life in Australia today, The Family follows the highs and lows of every aspect of one Australian family.


ANATOMY SERIES 2
Matchbox Pictures                 
Producers Michael McMahon, Tony Ayres and Polly Staniford
Directors Emma Crimmings, Donna McCrum, Andy Canny and Adele Wilkes
Broadcaster ABC TV  
Synopsis A three-part documentary series exploring the ways in which artists and performers deal with the subject of sex and the human body. The films are thematically linked but are also complete stories in themselves.

AS AUSTRALIAN AS
Bearcage Films
Producer Michael Tear 
Writer Michael Cove
Director Serge Ou
Broadcaster Foxtel History Channel
Synopsis As Australian As is a series of self-contained personal television essays in which 10 prominent Australians tell the story of the event, incident or experience that made them appreciate what it means to be as Australian as …

Domestic Door


1606 AND 1770: A TALE OF TWO DISCOVERIES
Shoebox Films
Executive Producer Pat Fiske
Producer/Director John Mulders
Broadcaster Foxtel
Sales and Distribution Foxtel
Synopsis A lone Dutch explorer lands on Australia’s northern coast in 1606, charting over 300 kilometres, yet Australians still revere Cook as their discoverer.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
Iris Pictures
Producer Jessica Douglas Henry
Director John Janson-Moore
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales and Distribution ABC Commercial
Synopsis Follows the introduction of the philosophy of positive education into the school curriculum at Geelong Grammar School, focusing on the experiences of Year 9 students at the unique Timbertop campus in rural Victoria.

FROM THE ASHES
Carbon Media Events Pty Ltd
Producer Helen Morrison
Field Producer Donald Johannessen
Director Dean Gibson
Broadcaster  ABC TV
Sales and Distribution ABC Commercial
Synopsis Two young Indigenous Australian cricketers travel to England as part of a team to retrace the first ever Australian Cricket Tour of 1868, in a journey of self-discovery and extraordinary Indigenous heritage.

THE TRADEGY OF THE MONTEVIDEO MARU
Montevideo Maru Pty Ltd
Producers John Schindler, Bob Blasdall
Director Dick Marks
Broadcaster Foxtel History Channel
Sales and Distribution Montevideo Maru Pty Ltd
Synopsis At the bottom of the South China Sea lies the wreck of Australia’s greatest ever maritime tragedy. One thousand and fifty-three young men and boys, military personnel and civilians, forever entombed in the hold of a Japanese prison ship.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE 3
WhoThree Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Brian Beaton, Margie Bryant
Series Producer Celia Tait
Broadcaster SBS TV
Sales and Distribution Outright, SBS
Synopsis Well-known Australians play detective as they go in search of their family history, revealing secrets from the past.

International Documentary program


GALLIPOLI'S DEEP SECRETS
Prospero Productions
Producers Ed Punchard, Julia Redwood
Director Julia Redwood
Sales and Domestic Broadcaster NGTV, NGUS, RAI, NGTI and History Channel Australia
Synopsis An unparalleled underwater exploration to reveal the secret history of Gallipoli, led by the world famous shipwreck hunter Robert Ballard.

JANDAMARRA
December Films, Wawili Pitjas
Executive Producer Stephen Amezdroz
Producer Tony Wright, Eileen Torres
Director Mitch Torres
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis The thrilling story of the great warrior, Jandamarra, who turned from police assistant to resistance fighter, leading his people against the white forces invading their land.

International one-off


Kangaroo Mob
360 Degree Films
Writer/Producer Sally Ingleton
Director Simon Target
Sales & Distribution NGTI
Broadcaster ABC, RTBF Belgium, YLE and SVT        
Synopsis An intimate look at the kangaroos taking over the suburbs of Canberra and the team of ecologists following their every move.


International series


Dr Mary Goes Bush
Artemis International Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Brian Beaton, Celia Tait
Producer Brian Beaton
Director Stuart Grieg
Sales & Distribution SBS Content Sales
Broadcaster SBS, BBC Scotland
Synopsis Outspoken and zealous, Dr Mary Fortune leaves Scotland to take up the challenge of working in one of the most remote medical posts on the planet. With her fresh eyes we discover the realities of Australian health delivery in a new light.

International Door


THE NOMAD TRAIL
Orana Films Nomad Pty Ltd
Producer/Director Richard Dennison
Series Directors Richard Dennison, Malcolm Macdonald, Mike Balson, Tim Cope
Broadcaster ABC TV, ZDF/ARTE
Sales and Distribution ABC Commercial
Synopsis The Nomad Trail follows Tim Cope’s remarkable journey over three-and-a-half years as he ‘re-rides’ history from Mongolia to Hungary on the trail of mounted nomad warriors.

SALES, SEDUCTION AND SEX
Essential Media and Entertainment
Executive Producer Chris Hilton
Producers Sonja Armstrong, Christine Le Goff
Director Sally Aitken
Broadcaster SBS TV, Arte France
Sales and Distribution RDF, Essential Media, Telfrance
Synopsis Sales, Seduction and Sex – How Shopping was Invented is an intriguing story arguing that the department store is one of the greatest inventions to come out of the industrial revolution, and spawned the rise of consumerism and the modern shopping mall.

SKIN DEEP
Electric Pictures
Producers Andrew Ogilvie, Andrea Quesnelle, Marco Visalberghi
Director Franco Di Chiera
Broadcaster SBS, Arte France, RAI, WDR
Sales and Distribution,ABC Content Sales
Synopsis Skin Deep is a global journey to discover the origin of human skin colours, drawing on exciting scientific research that not only sheds new light on the human rainbow, but challenges traditional notions of race.

STORM SURFERS 2
6ixty Foot Films Pty Ltd with Firelight Productions
Producer Marcus Gillezeau
Producer/Director/Writer Chris Nelius
Co-Director Justin McMillan
Line Producer Ellenor Cox
Broadcaster Discovery Network Asia
Sales and Distribution Off the Fence
Synopsis Storm Surfers 2 follows big wave surf legends Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll as they hunt down the world's biggest waves off the coast of New Zealand.

Special Documentary Fund
 

The First Interview (formerly Interview One)
Jungle Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer
Fiona Cochrane
Director Dennis Tupicoff
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis A documentary that was begun in Paris over one hundred years ago, the great photographer Nadar interviews the celebrated scientist Chevreul on his 100th birthday, using Nadar's photographs of Chevreul taken in August 1886, and creating an 'impossible documentary' from a time before the cinema itself.

LIFE IN MOVEMENT: Tanja Liedtke’s story
Closer Productions (production company)
Producers Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason
Directors Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde
Sales & Distribution TBC
Broadcaster TBC
Synopsis At 29, Tanja Liedtke was appointed as the director of Sydney Dance Company; she never started the job. Her sudden death brings life into sharp focus.

TRIPLE JTV DOCS


RUDELY INTERRUPTED
Producers / Directors Susie Jones, Benjamin Jones
A one hour documentary following the incredible journey of a very different band. Five of the six members of this indy-rock outfit are intellectually and physically impaired, but they won’t let this stand in their way as they embark on their first world tour. The first stop is New York City where they play at the UN, and then on to Canada and the UK where their infectious sound wins fans the world over. A rock-documentary with a difference.

NGAPARTJI NGAPARTJI (working title)
Producer Alex Kelly
Writer Scott Rankin
Acclaimed Pitjantjatjara actor Trevor Jamieson sets out on a daunting personal journey to bring his hit stage show Ngapartji Ngapartji home to country… but can he bridge these two worlds, two languages and two cultures?
           
ORCHIDS
Producer/Director Phoebe Hart
Orchids is an intimate autobiographical film by Gen X emerging filmmaker Phoebe Hart, which explores the contemporary issues faced by people and families living with intersex conditions.

DRIVE
Online and broadcast documentary
Co-producers / Directors Bronwyn Purvis, Telen Rodwell
Tasmania, the southernmost isolated state of Australia, lays claim to the nation’s highest rate of road fatality. Young men are dying in high speed, single vehicle crashes, crumpled in metal coffins, on lonely rural roads. Why do they die? Why do they live?

BAREFOOT IN THE AFAR
Producer Jenni Lee
Director Sieh Mchawala
Kyra Glasby is young, idealistic and fearless. She has a dream to save the world, get married, have some kids and live in a hut in India! But it might take more than just holding hands and singing Kumbayaa … Over five years Kyra tackles the challenges of finding her life’s work in the hottest, driest inhabited place on earth, whilst facing up to big life lessons – birth, death and marriage. A contemporary take on following your heart and challenging convention.

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