Screen Australia has announced $2.3 million of documentary production funding for eight projects through the Producer Program and two projects through the Commissioned Program. The projects include feature documentaries about Australian music icons John Farnham, Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, and legendary racehorse WINX; as well as Embrace Kids, a follow up to hit 2016 documentary Embrace. “We’re proud to announce this impressive mix of projects which rounds out our documentary funding for 2020/21. It’s great to support so many feature documentaries covering a range of exciting topics, including shining a light on a number of Australian icons, and I’m confident they will captivate audiences.” Alex West, Head of Documentary at Screen Australia commented.

THE COMMISSIONED PROJECTS ARE:

• Nurses: A 10-part series from ITV Studios Australia for the Seven Network about the nurses in NSW.
• Outback Ringer series 2: A seven-part series from Ronde Media for the ABC about the families that risk their lives catching feral bulls and buffalo in the Australian Outback.

THE PRODUCER PROGRAM PROJECTS ARE:

• Embrace Kids: A feature documentary from filmmaker and activist Taryn Brumfitt, following on from her breakout documentary Embrace which explored the global issue of negative body image.
• Gloriavale: A feature documentary about the infamous Gloriavale Christian Community and the institutional failures that have allowed one of the world’s biggest and longest running cults to continue.
• Ithaka: A feature documentary that follows Julian Assange’s father John Shipton as he teams up with Assange’s fiancé and legal advisor, Stella Moris to fight to free his son.
• John Farnham – Finding the Voice: A feature documentary about John Farnham’s life and career, his journey to find an artistic voice and become one of Australia’s most beloved performers.
• Knowing the Score: A feature documentary from Serendipity Productions centred on trailblazer Simone Young, the first woman to be Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in its 90-year history.
• The Giants: A feature documentary that paints a cinematic portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown intertwined with the Forest. This film draws on emerging science about trees and Brown’s life of activism to inspire a new chapter in our relationship with trees.
• Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow: A feature documentary about the lives and love story of musicians Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, as told by their own songs in a cinematic reinvention of their 2004 Helpmann Award-winning concert Kura Tungar: Songs from the River – a collaboration with Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra.
• WINX: A feature documentary that tells the story of the bay filly from Lot 329 who went on to be crowned the best race horse in the world.