ABBA in Australia doco for ABC

New funding approvals for documentaries from Screen Australia include ABBA: Bang-a-Boomerang, which tells the story of ABBA in Australia for ABC TV.

Eight doco projects attracted $2.6 million of investment

The others are I Can Change Your Mind… About Climate which follows Liberal powerbroker, Nick Minchin, and founder of the Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose; Jabbed charts stories of families whose lives are changed by the politics of immunisation; Holy Switch follows young people from observant religious families who switch lives with their opposite counterparts; Show Me the Magic looks into the life of Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine; Desert Rats is an account of the Battles of El Alamein; Outlaws: The Story of Australia’s Bushrangers is an exploration of what prompted dozens of men and the occasional woman to become bushrangers and A History of Mining is for SBS.

A HISTORY OF MINING
3 x 54 mins
Renegade Films
Producer/Writer Alex West
Series Producer Jacob Hickey
Directors Sara Tiefenbrun, Jacob Hickey
Broadcaster SBS

I CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND… ABOUT CLIMATE
60 mins
Smith & Nasht
Producer/Writer Simon Nasht
Writer/Director Max Bourke
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis Two passionate and influential Australians try to change each other’s minds on the defining issue of our time: climate change. Liberal powerbroker, Nick Minchin, joins the founder of the Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose, on an international journey into the science, psychology and emotion of the climate change debate.

JABBED
Genepool Productions
Producers Nick Murray, Sonya Pemberton
Writer/Director Sonya Pemberton
Broadcaster SBS
Sales Cordell Jigsaw Distribution
Synopsis Jabbed follows powerful personal stories of families whose lives are irreversibly altered by the politics of immunisation.

GENERAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM

ABBA: BANG-A-BOOMERANG
57 mins
Gulliver Media Australia
Producer Larry Zetlin
Producer/Writer/Directors Rebecca McElroy, Matthew Crocker
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis The inside story of Australia’s role in the rise and reinvention of Swedish Supergroup ABBA.

HOLY SWITCH
3 x 27 mins
Roar Film
Producers Steve Thomas, Kath Symmons
Writer/Director Varcha Sidwell
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis When young people from observant religious families switch lives with their opposite counterparts, beliefs and values will collide.

SHOW ME THE MAGIC
90 mins / 52 mins
Virgo Productions
Producer/Director Cathy Henkel
Producer Trish Lake
Writer Charlie de Salis
Broadcaster Stvdio
Sales Films Transit
Synopsis Show Me the Magic takes us on an enthralling journey into the life and work of legendary Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine.

DESERT RATS
2 x 57 mins
Electric Pictures
Producer Andrew Ogilvie
Writer/Director Steve Westh
Co-writers Phil Craig, Greg Colgan
Broadcasters ABC TV, Channel 5
Sales BBC Worldwide
Synopsis For the 70th anniversary of the Battles of El Alamein in 2012, Desert Rats is an exciting, insightful and subtly revisionist account of one of the most celebrated campaigns of World War II.

OUTLAWS: THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA’S BUSHRANGERS
2 x 52 mins
The Full Box
Producers Bryan Cockerill, Geraldine Coy
Writer/Director Laurence Coy
Broadcaster FOXTEL
Sales AETN International
Synopsis An exploration of the political, legal and social conditions that prompted dozens of men – and the occasional woman – to become bushrangers, shining a light on their skills, living conditions and relationships.