Phil Liggett, Love On The Spectrum docos funded

A new documentary around cycling commentator Phil Liggett and a second season of Love on the Spectrum are amongst documentary projects in $1.3 million of production funding from Screen Australia.

Love on the Spectrum S2 had already been casting, but is now formally announced. The Department, which looks at NSW’s child protection system, has been commissioned by SBS for its Australia Uncovered strand.

Head of Documentary at Screen Australia, Bernadine Lim said, “The projects in this slate not only shine a light on social issues but also offer a number of personal experiences and family stories that I’m confident will inspire important conversations.”

NB: some projects include feature films, VR and online.

Commissioned Program

Love On The Spectrum Season 2
4 x 57 mins
Northern Pictures
Director Cian O’Clery
Producers Cian O’Clery, Jenni Wilks
Executive Producer Karina Holden
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Relationships and the dating game is an exciting and sometimes overwhelming time for everyone … particularly for those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Producer Program

Logan Documentary (Working Title)
1 x 90 mins
Arenamedia Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Sari Braithwaite
Producer Chloe Brugale
Executive Producer Robert Connolly, Robert Patterson
Synopsis Janet has two adult children by blood, three by marriage, a husband, too many pets, and too many bills to pay. This is the story of a neuro-diverse family living in a working-class suburban fringe, dreaming and scheming of big new futures in a world that is closing in on them. Janet is loosening the ties which have bound her family together in order to survive. Everyone must navigate rites of passage. Tender and wondrous, this film affords a voice to its subjects as they let go, untangling the universal need to seek meaning beyond the reach of the everyday.

Meet The Wallers
1 x 90 mins
Petrie Street Pictures Pty Ltd
Director Jim Stevens
Writer Gil Scrine
Producers Jim Stevens, Gil Scrine
Executive Producer Trish Lake
Synopsis Step inside the family home and meet the Wallers, a happily married couple with two beautiful daughters living the middle-class life in sunny Australia – what could possibly go wrong?

Mum – Misunderstandings Of Miscarriage
Neon Jane Pty Ltd
1 x 83 mins
Writer/Director Tahyna MacManus
Producer Kelly Tomasich
Executive Producers Jennifer Cummins, Michael Lawrence
Synopsis Tahyna MacManus embarks on a personal journey to understand the physical, emotional and psychological impacts of miscarriage as she tries to fall pregnant again.

Phil Liggett: The Voice Of Cycling
1 x 113 mins
Goldynaut Pictures Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Eleanor Sharpe
Producer Nickolas Bird
Executive Producers John Croft, Mark Bird, Shaun Miller, David Doepel, Michael Agar, Mat Kesting
Synopsis The man behind the voice.

Revenge: My Dad The Nazi Killer
1 x 90 mins
Identity Films and Productions Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Danny Ben-Moshe
Producers Danny Ben-Moshe, Lizzette Atkins
Synopsis 70 years after a body is found floating in a Sydney river, middle aged Jewish doctor Jack learns his father, a Holocaust survivor, is responsible for the unsolved murder of an alleged Nazi and sets out on a quest to find the truth.

Rewild
6 x 10 mins
Directors Rayyan Roslan, Trent Clews-de Castella, Joseph Purdam
Writers Angie Davis, Gemma Hannan, Trent Clews-de Castella
Producers Rayyan Roslan, Angie Davis, Blair Burke
Synopsis Nature’s most beautiful and fragile ecosystems are under threat. Rediscover the wild world we call home, thriving inside your living room in AR. Now is the time to connect with nature, rewild balance, and become a voice for our planet.

Stage Changers
1 x 60 mins
Ella Wright
Director Ella Wright
Producers Janelle Landers, Aidan O’Bryan, Ella Wright
Synopsis Given one shot at glory, can four small town independent theatre makers scale up to make their first major international festival work? Or will their dreams come crashing down as the curtains fall?

Strong Women
3 x 22 mins
Strong Women Documentary Pty Ltd
Writer/Directors Corinne Innes, Alexandra Gaulupeau
Producers Corinne Innes, Alexandra Gaulupeau, Ann Megalla
Synopsis Powerful and resilient women support and empower each other while rivalling to becoming Australia’s strongest women.

The Department
1 x 85 mins
Shark Island Institute
Director Sascha Ettinger Epstein
Producers Mary Macrae, Ian Darling
Synopsis The Department will tell a compassionate and intimate story of workers and families entwined within NSW’s child protection system.

There Is No ‘I’ In Island
5 x 3 mins
Rummin Productions Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Rebecca Thomson
Producers Catherine Pettman, Rebecca Thomson
Synopsis A series of animated films that document the voices and experience of the Tasmanian community living in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and weave them into a journey through a fantastical landscape.

Under Cover
1 x 80 mins
SA Films Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Sue Thomson
Producers Adam Farrington-Williams, Sue Thomson, Alexandra Curtis
Synopsis Under Cover is a timely portrait of hidden homelessness, and the thousands of older women who are its victims.