Latest Screen Australia doco funding

A new documentary celebrating 30 years of The Wiggles; the story of imprisoned refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi and a documentary on Mushroom music mogul Michael Gudinski are amongst $2.7 million of documentary funding from Screen Australia.

Alex West, Head of Documentary at Screen Australia said, “We’re proud to announce such a diverse slate of projects that will explore stories of human resilience, challenging prejudice and the lives of some of Australia’s biggest music icons. Screen Australia is also very excited to prioritise history projects like Her Name is Nannie Nellie and First Weapons that will focus on Indigenous achievements told by First Nations people.”

Angela Bates, Screen Australia’s Head of First Nations said, “Dena Curtis and Darren Dale have a strong track record in realising documentary series of this scale and we’re thrilled to support them in bringing Curtis’ original and distinct concept to fruition in First Weapons in what will be an unparalleled examination into a part of First Nations history.”

Producer Program

The Wolves Always Come At Night
1 x 90 mins
Thaumatrope Pty Ltd
Director Gabrielle Brady
Producers Julia Niethammer, Ariunaa Tserenpil, Rita Walsh
Synopsis Follows the interweaving lives of several Mongolian herders as they struggle with the seismic shifts between nomadic and urban life, highlighting the defining global issue of our time: climate change.

Fighting For Hakeem
1 x 90 mins
Sweet Shop Green Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Matt Bate
Producers Gal Greenspan, Rebecca Summerton, Alice Burgin
Executive Producer Mandy Chang
Editor Bryan Mason
Synopsis The gripping true story of how a former Australian football captain and a ragtag team of social media warriors, challenged two monarchies, a military junta and the world’s richest and most influential sporting body FIFA, to rescue the life of a fellow player and save the soul of football.

Gudinski
1 x 100 mins
Mushroom Studios Pty Ltd
Director Paul Goldman
Writers Toby Creswell, Paul Goldman
Producers Bethany Jones, Paul Goldman
Synopsis A tempestuous, rollicking saga, 50 years in the making, about Michael Gudinski – the last great showman – whose passion for music drove him to repeatedly risk everything to build an empire of artists and transform Australian music.

Her Name Is Nanny Nellie
1 x 55 mins
Good Morning Beautiful Pty Ltd
Writer/Director Daniel King
Producer Ben Pederick
Executive Producer Charlotte Seymour
Synopsis A trio of nameless statues buried in the archives of the Australian Museum trigger a granddaughter’s journey to rewrite how Aboriginal people are represented in Australia’s public history.

Here Comes A Song: The Story Of The Wiggles
1 x 90 mins
SAM Content Pty Ltd
Writers/Directors Sally Aitken, Fraser Grut
Producers Aline Jacques, Sally Aitken, Cass Avery, Fraser Grut, Daniel Story
Synopsis Here Comes a Song is the story of childhood told through the eyes of The Wiggles, who for thirty years have been the superstars to generations of our kids.

Commissioned Program

Me And My Tourette’s
1 x 52 mins
Joined Up Films Pty Ltd
Director/Producer Lisa Dupenois
Executive Producers Jacqueline Willinge, Daniel Brown, Anthony Willinge
Broadcaster SBS
International Sales Flame
Synopsis This confronting observational documentary follows three people with Tourette’s Syndrome as they challenge society’s prejudices and strive towards acceptance.

The School (working title)
3 x 52 mins
South Side Pictures Pty Ltd
Writers Ross Wilson, Laurie Critchley
Producers Ross Wilson, Dylan Chown
Supervising & Development Producer Georgia Woodward
Executive Producer Laurie Critchely, Ross Wilson
Broadcaster SBS
International Sales Southern Pictures
Synopsis For the first time, we join the leader of one of Australia’s fastest growing Islamic schools as he embarks on a bold new social experiment to break down the barriers and breach the fault lines of modern multicultural Australia.

Documentary Production

First Weapons
6 x 27 mins
Blackfella Films
Director Dean Gibson
Writers Dena Curtis, Jacob Hickey
Producers Darren Dale, Dena Curtis
Synopsis A journey to discover the genius of the world’s oldest, most innovative and deadliest weapons.