Sally Aitken’s Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, a documentary that explores the initial meteoric rise and cultural reemergence of the children’s music group, will have its world premiere at October’s SXSW Sydney, which is also set to include a First Nations Screen Festival and an XR Showcase.
Produced by SAM Content, Augusto, and Frog Productions, the Amazon Original tracks the journey of Anthony, Murray, Greg, and Jeff, and a dinosaur called Dorothy from when they decided to call themselves The Wiggles after the way children move to achieve worldwide recognition. The Australia/New Zealand co-production was one of six original unscripted commissions announced by Amazon last October, having received support through Screen Australia’s Documentary Producer program earlier in 2022.
Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles forms part of the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival, set to take place from October 15-21, joining a line-up that includes Zvetlana Zill and Alexis Bloom’s Anita (US), Chris Moukarbel’s Cypher (US), Teng Yuhan’s Gagaland (China), Justin Chon’s Jamojaya (US), Miyazaki Daisuke’s Plastic (Japan), Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’Helgouac’h’s Knit’s Island (France), Ben Mullinkosson’s The Last Year of Darkness (US/China), and Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen’s You’ll Never Find Me (Australia).
The festival will also incorporate a First Nations Screen Festival with programming by Winda Film Festival founder Pauline Clague, as well as an XR Showcase at the ICC, featuring VR, AR, Mixed Reality, SR, immersive experience and interactive AI. The ICC’s Darling Theatre and the Palace Cinemas Central will both host film screenings, with more venues to be announced soon.
Earlier this month, Seven announced a partnership with SXSW Sydney that involves holding its upfronts during the week of the event, along with the establishment of ‘Seven House’ within the SXSW precinct in the inner city, encompassing a week-long program of events, special partners and guest speakers. Amazon is also set to hold an activation as part of the conference.
SXSW Sydney marks the event’s first expansion outside of North America, having been launched last June with the support of TEG, the NSW Government, and Destination NSW. The event is secured for Sydney for the next five years.
The conference will be held from Sunday, October 15 to Sunday, October 22 primarily across The University of Technology, Sydney; The Powerhouse Museum, and The International Convention Centre.
SXSW Sydney 2023 Screen Festival wristbands, which give access to all of the screen events around Sydney, will be available for purchase from Friday, August 25 on the event website.