PRESS RELEASE
Screen Australia today announced production investment of $995,000 in three National Documentary Program projects, triggering 2.6 million in production.
Screen Australia’s CEO, Graeme Mason, said, “As affirmed at the Australian International Documentary Conference last week, our role is to support documentary-makers to tell stories that resonate with audiences and that can form part of Australia's storytelling legacy. The three projects funded this week are stories that matter and stories that should be shared.”
Documentaries to receive investment include Blown Away, a documentary which explores the myths and reveals new perspectives on one of the worst natural disasters in Australia's history, Cyclone Tracy, 40 years on. In association with the ABC, the documentary will be produced by Rachel Clements and James Bradley and written/directed by Danielle MacLean.
UK co-production for SBS and BBC Inside The Inferno – The Science of Bushfires observes the effects and severity of Australian bushfires and asks if Australia is yet to experience the worst bushfire season. The two-part documentary is by executive producer/writer Simon Nasht, producers Marcus Gillezeau and Ellenor Cox, and director Max Bourke.
In Lest We Forget a young woman investigates Australia’s remembrance and forgetting of World War I. It is produced by Dylan Blowen and produced/directed/written by Rachel Landers for the ABC.
The National Documentary Program (NDP) aims to provide a comprehensive and strategic slate of projects across time, involving a diversity of styles and formats, and encompassing a broad range of themes of national and cultural significance with heritage value. These documentaries have a sense of cultural ambition and a budget scale that separates them
from other Screen Australia documentary investments.
BLOWN AWAY
57 mins
Brindle Films Pty Ltd and Nirvana Films Pty Ltd
Producers Rachel Clements, James Bradley
Writer/Director Danielle MacLean
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis The untold story of Cyclone Tracy 40 years on, exploring the myths and revealing
new perspectives on one of the worst natural disasters in Australia's history.
INSIDE THE INFERNO – THE SCIENCE OF BUSHFIRES
2 x 52 mins
Smith&Nasht (co-production by Dragon Fly)
Producers Marcus Gillezeau, Ellenor Cox
Executive Producer/Writer Simon Nasht
Director Max Bourke
Broadcasters SBS and BBC
Sales Shine International
Synopsis To live in Australia is to experience bushfire. As our population grows and as the
effects of climate change are felt, will Australia experience its worst bushfire season yet?
LEST WE FORGET
57 mins
Pony Films Pty Ltd
Producers Dylan Blowen, Rachel Landers
Writer/Director Rachel Landers
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Lest We Forget is a young woman’s exploration of Australia’s remembrance and
forgetting of World War I.