Screen Australia has invested $2.6 million across eight documentaries, in a move that is expected to generate more than $8 million in production.
The projects approved have been selected from the National Documentary program, the General Documentary program and the International Documentary program.
Feature-length documentary Show Me the Magic, which is directed by Cathy Henkel and produced by Henkel and Trish Lake, focuses on legendary cinematographer, Don McAlpine ACS ASC.
The project, which will be broadcast on subscription channel Stvdio, looks back on McAlpine's 40 year career, as well as following his work on his latest film, P.J Hogan's Mental.
Also on the funding slate is the hour-long I can change your mind…about climate. The ABC program follows Liberal powerbroker Nick Minchin and the founder of the Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose as they try to convince the other to see their side of the climate change debate.
For a complete list of the projects that received funding, see below:
NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
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 Michael Cordell, 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.
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
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.