Screen Australia, together with its Gender Matters Taskforce, used International Women's Day to unveil two initiatives aimed at supporting women and gender-diverse practitioners.
A documentary offering insights into the juvenile justice system and another showcasing Australia's own 'horse whisperer' have been selected to receive funding under a joint initiative between Screen Australia and The Guardian.
Director Jennifer Peedom is set to re-team with her 'Mountain' collaborators, the ACO's Richard Tognetti and writer Robert Macfarlene, on new a theatrical documentary, 'River'.
Higher Ground, owned by Barack and Michelle Obama, will produce director Jennifer Peedom's first narrative feature 'Tenzing' for Netflix – based on the true story of Tenzing Norgay, the man who first reached the summit of Everest along with Sir Edmund Hillary.
Australia's documentary makers are less affected by production shutdowns than most other sectors of the screen industry - apart from the large cohort of animators who are still working remotely.
“We will investigate how money in politics gets in the way of coming up with a lot of solutions to issues like climate change, and what we can do to bring about change. We want to reach the widest possible audience.”
Screen Australia has announced $2 million in production funding for 11 documentary projects, seven through the Documentary Producer Program and four through the Commissioned Program.
Twelve female creators have been selected for a four-day intensive genre masterclass, hosted by Bunya Productions and taught by US writer/producer Raelle Tucker ('Sacred Lies', 'True Blood') and Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa ('Game of Thrones', 'The Handmaid’s Tale').