Screen Australia announced $1.6 million in production investment funding for seven compelling documentaries through the Documentary Producer and Commissioned programmes. The projects include the first virtual reality (VR) film to receive production funding from Screen Australia’s documentary unit; an investigation into our growing obsession with vitamin supplements presented by YouTube star Dr Derek Muller; and a nature documentary about the secret sex life of prehistoric 16-legged spiders residing in the caves of Tasmania.
Liz Stevens, Senior Manager of Documentary at Screen Australia, said, “Funding such a broad range of projects from both established and emerging talent points to a promising future for our local documentary industry. Australians are passionate documentarians and we are confident these projects will offer Australian and international audiences important, entertaining insights into our world.”
The successful Documentary Commissioned project is My Year 7 Life from Melbourne outfit Princess Pictures for ABC Me. It follows the lives of 16 children during a formative period of their lives as they transition from primary school to high school. From the same team behind My Year 12 Life, which airs in February 2017, this series will be composed of self-shot ‘vlogs’ and will provide insight into the perspective and lived experiences of young Australians today. This project has also received Film Victoria funding. The six successful Documentary Producer projects are Vitamania, Feature Sanctuary, I Used To Be Normal, Sixteen Legs and contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell’s VR project Storm Rider.
Storm Rider is produced by Leo Faber for SBS. Gladwell, best known for his piece Storm Sequence, will document through VR his quest to teach a young British Muslim woman how to skateboard. Faber and Gladwell recently had their VR film Orbital Vanitas selected for Sundance’s New Frontier 2017 program. ABC Arts documentary You See Monsters, where six Muslim-Australians artists will share their experience of using the artistic expression, including painting, poetry and music, to articulate and reclaim a sense of identity in a climate of anti-Islam sentiment. Written by David Collins and produced/directed by Tony Jackson, it has also received funding support from Film Victoria.
