NITV 2016 Programming Highlights_4_LR

2016 Program Highlights
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Contents
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Awaken
Characters of Broome
Colour Theory
Dark Science
Express Yourself
Family Rules
Grace Beside Me
Kardiyarlu Kangurnu
Keeping the Language
Koori Knockout
League Nation Live
Living Black
Little J & Big Cuz
Marngrook Footy Show
NITV News
One Mob TO C-GEN
Our Stories
The Point
Putuparri and the Rainmakers
Servant or Slave
Shadow Trackers
Songlines on Screen
Zach’s Ceremony
As we enter a significant moment in our nation’s story,
NITV is uniquely placed to share the diversity of our voices,
contributing to the national conversation in a way never
before experienced by Australia.
Broadcasting free-to-air as part of the SBS Network,
NITV will continue to challenge perceptions, celebrate
storytelling and facilitate quality debate through distinctive
multi-platform content that connects audiences to the
oldest continuing culture on the planet.
With a transformed schedule and increased online and
mobile offering, NITV will present traditional, culturally
significant content alongside contemporary offerings.
From thought-provoking documentaries that stimulate
debate, to children’s animation that entertains and
educates, we will continue to engage with our Indigenous
communities to bring trusted News and Current Affairs,
passionate live sport and unique entertainment across
the year.
Providing an essential platform for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander voices, Australia’s National Indigenous
Channel is coming of age with the country’s most
respected storytellers at the helm, delivering unique and
often untold stories for all Australians.
Tanya Denning-Orman, NITV Channel Manager
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Current Affairs
Documentary
Awaken
Offering in-depth analysis and discussion of Indigenous issues, NITV’s flagship current affairs program AWAKEN
presents a range of informed Indigenous perspectives and brings together influential voices and smart incisive
thinkers. Leading Indigenous faces put Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues under the microscope to
debate matters of importance to all Australians.
Characters of Broome
Characters of Broome follows the journeys of individuals who come from north West Australia.
Their inspiring stories are about determination and achievement as well as some quirky humourous
recollections. All are amazing people who have survived and thrived. Some of the Characters of Broome are
musicians, actors or artists, and some are Australia’s top Indigenous politicians, while others are ordinary
people with extraordinary tales to tell.
Duration 12 x 54 minutes Director Catherine Liddle
Producer Catherine Liddle Production Company NITV
Duration 3 x 26 minutes Director Kimberley West Writer Dot West
Producer Jodie Bell Production Company Ramu Productions Pty Ltd
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Documentary
Documentary
Colour Theory
Colour Theory returns for a third series in April 2016. Hosted by award-winning Indigenous artist Tony Albert,
this four-part series will feature some of the most exciting contemporary Indigenous artists working in Australia
today, including Frances Belle Parker, Julie and Clive Freeman, Jason Wing and Karla Dickens. Despite their
differences in geography, medium, artistic training, and conceptual concerns, they are united by a sense of pride
and belief in their culture.
Dark Science
Dark Science is a joint NITV-Screen Territory innovative documentary initiative, which explores a broad range of
Indigenous scientific endeavor in the Northern Territory.
Duration 4 x 26 minutes Director James Falconer Marshall
Producer Mitchell Stanley Production Company No Coincidence Media
Duration 5 x 5 minutes Director Various
Producer Various Production Company Various
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Comedy
Documentary
Express Yourself
The godfather of Indigenous stand-up comedy Sean Choolburra is back in 2016 with more hilarious comedians,
pumping music and some of the hottest dancers the black community has ever seen. It promises to be bigger
and blacker, so don’t miss it.
Family Rules
Family Rules is a ground-breaking documentary series that takes you deep inside the world of one remarkable
urban family - the Rules. Set in the picturesque Perth suburb of Midland and filmed over the course of six
months, this deeply immersive series follows widowed mother Daniella and her nine daughters; Angela,
Shenika, Helen, Kelly, Kiara, Sharna, Alesha, Jessica and Hannah witnessing their triumphs and tragedies as
they navigate modern day Australia.
Duration 6 x 30 mins Director Rima Tamou Producer Rima Tamou & Pauline Clague
Production Company NITV
Duration 6 x 30 mins Director/writer Karla Hart Series Producer Gill Moody
Producers Renee Kennedy & Karla Hart Production Metamorflix Pty Ltd and Karla Hart
Enterprises P/L Developed with the assistance of Screen West & Lotterywest
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Childrens
Documentary
Grace Beside Me
Grace Beside Me is a live-action drama series that takes 8-12 year old audiences on a journey into the
extraordinary life and world of Fuzzy Mac, a 13-year-old girl growing up with her Nan and Pop in a small
Australian country town.
Full of escapades, flights of fantasy, music, magic and ghosts, the series combines comedy and drama to
address universal underlying themes of resilience, self-acceptance and connection to country. Grace Beside Me
is a coming of age story about finding your own song and singing it every day of your life… as loudly as you can!
Kardiyarlu Kangurnu
Kardiyarlu Kangurnu uses a mix of stop-motion animation and live action interviews to tell three stories of first
contact between Yapa and Kardiya (black and white) in central Australia.
Duration 13x 26 mins Director Dena Curtis Writers Jon Bell, Sue McPherson, Danielle MacLean
Producers Lois Randall, Dena Curtis Production Company Magpie Pictures
Duration 25 minutes Directors Maxwell Japanangka Tasman, Jason Japatjarri Woods, Shane Jupurrurla White
Animation Jonathan Daw Producer Michael Taylor Production Company Warlpiri Media Association
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Documentary
Sport
Keeping The Language
This documentary is built around a series of interviews with seven Nyul Nyul / Jabirr Jabirr Saltwater People.
These cultural bosses describe the cultural genocide that they and their forebears suffered when the church
stopped the use of language and the local practice of Nyul Nyul Law and Culture in the days of the Beagle
Bay Mission.
Koori Knockout
NITV brings live coverage from the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout as a force of regional and
metropolitan NSW teams to battle it out for rugby league glory. Regarded as the biggest sports gathering of
Indigenous people in the world, the Koori Knockout is rugby league at its best, with over 100 teams, across the
men’s, women’s and junior tournament, competing for the top prize.
The sporting action includes live coverage, team match-ups and expert analysis, alongside exclusive interviews
and first reactions from the ground.
Duration 25 mins Director/writer Henry Augustine Producer Neil Turner
Production Company Pilbara and Kimberley Aboriginal Media (PAKAM)
Duration Various Director Andrew Rawle
Producer Benjamin Smith Production Company NITV
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Sport
Current Affairs
League Nation Live
New and exciting weekly entertainment sports series, hosted by newly retired Broncos captain Justin Hodges,
Deadly Award and Logie nominee actor Aaron Fa’Aoso, new faces and league fanatics Hannah Hollis and Jodan
Perry and community ambassador Nathan Appo. Capturing the best of Australia’s favourite football code, the
NRL, each week will bring 90 jam-packed minutes of entertainment and sports, covering all layers of the game,
combining big league personalities with the latest and greatest in entertainment for a unique offering.
Living Black
Offering an in-depth look into some of the most important Indigenous issues and telling vital stories that matter
to all Australians, Australia’s award-winning and longest running Indigenous current affairs show, Living Black,
investigates contemporary issues of concern to Indigenous Australians through compelling human stories in a
documentary-style format. With Karla Grant, one of Australia’s foremost Indigenous female media personalities
at the helm, the series reports from across Australia, featuring a personal journey each week, from prominent
public personalities to local faces at the heart of Indigenous communities.
Duration 32 x 90 minutes Director Marty Denholm
Producer Wayne Denning / Maurice Parker Production Company Carbon Media
Duration 6 x 27 minutes Producers Karla Grant & Catherine Liddle Series Editor Patrick Audley
Journalists Karla Grant, Laura Murphy-Oates, Hannah Hollis, Ryan Liddle & Ella Archibald-Binge, Rachael Hocking
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Childrens
Sport
Little J & Big Cuz
Little J - he’s five and Big Cuz, she’s nine. They live with their Nanna and Old Dog. This new animated children’s
series follows the adventures and ups and downs of being a kid, told with warmth and knockabout comedy as the
cousins learn about culture, country and themselves.
Marngrook Footy Show
Successful and unique AFL series returns with all the action and news from the footy season, featuring big name
guests in the studio and celebrating the contribution made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders throughout
the game.
Duration 13 x 12 minutes Director Tony Thorne Producer Ned Lander
Writers Beck Cole, Dot West, Bruce Pascoe, Erica Glynn, Danielle Mc Clean, Jon Bell
Script Producer Clare Madsen Animation Producers Liz O’Dea & Alicia Rackett
Production Company Old Dog Pictures: Ned Lander Media, Tony Thorne
Duration 28 x 90 minutes Director Darcy Bonser Executive Producers Grant Hansen, Peter Johnson
Producer Jay Estorninho Production Company Toombak Indigenous Production
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News & Current Affairs
Documentary
NITV News
NITV News continues to anchor the News and Current Affairs slate on-air and on-line with regular daily updates,
breaking stories and original storytelling. Natalie Ahmat and a team of Indigenous journalists across the country
deliver the news that matters from a uniquely Indigenous perspective.
One Mob to C-GEN
The crew from Our Spirit to C-GEN is back for more! It’s 2015, it’s bigger and grander than ever, as a new crop of
students from South East Queensland aim to bring their culture and stories to life through dance and song.
Duration Various Director Various Producer Chris Roe
Editor Catherine Liddle Production Company NITV
Duration 26 minutes Director/Writer Dean Gibson
Producers Helen Morrison Production Company Bacon Factory Films
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Documentary
News & Current Affairs
Our Stories
Groundbreaking short-documentary initiative, Our Stories, shares the history, culture and language of
Indigenous Australia through stories of elders, youth and communities. Part of NITV’s Regional, Remote and
Emerging Initiative, the series consists of 50 documentaries produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
filmmakers across Australia.
The Point
New weeknight (Monday-Thursday) News and Current Affairs series that combines original journalism, agenda
setting interviews, considered analysis and a distinctive Indigenous approach to storytelling. From the heart of our
communities to the corridors of power, The Point will investigate cultural, political and social issues and events
from a fresh perspective - challenging, informing and engaging audiences both on-air and online.
Duration 15 minutes Director Various
Producer Various Production Company Various
Duration 28 x 30 minutes (2 series) Director Various Editor Catherine Liddle
Producer Christopher Roe Production Company NITV
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Documentary
Documentary
Official selection Melbourne International Film Festival 2015
Winner of 2015 Cinefest Oz $100,000 prize
Official selection Guangzhou Film Festival 2015 and FIFO 2016
Putuparri and the Rainmakers
Putuparri and the Rainmakers takes audiences on a rare and emotional journey to meet the traditional
rainmakers of Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Over a decade in the making, the film is an extraordinary
eyewitness account of the living traditions of Putuparri’s people.
The film spans 20 transformative years in the life of Tom Putuparri Lawford as he navigates the deep chasm
between his western upbringing and his determination to keep his traditional culture alive. Set against the
backdrop of this long fight for ownership of traditional lands, Putuparri and the Rainmakers is an emotional,
visually breathtaking story of love, hope and the survival of Aboriginal law and culture against all odds.
Duration 96 minutes Director Nicole Ma
Producers John Moore & Nicole Ma Production Company Sensible Films 2015
Servant or Slave
Servant or Slave follows the lives of five Aboriginal women who were stolen from their families and trained to
be domestic servants. With the government exercising complete control over their wages, many thousands of
Aboriginal men and women were effectively condemned to a treadmill of abuse, from which there was little
hope of escape.
Duration 52 minutes Director Steve McGregor Writer Hetti Perkins & Mitchell Stanley
Producer Mitchell Stanley Executive Producer Michela Perske
Production Company No Coincidence Media
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Factual
Documentary
Official selection Sydney Film Festival 2015
ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival 2015
Margaret Mead Film Festival 2015
Shadow Trackers
Shadow Trackers, Zac James and Hunter Page-Lochard encounter local storytellers, elders and even nonbelievers
as they attempt to discover the truth behind the scary stories that petrify us, guide us and teach us
life’s lessons. Join the brave duo as they hunt the lands where traditional spirits and legends roam, learning
about ominous creatures and entities such as Ngarrindjeri being; the Muldjewangk, a water-creature lurking
in the Murray River threatening to snatch people loitering by the water’s edge and The Poinciani Woman, who
searches for her lost lover in the lands of the Larrakia Nation. As the Shadow Trackers crisscross the continent,
this series will have you laughing one minute and scared the next.
Duration 4 x 26 minutes Director Dena Curtis
Producers Dean Curtis & Veronica Fury Production Company Wildbear TV
Songlines on Screen
A collaboration with Screen Australia, the Songlines on Screen series presents 10 short films from the remote
regions of Western, Northern and Central Australia, giving voice to some of the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander songlines. Representing Indigenous people’s ongoing connection to land and culture as told through
creation songs, the series incorporates the full spectrum of storytelling including dance, song, art, body painting,
and sites of significance.
Titles: Footprints , Naji, Tjawa Tjawa, Goorrandalng: Brolga Dreaming, Bulunu Milkarri, Wurray,
Wardbukkarra, Ngapa Jukurrpa: Water Dreaming, Desert Dingo, Damari and Guyala: A Story of Two Brothers
Duration Various Director Various
Producer Various Production Company Various
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Documentary
Notes
Zach’s Ceremony
Filmed over 10 years, ‘Zach’s Ceremony’ follows a young boy called Zach and his loving, but often volatile
relationship with his father. Zach’s parents separated when he was three and he now lives with his dad who
insists he follows his Aboriginal roots and becomes a man through the ancient rite of Initiation.
As the pressure of ceremony builds, Zach hits the teenage years with alcohol and drug fuelled rebellion, and
his close relationship with his dad breaks down. What’s at the heart of Zach’s struggle; the approval of his
father, the love of his mother, or the freedom to be himself?
Duration 90 minutes Director Aaron Petersen Producer Sarah Linton
Associate Producer Alec Doomadgee Production Company Wangala Films Pty Limited
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