Screen Australia unveils nine docos to share in $2.3m funding

Screen Australia has unveiled nine distinctive documentaries that will share in $2.3 million in funding from Screen Australia’s documentary producer and documentary commissioned programs.

Five are feature-length documentaries, two are for the ABC, one is for SBS and one for Foxtel.

The successful documentary producer projects include:

• An intimate look at the life of iconic INXS singer/songwriter Michael Hutchence in Mystify. INXS music video director Richard Lowenstein will combine never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Ben Mendelsohn for this documentary from Ghost Pictures which has also received Film Victoria support.

• The story of five-time Walkley Award-winning journalist Liz Jackson turning the camera on herself for the most challenging story of her career – about her Parkinson’s diagnosis – in A Sense of Self from Contact Films with Film Victoria support. This documentary will air Monday November 21 at 8.30pm on the ABC.

• A feature documentary Flight of the Rhino from Wildbear Entertainment.

The successful Documentary Commissioned projects include:

• Observational documentary series The Mosque from Southern Pictures for SBS, which will use unprecedented access to an Australian Mosque and the community it serves to explore firsthand what it means to be a Muslim in Australia today, with funding support from Screen Queensland.

• Foxtel commissioned four-part documentary series The Archibald from Mint Pictures, chronicling a year in the life of eight Australian artists as they choose subjects for a portrait that will ultimately compete in the nation’s most prestigious art prize, culminating in the announcement of the 2017 winner.