PLAY TRAILER Everything you need to know about what caused the 2008 financial meltdown Addicted To Money is THE program for anyone who wants to know how the 2008 financial crisis came about, what it all means for us now, and what we can do to create a sustainable economy. Biting and punchy, this series is a survival guide for the New Economy presented with the wit, charm and incisive appeal of David McWilliams: a young economist who talks just as candidly to the most influential and powerful players in the global economy as he does to ordinary people around the world. In his typically pugnacious style David  surveys the wreckage of the global economy and points to the worrying, but potentially transformative challenges ahead. It is read more...

PLAY TRAILER How a crime-fighting marsupial conquered the world and became a cherished TV star Everybody remembers Skippy – 91 episodes sold in 128 countries watched by hundreds of millions worldwide and which put Australia firmly on the global map. And for those of a certain generation the heroic marsupial is synonymous with their childhood, often in more profound ways than they realise… The film is both a tribute to the forward-thinking and hard-working individuals who created the ground-breaking series, and also an analysis of how they did it, and what it meant for all those millions of viewers around the world. It is the first time that child star Garry Pankhurst, who played Sonny, has spoken of his experience as the most famous kid in the world, and we have read more...

PLAY TRAILER How do we make colour, how do we see it, and what does it mean in our world? Why is the sky blue? Why do leaves turn yellow in autumn? And why does red play so powerful a role in so many cultures? Is colour real, or is it just a construct of our brains? Taking the globe as its canvas, and drawing on science, history, art and other disciplines, Cracking the Colour Code is a series for people who are interested in the many mysteries posed by colour, and at the same time seek to enjoy the incredible diversity and sensation that colour has to offer in our world. While colour is a child of science and physics, it triggers within us a host of emotional, intuitive and read more...

PLAY TRAILER The remarkable life of one of Australia’s first submarines - the AE2 An Irish commander. An Australian submarine. An amazing episode in the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign that history has overlooked for almost a hundred years. Gallipoli Submarine traces the incredible true story of the Australian submarine AE2 and her 32 man crew. A dramatic re-enactment of her terrifying dive into enemy territory is combined with documentary footage of a modern day scientific expedition to determine if the submarine can be saved. AE2 has been lying in 75 metres of water at the bottom of the Sea of Marmara for almost a hundred years. After a confrontation with a Turkish gunboat her commander Henry Stoker abandoned her, opened her tanks and scuttled her. AE2 was rediscovered in 1998 read more...

PLAY TRAILER An eyewitness account of the quest to find the HMAS Sydney and its crew of 645 sailors Follow the world’s top shipwreck hunter, David Mearns, as he makes history by finding the HMAS Sydney II, solving one of Australia’s most tragic and enduring mysteries. The Hunt for HMAS Sydney gives an eyewitness account of the quest to find the Sydney and its crew of 645 sailors, ending 66 years of speculation and anguish. It follows an unprecedented multi-million dollar search and reveals its extraordinary history: a deadly World War II encounter on the high seas, a secret code hidden inside a dictionary and a mysterious body found in an island grave. The film includes the history of the Sydney and the German raider Kormoran, interviews with bereaved family members, naval personnel, historians, read more...

What does it take to win a Nobel Prize? One balmy evening in the most isolated capital city in the world – Perth, Western Australia – two unassuming medical blokes were interrupted by a phone call from Stockholm while enjoying their fish and chips . They had won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology and could they make it to the Awards ceremony on the 10th of December? Australian doctors, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren’s journey to the prize-winners’ podium is more than just a trip to the opposite side of the world to zero temperatures, cultural pomp and precise Swedish scheduling. It is the ultimate acknowledgement for a career long struggle, trial and error, endless research, and stubborn determination. The questioning minds of read more...

The race to combat a deadly threat to humanity - the avian flu virus H5N1 In 1997 the bird fly virus spread like wildfire through the chicken coops of Hong Kong. Then to the shock of scientists it spread to humans. It has now killed over 60 people in SE Asia and many scientists fear it could spark the next global pandemic. Superflu: Race Against a Killer follows an international team of virus hunters who first identified the deadly microbe H5N1 and are now attempting to get it under control. If they fail, we look at what would happen in the worst-case scenario where many millions die, hospitals are overwhelmed and society as we know it comes to a standstill. Distributed to over 20 countries worldwide by National read more...

PLAY TRAILER The harrowing story of the 2002 Bali bombings The horrific attacks of 12 October, 2002 are remembered by the Balinese in one simple phrase: Bom Bali. Two hundred and two people died when Indonesian terrorists exploded bombs in the island’s most popular nightspots: the Sari Club and Paddy’s Pub. Several hundred others survived, many with horrific injuries. The story of Bom Bali is a groundbreaking docudrama told by survivors, the family and friends of those who were killed, and by the bombers themselves. The details they supply of the attack and its horrific aftermath are graphic and disturbing. And as they reach the fourth anniversary of the bombing they must come to terms with a world vastly different from the one before the attack – a world read more...

A dark story of love, rebellion and a journalist on the front lines of the war Aceh The Black Road takes us on a journey deep inside Southeast Asia’s hottest conflict – a conflict that may well decide the fate of Indonesia, Australia’s closest neighbour and the world’s largest Muslim nation. Whilst the people of Aceh fight for political independence, Indonesia wants to keep the gas-rich province firmly under its control. Filmed over four years by journalist turned filmmaker, William Nessen tells a harrowing story of Aceh’s struggle for independence from Indonesia. During this time he befriends the leading Indonesian general in the province and patrols with his men. He falls in love and marries a local muslim translator, trusted by the military, but working secretly for the independence movement. Days after read more...

PLAY TRAILER Get close up and personal with the crew of HMAS Rankin - a Collins Class Submarine Submariners is an underwater road movie where we get up close and personal with the men and women who crew the HMAS Rankin. As the newest of Australia’s controversial Collins Class Submarines the Rankin undertakes a journey from Western Australia to Korea, Japan, Hawaii and back home again. On the way Rankin participates in deep water rescue exercises off the coast of Korea, and cat and mouse manoeuvres with the US Navy in Hawaiian waters, leading up to RIMPAC: the world’s biggest naval war games. We get to know the Rankin crew intimately, all of whom are keen to prove their worth and overcome the Collins Class’ controversial reputation. read more...

A bunch of colourful characters find adventure in their everyday lives To many people visiting Australia, their itinerary is often focused on the ‘must see’ elements summarised in tourist brochures and travel company tours. That usually means vast red desert plains, gleaming white beaches, and enormous wheat and sheep farms. But in the South-West corner of Australia’s largest State is a very different picture of Australia – real or imagined. With a taste for adventure, and a sense of humour, we follow 6 intrepid men and women who are carving out multi-dimensional lives in a region that is as challenging as it is beautiful – forging an enduring relationship with the unique country found in Australia’s Hidden Corner.

An exploration of the mythology that has defined the Pacific Island woman The hula girl remains one of the most potent and sexually alluring images in popular culture today. From the first expeditions to the South Pacific, tantalising reports of beautiful women drifted back to Europe. When British and French sailors ‘discovered’ Tahiti in the 1760s, they found a culture of erotic dancing and extramarital sex. This film charts the history of the idealised image of the Polynesian woman, and the changes each succeeding generation has imposed on its representation. From early 18th Century illustrations to Gauguin’s famous island paintings, as well as footage from famous and not so famous Hollywood films, the myth of an island paradise inhabited by beautiful women continues. There are snippets of the Sarong Girl herself, Dorothy read more...

PLAY TRAILER The stories of child soldiers who have been through the trauma of war Thousands of children in more than forty countries across the globe are being forced and tricked into becoming soldiers. It is a tragedy that we are all well aware of – we often see them on the TV news casually toting AK47s. Through a series of intimate encounters we meet some of the child soldiers who have been through the trauma of war in Uganda, Sudan, Burma, Colombia and Sierra Leone. We examine the complex issues of recruitment, the hazardous and often brutal life of child soldiers, and for those that survive the fighting – the daunting post-conflict challenges that lay before them. Awards & Festivals Winner Child read more...

The ceaseless struggle, and the startling medical science, to mend young lives Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Western Australia is home to a multitude of dramatic, inspirational and sometimes tragic stories of children and health. Through the eyes of staff, patients and parents, we enter the inner sanctum of this distinguished hospital and observe the daily battles to provide world class paediatric care. As the human drama unfolds, we reveal the issues, the ethics, the priorities and the dilemmas faced by staff and patients. And in a unique twist we uncover the inner workings of science in a world where life and death – and quality of survival – are at stake. This is a realm where science sometimes succeeds, sometimes fails … and real read more...

Almost every week in Australia another child disappears Australia has one of the highest rates of parental child abduction in the world, and almost every week another child disappears. But they aren’t being snatched by predatory strangers – in almost every case, children are abducted by a parent. In Tug of Love we meet the parents who are ‘left-behind’ when their children are taken, and we meet the ‘taken’ children whose sense of security may be forever changed by their abduction. We meet Vincent when, after thirteen months of searching, he finally tracks down his daughter and begins the seemingly impossible quest to get her back. We meet Ellen who is shattered by her son’s abduction  by her ex-partner, and Liss who is still angry and haunted by a sense read more...

This is the world of the illegal trade in rare and invaluable fossils Dinosaur hunters, fossil cops, shady dealers, and the smuggling of prehistoric relics. From outback Australia to the ‘Badlands’ of USA and ‘fossil goldfields’ of China – this is the world of the the illegal trade in rare and invaluable fossils. Our intrepid crew go undercover to find out who’s stealing, who’s selling, and who’s buying this precious cargo. Episode 1  Fossil Fever In Beijing, Chinese scientists are racing against time to protect rare and invaluable fossils from hordes of looters with links to wealthy dealers and collectors in the West. In South Dakota, dinosaur hunters Fred & Candy Nuss are hoping to repeat the success of their recent exciting oviraptor find. Episode 2  Stealing Time In the dead read more...

PLAY TRAILER Kavisha Mazzella takes us on A Musical Journey The Joys of the Women is an uplifting musical journey that traces the search by singer/songwriter Kavisha Mazzella to find the lost songs of a generation. Inspired by the songs her grandmother use to sing Kavisha embarks on a journey spanning two continents. From the heart of the Italian immigrant community in Fremantle, Western Australia to her family’s native island of Ischia in Italy, we share Kavisha’s discoveries and the extraordinary power of the Fremantle Italian Women’s Choir, The Joys of the Women. Awards & Festivals Nominated, Dendy Awards, Sydney Film Festival 1993 Invited to the Festival dei Popoli, Florence and Treizieme Bilan du Film Ethnographique, Paris 1993 Nominated, Best Documentary, Film Critics Circle of Australia, read more...

The stereotype of the Muslim woman is challenged by the public lives of three prominent Indonesian women Silk and Steel challenges the image of the veiled and passive Muslim woman with an intimate view of the influence of women in Indonesian society. We follow the lives of three prominent Indonesian women: television producer Sumita Tobing, devout Muslim and Asia's first female rap star Denada, and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, Indonesia's foremost female lawyer who has been successful in prosecuting the first case of sexual harassment in the workplace. As Asian economies boom and governments grapple with claims for democracy and human rights, women are now playing a key role in reshaping the traditional male dominated cultures of South East Asia - and Indonesia is no exception. Here, women read more...

PLAY TRAILER In a test of endurance, survival skills, and tenacity, three men battle with nature in a race across the Australian desert The Human Race is a compelling adventure documentary set in the Kimberley Region - an ancient, remote and spectacular landscape in North Western Australia. Three men from different continents begin the race on the rim of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, the second largest meteorite crater in the world, and finish in the small coastal town of Wyndham. Australian Aboriginal elder, 72 year old Jack Jugarie, travels with little more than his Dreamtime knowledge and traditional bush skills; famous German survival expert, 61 year old Rüdiger Nehberg, thrives on testing himself to the limit of human endurance; and American ultra marathon runner, 35 year read more...

In the 1920's thousands of UK immigrants arrived in Western Australia on a promise that they would be given farms to work. Few understood the hardships they would face clearing the hardwood forests to make a dairy industry in WA. At the end of the First World War many British ex-servicemen joined the queues of the unemployed. When films and glossy brochures appeared promising 'a new life, a new start on your own dairy farm in the paradise of Western Australia, unsuspecting British families travelled to the other side of the world under a hastily-conceived immigration program known as the Group Settlement Scheme. But instead of the promised paradise, Group Settlers were greeted by an unforgiving, alien landscape and a harsh, regimented lifestyle. Those who stayed read more...