Screen Australia and News Digital Networks Australia’s With Her In Mind Network (whimn.com.au) have announced the six projects selected to receive funding through the Doco180 initiative.
Each director will make a social media-friendly documentary designed to make the viewer “do a 180” on a topic relevant to Australian women, in 180 seconds.
Of the six teams selected, three are based in Victoria, and the remaining three are from Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales.
• In Black Beauty Santilla Chingaipe, most recently seen as the presenter of Date My Race on SBS, will make her directorial debut exploring how Australian women of colour are coping with a lack of diverse beauty representations in mainstream media.
• The strong bonds of female friendship between director Dominique Pratt and lung transplant survivor Shannon will feature in Coming Up For Air – an intimate look at life with a terminal illness and what it really means to have someone else’s organs inside you.
• Jasmine Richwol will borrow from her own life in IVF vs. The One, about empowering single women who are in their mid-to-late 30s and want to have a baby by asking them: should they be looking for a man, or a scientist?
• Mission Impossible will follow a day in the life of health journalist Shannon Harvey who will attempt the elusive and all too familiar challenge of the modern-day woman: trying to “do it all”– at work, at home, as a mother and as a woman.
• Kelly Hucker will direct My Body Says – a celebration of the female form told through the intimate reveal of comedienne Loani Arman’s body, inspiring women to redefine their body image and rethink their bodies as a map of their lives.
• Sari Braithwaite will use a coffee cart to stage a provocative social experiment in The Pay Gappuccino, charging men a 16% tax on coffee for the day to put gender salary discrepancies front and centre.
Jasmine Richwol, Sari Braithwaite and Dominique Pratt
“There are so many topics and issues that are important to women today and we’re very proud to be able to offer these incredible female storytellers the chance to share them with Australia,” said Melissa Overman, executive editor of whimn.com.au.
“We were blown away by the insightful and compelling pitches Doco180 received and it just reaffirms our commitment to quality video content so much so that we’re hoping to work with more than just the shortlist of applicants. We can’t wait to see the final docos!”
Each team will receive $6,000 to make their project and will be supported by a Screen Australia investment development manager.
“We were energised by how liberally and creatively these women have interpreted the medium of documentary to tackle compelling subjects that will resonate with Australian women from all walks of life,” said Liz Stevens, senior manager of documentary at Screen Australia.
“It has been a pleasure to partner with whimn.com.au for this initiative and we look forward to seeing the conversations sparked by these bite-sized documentaries.”
The Doco180 series will be rolled out on whimn.com.au and its social channels from October 2017.