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2016 Program Highlights

Contents

AwakenCharacters of BroomeColour TheoryDark ScienceExpress YourselfFamily RulesGrace Beside MeKardiyarlu KangurnuKeeping the LanguageKoori KnockoutLeague Nation LiveLiving BlackLittle J & Big CuzMarngrook Footy ShowNITV NewsOne Mob TO C-GENOur StoriesThe PointPutuparri and the RainmakersServant or SlaveShadow TrackersSonglines on ScreenZach’s Ceremony

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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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AwakenOffering 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.

Duration 12 x 54 minutes Director Catherine LiddleProducer Catherine Liddle Production Company NITV

Current Affairs

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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 3 x 26 minutes Director Kimberley West Writer Dot WestProducer Jodie Bell Production Company Ramu Productions Pty Ltd

Documentary

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Colour TheoryColour 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.

Duration 4 x 26 minutes Director James Falconer Marshall Producer Mitchell Stanley Production Company No Coincidence Media

Documentary

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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 5 x 5 minutes Director Various Producer Various Production Company Various

Documentary

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Express YourselfThe 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.

Duration 6 x 30 mins Director Rima Tamou Producers Rima Tamou & Pauline Clague Production Company NITV

Comedy

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Family RulesFamily 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 Executive Producer Renee Kennedy Co-Executive Producer Karla HartSeries Producer Gill Moody Directors Karla Hart & Claire Leeman Writer Dena Curtis Production Company Metamorflix Pty Ltd

Documentary

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Grace Beside MeGrace 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!

Duration 13x 26 mins Director Dena Curtis Writers Jon Bell, Sue McPherson, Danielle MacLean Producers Lois Randall, Dena Curtis Production Company Magpie Pictures

Childrens

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Kardiyarlu KangurnuKardiyarlu 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 25 minutes Directors Maxwell Japanangka Tasman, Jason Japatjarri Woods, Shane Jupurrurla White Animation Jonathan Daw Producer Michael Taylor Production Company Warlpiri Media Association

Documentary

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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.

Duration 25 mins Director/writer Henry Augustine Producer Neil TurnerProduction Company Pilbara and Kimberley Aboriginal Media (PAKAM)

Documentary

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Koori KnockoutNITV brings live coverage from the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout as a force of regional and metropolitan NSW teams 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 Various Director Andrew RawleProducer Benjamin Smith Production Company NITV

Sport

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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.

Duration 32 x 90 minutes Director Marty DenholmProducer Wayne Denning / Maurice Parker Production Company Carbon Media

Sport

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Living BlackOffering 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 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

Current Affairs

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Little J & Big CuzLittle 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.

Duration 13 x 12 minutes Director Tony Thorne Producer Ned LanderWriters Beck Cole, Dot West, Bruce Pascoe, Erica Glynn, Danielle Mc Clean, Jon BellScript Producer Clare Madsen Animation Producers Liz O’Dea & Alicia Rackett Production Company Old Dog Pictures: Ned Lander Media, Tony Thorne

Childrens

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Marngrook Footy ShowSuccessful 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 28 x 90 minutes Director Darcy Bonser Executive Producers Grant Hansen, Peter JohnsonProducer Jay Estorninho Production Company Toombak Indigenous Production

Sport

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NITV NewsNITV 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.

Duration Various Director Various Producer Chris RoeEditor Catherine Liddle Production Company NITV

News & Current Affairs

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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 26 minutes Director/Writer Dean Gibson Producers Helen Morrison Production Company Bacon Factory Films

Documentary

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Our StoriesGroundbreaking 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.

Duration 50 x 15 minutes Director VariousProducer Various Production Company Various

Documentary

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The PointNew 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 28 x 30 minutes (2 series) Director Various Editor Catherine LiddleProducer Christopher Roe Production Company NITV

News & Current Affairs

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Putuparri and the RainmakersPutuparri 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 MaProducers John Moore & Nicole Ma Production Company Sensible Films

Official selection Melbourne International Film Festival 2015 Winner of 2015 Cinefest Oz $100,000 prize

Official selection Guangzhou Film Festival 2015 and FIFO 2016

Documentary

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Servant or SlaveServant 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 Writers Hetti Perkins & Mitchell StanleyProducer Mitchell Stanley Executive Producer Michela PerskeProduction Company No Coincidence Media

Documentary

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Shadow TrackersShadow Trackers, Zac James and Hunter Page-Lochard encounter local storytellers, elders and even non-believers 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 Dena Curtis & Veronica Fury Production Company Wildbear TV

Factual

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Songlines on ScreenA 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 VariousProducer Various Production Company Various

Documentary

Official selection Sydney Film Festival 2015 ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival 2015

Margaret Mead Film Festival 2015

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Zach’s CeremonyFilmed 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 LintonAssociate Producer Alec Doomadgee Production Company Wangala Films Pty Limited

Documentary

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Notes