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A trio of music icons and a legendary racehorse are among the subjects of 10 projects to receive $2.3 million in documentary production funding from Screen Australia.

Of the those earmarked for funding, eight will be supported through the Producer Program, and two through the Commissioned Program.

They include feature documentaries about John Farnham, Ruby Hunter, and Archie Roach, as well as racehorse Winx.

There is also a follow-up to the 2016 documentary Embrace, entitled Embrace Kids.

Screen Australia head of documentary Alex West said an “impressive mix” of projects had rounded out the agency’s documentary funding for 2019/20.

“It’s great to support so many feature documentaries covering a range of exciting topics, including shining a light on a number of Australian icons, and I’m confident they will captivate audiences,” he said.

The Commissioned Program projects are:

Nurses: A 10-part series from ITV Studios Australia for the Seven Network about the nurses in Nsw.

First shots often sum up much of the drama ahead. Bowing June 12 on Orange TV in Spain, “The Head’” a signature series of The Mediapro Studio, is no exception.

Featuring among key cast Alvaro Morte, “La Casa de Papel’s” Professor, and Japanese pop idol Tomohisa Yamashita, written by Alex and David Pastor and directed by Jorge Dorado, the six-part South Pole survival thriller kicks off with a sustained aerial shot swooping over cruelly barren Antarctic expanses, then down to a small but raucous crowd partying outside the Polaris VI Scientific Research Station.

Still the same apparent shot, it shimmies past Morte – who plays the Station’s belligerent cook and is gamely serving hamburgers – then morphs seamlessly into the subjective Pov of Johan (Alexandre Willaume), the Station’s second-in-command, as he nonchalantly grabs a bottle of wine and fair sprints into the Station.

Heading to his bedroom to make love to his wife,...

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Ben Mendelsohn, Sean Harris, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley, Steven Elder, Ivan Kaye, Tom Lawrence | Written by Joel Edgerton, David Michôd | Directed by David Michôd

Both epic in scale and intimate in design, The King shows the struggle of a young king – who is fully embodied by Timothée Chalamet, who yet again proves he’s the best young talent Hollywood has to offer.

The brooding slow burn that is The King sets a pace from the very beginning that shows us this isn’t your typical historical epic. Instead of this being another action packed medieval tale, The King takes a slower, deeper look at the life and hardships of a king. It also takes a hard deep look at the reality of war and the cost of peace.

The film tells the tale of King Henry V, when he...

Joseph Baxter Sep 6, 2019

HBO miniseries Catherine the Great will star Helen Mirren as the Enlightenment-era Russian monarch.

Catherine the Great is headed to HBO in the U.S. and Sky in the U.K. as a four-part television miniseries starring Helen Mirren (who will also direct and executive produce). She plays the eponymous Russian empress, whose late-18th-century reign is widely considered the Golden Age of the old Russian monarchy and a time of rapid rise for the country. Indeed, the miniseries focuses on Catherine's political machinations, chronicling her rise to power and subsequent rule.

Mirren will be joined by co-star Jason Clarke, who plays Grigory Potemkin, a Russian military leader who came into Catherine’s favor as a friend and trusted advisor, going back to his support for her during the 1762 coup, which removed her husband, Emperor Peter III, from the throne, leading to her ascension. The series serves as a quick reunion,...