http://www.abc.net.au/tv/openingshot/episode/1/ If using a condom is tricky to bring up when your date starts to get hot and heavy, try dropping the 'H-Bomb' - admitting you have genital herpes. One in eight Australians have genital herpes , yet a whopping 80% of those have no idea they're infected. Dating The H*Bomb is an unconventional, light-hearted documentary using the frank personal stories of three Australians living with genital herpes: Heidi is a party-loving twenty-something whose saddle chafe just won't go away… Hector is a suave ladies' man who just doesn't want to give 'the talk'… Michael is a down-to-earth bloke who can't believe what's happened to his penis… In real life audio interviews re-enacted with puppets, our three protagonists share deeply intimate stories of their infection, their diagnosis and how the virus has impacted their search for love. While each has endured their own journey of embarrassing moments, dating disasters and comic misunderstandings, all three eventually come to learn that if you want to find love, you've got to accept who you are first - virus and all. It turns out, genital herpes has taught them more about love, sex and human relationships than they had ever anticipated.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/openingshot/episode/2/ Meatwork goes past the shock of the 'first kill' to understand the reality of what it means to be a meat eater in the modern world. Maddie, a young city dwelling meat eater, has gone further than most to find out. She's killed a chicken with her grandmother, but the closest she usually gets to the animals she eats is the butcher's shop. Would she have eaten them if she had to kill them all? And could she convince herself she cared about them if she did? There's only one way to find out. She brazenly persuades a country abattoir to employ her for five weeks, capturing the experience on film. It's enough time to learn the basics of skinning, gutting and slaughtering - working her way through lamb, beef and pork. But first, she has to earn her stripes hauling guts and sweeping poo, and win the respect of the men that work there. They are genuine characters: Steve, who sings opera while cleaving carcasses; Shaun, a 21-year-old with 'love' and 'hate' tattooed across knuckles; Jimmy, a doting father; Nathan, who grew up in an abattoir; and his dad David, the abattoir owner, who encourages Maddie with paternal warmth. As Maddie's relationship with them deepens and she gets closer to the killbox, they reveal their thoughts on life and death, and how to deal with killing for a job. She continues past her first slaughter, teased and encouraged by the guys, and gains rare insight into the psychological and physical processes of industrial killing. She examines whether she can maintain a respect for, or even acknowledge, the lives that end there, and challenges the worker's acceptance of the job - questioning what effect it might be having on them and her. The sheer number of kills starts to weigh on her, and in her final days at the abattoir she faces the rowdiest and most resistant animals yet. She starts to wonder what the difference really is between being a meat-eater and a meat-worker. There's certainly a deep
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/openingshot/episode/3/ On the frontline of a cyber war, masked vigilantes known as Anonymous fight for internet freedom. The media has called them 'hackers on steroids' and an 'internet hate machine'. Anonymous has hacked, blocked and defaced some of the world's most 'secure' sites and exposed them to the world in an effort to highlight freedom of information breaches on the internet. Future Radicals offers a rare insight into Anonymous and the activities that have secured it some of the world's most powerful enemies through interviews with those involved. Arrests have occurred around the globe, but are they criminals or cyber heroes? You decide.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/openingshot/episode/4/ Queen of the Desert takes us on the road with the flamboyant hairdresser trainer and youth worker Starlady Nungari. Starlady's hair salons began in the indigenous community of Kintore in 2002. Armed with only a bottle of bleach and a pair of clippers, it was a big success. No wonder - hair has always been important in Aboriginal culture. This first renegade salon sparked an idea - what if Starlady started hairdresser training for young people in remote communities right across the Central Desert? Starlady spent five years in Melbourne studying hairdressing and make up then returned to Alice Springs with just a few hundred dollars and a dream. It was a big gamble. The desert is harsh and cultural traditions stand strong; not everyone lasts long out here. Initially some employers were skeptical about how Starlady might fit in. Having proved them wrong she now drives thousands of kilometres across the desert taking her mobile hair workshops to some of Australia's most isolated teenagers.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/openingshot/episode/5/ Until now, people with inherited genetic diseases risked passing them on to their children. Their only other options were adoption or choosing not to become parents. But modern science has opened a new door. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a process that can screen embryos for unwelcome genes, rejecting all but the disease-free versions. For filmmaker Shalom Almond, whose inherited eye disease threatens to render her blind later in life, it provides a greater chance to have a disease free baby. Shalom and husband Osker launch themselves into the harrowing world of PGD and its corollary, IVF. It's expensive, invasive and comes with no guarantees of a baby. But for them, it's the hope reproductive technology offers: to lessen the 50% chance of passing on a legacy of blindness. After several failed cycles they begin to lose heart. Shalom wonders whether they'd be better to just let Mother Nature roll the dice; Osker would prefer it that way. Shalom's mum Brenda, who has partial blindness, has a very different view. She implores Shalom to do whatever it takes not to pass on a disease that has devastated her life. Shalom must face the pressure of IVF as well as her mother's conviction that no more babies should be born with the disease. The whole process has created an emotional and moral quagmire. When suddenly PGD delivers Shalom and Osker to a crossroad, they have just moments to make the biggest decision of their lives. What they decide next will reverberate not only for them, but for their extended family and a tiny new embryo filled with potential - and risk.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/growing-up-gayby-opening-shot-2/ GROWING UP GAYBY follows director Maya Newell, herself raised by two mums, as she explores the impact of gay parenting.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/vagina-diaries-opening-shot-2/ In THE VAGINA DIARIES, presenter Nat Harris cracks the vagina taboo wide open to explore a procedure called labiaplasty. Find out what drives women to put the most intimate part of their bodies under the knife.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/suicide-and-me-opening-shot-2/ Every 10 minutes, someone in Australia attempts to take their own life. In SUICIDE AND ME, three young suicide survivors confront the stigma by revealing why they attempted and ultimately, how they found hope.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/our-little-secret-opening-shot-2/ Chas Fisher, a survivor of child sexual abuse, wants to know why people sexually abuse children. We spend a lot of time talking about punishing the offenders but have you ever asked yourself why it happens?
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/final-word-opening-shot-2/ The FINAL WORD explores the question of what would we change about our lives if we knew our time was nearly up.
This documentary follows gay comedians Joel Creasey and Rhys Nicholson as they stage a show in rural Victoria which three years ago was the focus of a homophobic scandal.
This program peeks into the life of three so-called 'skimpies' as they serve beer in their lingerie to quench more than the thirsts of farmers and miners across outback WA.
This program follows 28-year-old uni student Lise as she investigates how her past ecstasy use is affecting her mental health, and offers insights for the estimated half a million ecstasy users in Australia today.
This program follows three Aussie hopefuls as they embark on a unique stand-up comedy training program, transforming their devastating experiences of mental illness into comedy gold.
Defendant 5 is the personal story of one young woman who learnt that fighting for what she believed in had repercussions beyond her wildest nightmares.
Australia’s psychic medium business is booming and filmmaker Cassie Charlton wants to find out why. Florence King, recently crowned People’s Choice Australian Psychic of the Year, is in the middle of her biggest year yet, and spending time with Florence, and her clients, gives Cassie front row seats to see how the psychics business really works. Following both public performances and private sessions, we meet a range of Australians anxious to contact their deceased loved ones, trying to come to terms with their grief. PSYCHICS IN THE SUBURBS explores who we turn to when the answers seem bigger than the questions themselves.
Comedian Becky Lucas recently found out one of her closest childhood friends had suffered years of violence and abuse at the hands of her partner. With young women 18-24 being most at risk of abuse, Becky sets out to understand what an abusive relationship looks like, how it begins and why it’s so hard to intervene. She meets experts and psychologists to figure out how she missed the signs, conducts a social experiment on the street to see how the average bystander reacts to domestic violence, and seeks out the stories of young survivors to discover what anyone can do when confronted with domestic violence.
Money has been flooding into Perth on the back of a decade long mining boom and with an annual council budget of $200 million dollars, the role of Lord Mayor is a tempting prize. The 2015 election attracted a diverse range of young applicants. Candidate Reece is only 28yrs, one of the youngest ever Lord Mayoral nominees, and has a drive and ambition unusual for someone of his tender age. Candidate Mike, 33yrs, is the chalk to Reece’s cheese: an entrepreneur with some big ideas who wants to add Lord Mayor to his impressive and eclectic resume, and turn Perth into a city full of electric cars. Standing in the way of both Gen Y candidates is a popular 2-term incumbent and baby boomer: Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi. The bookies have Lisa as the runaway favourite, yet Reece and Mike may have timed their ‘David vs. Goliath’ attempts to seize power perfectly, with an investigation from The Corruption and Crime Commission looming over her head. The stage is set for an explosive postal election, where three candidates with very different ideas about how to rule a capital city will clash head to head. The results are one thing, how this battle unfolds is quite another. Let the games begin!
Nowra, a beautiful intersection of some of Australia’s most alluring beaches, rain-forests, mountains, and farmland, has fallen hard to the hand of Ice. Tom Abood, a young local that left his hometown to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker, returns to find out if a handful of locals have what it takes to beat the ever-spreading scourge of Ice. Follow Tom as he meets up with familiar faces of his past to see if Nowra can be more than just the end of the line.
Disillusioned by a revival of public shaming via social media, filmmaker Mike Nayna confronts the real-world damage caused by an online furore he created. In 2012, Mike Nayna uploaded a shaming video that sparked international media attention, resulted in two gaol terms and inspired a surprise spate of copycat incidents. But while the narrative of good conquering prejudice played out on computer screens around the world, a far more complex and morally ambiguous story was taking place. Through exploring the untold story behind the high profile public shaming, Mike must face the unintended consequences of his ‘digitlanism’.
