Melbourne has by far the largest community of young Indians in Australia. Twenty-nine-year-old Dalvinder grew up in Australia with traditional Sikh parents. She’s now under pressure to get married before she turns 30. “In the Indian community, when you reach your late twenties, everyone’s like ‘Oh, when are you getting married? When’s your daughter getting married? When’s your sister getting married’... it’s like chicken going off.” In order to please her dad she opens an account with the world’s largest matrimonial website, Shaadi.com. After a month of dating suitors that fail to impress, she takes matters into her own hands and looks for a partner on Tinder. There she meets 29-year-old tradie Shamsher – who is not the sort of man she was looking for at all. In fact he’s a traditional Sikh and a lot like her own father. Tarun is also 29 and grew up in a middle class Hindu family in India. He’s been in Melbourne for a decade and has a good job in finance. But something’s missing. He’s lonely, and his parents back home are urging him to marry, or he will bring shame on the family. “I have to get married. If I do not get married by thirty, I will be considered as damaged goods.” So Tarun embarks on a rollercoaster journey of speed dating, online searches, and even a trip to India in the hope of finding his perfect match. But as his 30th birthday looms, he realises he can’t do it alone – he must turn to his dad for help. For Dalvinder and Tarun, the search for love is fraught with difficulty as they try to balance the expectations and beliefs of their Indian-born parents, who are increasingly at odds with the values of Australia and with their own hopes and dreams. Surprisingly, arranged marriage remains the preference for many young Indians who are now returning to the tried-and-true methods of the past, despite living in a culture obsessed with romantic love. But add the stress of class and caste barriers – and the
Norfolk Island is five miles long by three miles wide; or as some would say of this close-knit community, five minutes long and three minutes wide when it comes to gossip. As one of Australia’s most remote external territories, and with a local population descended from the legendary Bounty mutineers, it’s no surprise they have their own way of doing things. With their own language, a blend of old seafaring English and Tahitian, and their own hidden culture, many don’t see themselves as Australian – that it says so on their passport is merely ‘a technicality’. But recent hard times have forced the island to reach out to Australia for help, and with mainland help comes mainland rules. A modern day mutiny is brewing offshore.
For more than a year, TV cameras were given unique access into a secret subculture: the 200 families of the Adass Israel community, Australia’s most ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, as they strive to maintain their ancient faith in the modern world. Though they themselves shun television and the seductive temptations and trappings of modernity, they agreed to go on camera for the very first time. But not everyone inside this ultra-strict, ultra-insular and virtually self-sufficient community approved: some members opposed the filming because they view exposure to the outside world as a challenge to their strictly Jewish way of life, which largely comprises of piety and prayer. Told through the eyes of three members – Raizel Fogel, Shlomo Abelesz and Rabbi Aryeh Goldman – Strictly Jewish lifts the lid on this closely guarded Jewish sect, revealing a community steeped in ancient rites and rituals, and managing to maintain an ancient faith more than 5000 years old.
A look behind the scenes of Australia’s most controversial beauty pageant. For 16 years the pageant has attracted the who’s who of Sydney’s Lebanese community, as the daughters of proud families compete to be crowned Miss Lebanon Australia. The documentary is seen through the eyes of the contestants and the pageant’s ‘glam squad’ who create the perfect beauty queen over a five-week period. The winner will go on to compete in the prestigious Miss Lebanon Emigrant Beauty Pageant in Beirut, with a history of past queens going on to achieve international stardom in the Middle East.
Orthodox Chabad Rabbis hit the Aussie bush on a road trip like no other. Dressed in their traditional black suits and fedora hats, the Outback Rabbis embark on a journey filled with surprising and emotional encounters with Aussie outback characters. Leaving the comfort of city life, the two Rabbis and their families head into the heart of Australia and travel the country in a campervan emblazoned with their Jewish mission, rattling into remote Aussie towns in their search for ‘lost Jews’. From lush islands and rainforest in North Queensland to Uluru and the Red Centre, this often humorous and touching documentary travels to some of the most spectacular sights in Australia discovering the hidden world of the Australian Jewish community in the bush.
A documentary chronicling the Cocos Keeling Islands - where Muslims outnumber Christians by more than five to one, and the Southern Star and the Islamic crescent moon sit side by side on the islands’ flag. As Australian strategists eye up the value of the Cocos as a military outpost, the locals are forced to confront that their lives are in the hands of a government almost 6000kms away in Canberra, and they are part of a country that barely even knows they exist. The Cocos Islanders respond by formulating a plan that will ensure they have a voice in determining the future of their homeland. All it requires is for the man who expected to become the next ‘King of the Cocos’ to collaborate closely with the Malay people that his ancestors treated as virtually like slaves. What could possibly go wrong?
Told through the experiences of its frontline cops and the specialised Multicultural Unit, this documentary explores how they police Mirrabooka, a community home to 70% of Perth’s new migrants, 62 different nationalities - a community that speaks over 100 different languages. The delicate and serious issues the officers encounter over a 10-hour shift are astounding. How do you navigate so many complexities, enforce the law, break down cultural barriers, start to build trust, and deal with obscure conundrums like finding a marijuana-laden skip bin in a carpark?
Finding love is a tricky business at the best of times, but for young people with intellectual or learning disabilities, the challenges and stigma surrounding dating and relationships can be overwhelming. Finally, help is on hand. Straight-talking relationship coach Liz Dore is on a mission to break the taboos surrounding love and relationships for all. She's the only coach of her kind in Australia. For the first time, our cameras join her as she helps six young people find love and acceptance on their own terms.
Turban Legend dives into the world of Manjit Gujral and his thriving, high-energy hospitality and events dynasty in Sydney's West. The family business that has been at the heart of the flamboyant Indian Australian scene is now at a crossroads. With the patriarch stepping back and his two ambitious sons Deep and Varun challenging him to modernise, it's a battle of the old and the new. In this closely entwined family business if all goes well there is magic on the horizon. If not, they have everything to lose.
The Secret Life of Death reveals a sneak peek inside one of the oldest family-run funeral homes in Australia - Walter Carter Funerals, which has been based in Bondi Junction since the 1870s. Told through the eyes of two of its youngest and most recent female recruits - Jasmine Cameron, a funeral director, and Amber Coote, the mortuary manager - this observational documentary lifts the lid on one of the last great taboos: death.
Country Town Pride follows the inspirational story of Holly Conroy, a transgender woman from country NSW, as she bids to stage a Mardi Gras in her home town of Wagga Wagga - Australia's No 1 Christian town. As she herself undergoes gender reassignment surgery to complete her transition, Holly has to confront Christian priests, conservative politicians, her homophobic neighbour, and even her own brother as she attempts to pull off the first-ever pride parade in this conservative stronghold. With an official green light from Wagga Wagga City Council, sponsors, supporters and floats ready to roll, will the Wagga locals turn out in force? Or will the town's Christians and conservatives rain on Holly's parade?
This documentary follows four brave Australian stutterers, the youngest aged just 12 and the oldest 64, on a once-in-a-lifetime make-or-break journey to find their voice.
Birdsville Or Bust follows the story of the isolated and iconic Australian outback town of Birdsville. The town's population of just over 100 people mushrooms twice a year.
Nine years ago, an eclectic troupe of drag queens rescued North Ipswich Bowls Club from financial ruin, thanks largely to the spectacular success of the monthly drag show - Taboo. This charming, inspiring story centres on three drag queens, Crystal Heart, Wanda Dparke and 12-year-old Candy Featherbottom, who are now having to save themselves, their careers and their dreams.
