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Bodyline story among documentaries funded by Screen Australia

The controversial Bodyline Ashes test series is to be the subject of a documentary funded by Screen Australia.

The 1932-33 tour of Australia by the English cricket team remains one of the most controversial sporting events of all time. English captain Douglas Jardine infamously led the aggressive bowling style from his bowlers designed to counteract the skills of Don Bradman.

Altogether, Australian documentaries have been given $2.3 million by Screen Australia, also including a three-part series about Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

There are 10 documentaries that will benefit from the cash, made up of eight single documentaries and two series.

The documentaries are:

AFGHANISTAN: THE AUSTRALIAN WAR
The complete story of Australia’s longest and most expensive modern war told by the generation of Australians who fought it, those who ordered it, our allies and enemies. 

BODYLINE: THE ULTIMATE TEST
This is the story of one of the most extraordinary, well-known, but perhaps least understood, moments of conflict and controversy in the history of sport: the infamous Bodyline test cricket series of 1932/33.

THE BOFFIN, THE BUILDER AND THE BOMBARDIER
The Boffin, the Builder and the Bombardier is a fast-paced, fun, living history documentary in which three mates deconstruct history by reconstructing the devices that made it.

MARY & MOHAMMAD
Mary is 71 years old and has been a Christian all her life. When the government announces the arrival of a detention centre, her local knitting club agrees to knit beanies for the asylum seekers, though Mary is originally not in support. She meets Mohammad, a 26-year-old Muslim from Afghanistan, and begins to question her own beliefs.

THE TIPPING POINTS: OCEANS THE LAST FRONTIER
For generations families have lived off the oceans – and off the grid – on islands across Oceania. But after seasons of extreme weather tracked across these lands, people are now finding themselves facing a whole set of new challenges and the ultimate question: how long before they become climate refugees? This documentary sets out to identify and explore the culprits that are altering the oceans existence and our very way of life.

FRANK GEHRY’S TREEHOUSE
Drawing on a life’s work defined by controversial and ground-breaking ideas, the world’s greatest architect creates his first Australian building in Sydney – where debate already rages over whether it will be an eyesore or icon.

JFK: THE SMOKING GUN
A former undercover Australian police detective/crime writer sets out to uncover the truth behind the JFK assassination.

THE REAL JAWS
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water… a series of fatal shark attacks in Western Australia shows it is anything but.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
A contemporary science documentary series that will take you out of your comfort zone and into a world where you need to think, and then think again…The science is contemporary, counterintuitive and often controversial.

TRUCKING HELL
Behind the wheel of monstrous road trains, daredevil Aussie truckers put their lives on the line to drive some of the world’s toughest roads. Their mission – to haul crucial supplies, thousands of kilometres across the vast island continent of Australia.

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