First international format deal of Go Back To Where You Came From set to air in Denmark
A Danish version of Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder’s award-winning factual series Go Back To Where You Came From will be the first in a long list of international versions to go to air.
Called Send Dem Hjem, or Send Them Home, the Danish version was filmed over 25 days through Afghanistan, Turkey, Greece and Danish immigration camps and will go to air on network TV2 from Thursday.
The production from Cordell Jigsaw first aired on SBS in 2011. It later won one of the most prestigious awards in global television – the Rose D’Or.
Nick Murray, CEO of Australian production company CJZ, said: “While the accolades are always celebrated and appreciated, knowing Australian ideas are then experienced by viewers around the globe is especially rewarding. Clearly the refugee crisis is a global one and the Go Back format allows the story to be told from a local perspective.”
Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder has sold the format to nine different countries including USA, Netherlands, Sweden and South Africa.
Series producer Rick McPhee said: “I’ve spoken to producers in other countries making their own versions of ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’ and they’re going through the same emotions we did before we set off – a combination of excitement and trepidation. Despite huge amounts of planning, they know they’ll be confronted with unknowns when they take inexperienced travellers and a film crew to the most dangerous parts of the world. The Danish version sounds incredible. We can’t wait to see all the finished products.”
Go Back To Where You Came From has been one of SBS’s highest rating local programs in recent years.
The first local series took regular Australians with varying views on immigration to the refugee camps in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The second series took outspoken media personalities on a similar trip to Somalia and Afghanistan.
The series also won an AACTA award in January for Best Documentary Series.
