Girt by Sea
Girt by Sea, An Archival History of the Australian Coast.
ABC1 Sunday, 16 Feb 10:20pm
Australians have a special affinity with the ocean. Our major cities hug the coastline and the beaches are the site of some of our best childhood memories, the most engrossing natural views and also our greatest fears. Girt by Sea is a cinematic love letter to the coastline of Australia - a poetic celebration of our deep connection to the sea as documented over the past 100 years. Drawing exclusively from archival footage set to an enigmatic score by The Panics, director Shane McNeil weaves a lyrical and contemplative interpretation of Australia�s coastal history.
Watch Girt by Sea on ABC iview
What does the Australian coastline mean to you? Share your favourite clips and start crafting your own archival journey around the country.
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The Panics
In Girt by Sea, director Shane McNeil draws on the extensive visual collections held by The National Film and Sound Archive and ABC Archives along with a mass of crowd-sourced home movies, to weave a lyrical and contemplative interpretation of Australia�s coastal history.
Set to an original score by award-winning Australian band The Panics, the film takes the viewer on an immersive visual journey around the shoreline of our island continent - exploring the role the coast has played in shaping our national identity; a place of relaxation and leisure, a place for work and industry, and occasionally, a place of terror.
From surf lifesavers on Bondi Beach to ship-building in Whyalla, from the sweeping coastline of the Great Ocean Road to sandy Xmas pilgrimages to Cottesloe, from Queensland�s unique coral reefs to tearful departures to foreign wars from Freemantle, and from Indigenous fishermen of Groote Eylandt down to Tasmania�s sentinel lighthouses, Girt By Sea celebrates the iconic, evocative, and often nostalgic place the coast holds in our collective heart.
Girt by Sea will have its world premiere at Perth International Arts Festival on Sunday February 9 accompanied by The Panics who will perform their enigmatic score live.
Girt by Sea will broadcast on ABC 1 on Sunday February 16 at 10.20pm.
A free outdoor screening on Saturday 1 March will take place in Albany as part of the Great Southern Festival.
- WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY
Shane McNeil (SA) - PRODUCED BY
Heather Croall (SA) and Kate Separovich (WA) - Based on UK Format
From The Land To The Sea Beyond (2012) - Edited by
Merlin Cornish and Sean O'Keeffe - Music Composed by
The Panics - Score Mixed by
Mal Luker (WA) - Archive provided by
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Film & Sound Archive of Australia and social media-sourced contributors - Funded By
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Film & Sound Archive of Australia, Perth International Arts Festival, ScreenWest and Screen Australia - Produced in Western Australia
Shane McNeil | Writer/Director
Shane McNeil lectured in Film and Drama at various universities for over ten years, before co-founding the Screen Studies course at Flinders University, where he was Head of Production. Upon leaving academia, Shane was a writer on the children�s TV series Chuck Finn (2000-01) before directing a series of controversial music videos for The Mark of Cain (2001-02).
Shane has directed the AFC-funded short feature, The 13th House (2003), The Moment (2011), and The Bully (2009), which premiered at the 2009 Adelaide Film Festival and won Best Short Film at the 2009 Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards and Best Performance at the 2010 SA Screen Awards.
Shane currently works at the Media Resource Centre as their Manager of Programs & Development - specialising in project and script development. In 2010-11, he successfully facilitated the SAFC�s inaugural TV MiniLab Program with all five national broadcasters, in partnership with the MRC.
Through his new production company Twitch Films, Shane is currently writing/producing a multi-directional, online comic book series entitled Monsters of The Deep, and is writing/directing a low budget feature entitled Wish � adapted from the acclaimed novel by Peter Goldsworthy � supported through the SAFC�s FilmLab program.
Heather Croall | Producer
Heather Croall's career has included working as an independent documentary film and interactive media producer and director, festival director, company director, conference director, producer of marketplaces in the creative industries and a consultant.
Heather has also worked in government film funding agency - the South Australian Film Corporation - as Digital Media Project Officer, Senior Project Officer and Acting Manager of Industry Programmes. From 2003 � 2006 Heather was the director of the Australian International Documentary Conference.
In 2005, Heather was the recipient of the Australian Film Commission Fellowship Program and was awarded a fellowship to research international developments in cross-platform and digital production with attachments in Boston, Toronto and London.
Since March 2006, Heather has been the artistic director of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival. In that time, Heather has also run over a dozen Crossover Labs around the world.
Most recently, Heather produced the critically acclaimed archive documentary From The Sea To The Land Beyond for the BBC in 2012.
Kate Separovich | Producer
Kate Separovich is an emerging West Australian Producer with experience in exhibition and production management. She has worked in the UK and Australia for companies including Hoyts Cinemas, MTV, Done and Dusted, Southern Light Films, Electric Pictures, Cordell Jigsaw, Essential Entertainment and Media on live events, documentaries, feature films and TV series. Kate was elected to the board of The Film and Television Institute in 2012 for a two year term and in 2013 was a committee member for the Professional Film Crew of Western Australia.
Kate's current diverse slate includes film, documentary and TV series projects. She is interested in projects that address social issues, cultural or historical aspects of human life or are projects that her mum would like to watch.
Comments (19)
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diana neubacher :
26 Jan 2015 3:54:44pm
I would love to purchase a copy - I saw a young me in it together with a friend since departed and a glimpse of my old team, The Manly Ladies' March Past
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alan :
10 Dec 2014 7:48:20pm
will girt by sea ever be release on cd or dvd
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ARC :
23 Jun 2014 10:42:40am
I thought it was so wonderful I've been checking regularly for its release on DVD - what's taking so long?
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Fi :
26 May 2014 11:25:32am
Please release this on DVD! Such a unique, clever and mesmerising doco.
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anthony :
06 Mar 2014 2:04:32pm
Please tell me the soundtrack will be available. Was stunning in its richness.
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zedoz :
02 Mar 2014 4:11:25pm
A wonderful film, I'll be buying my a copy of this as soon as it is available.
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arjay :
21 Feb 2014 12:06:30pm
I loved this show, went into my ABC shop to buy the DVD and the soundtrack but not yet available. Can someone please advise when both might be available to purchase?
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Mick Martin :
17 Feb 2014 11:23:42pm
That was fantasic.My mother & aunty were in it.Is it available on the WWW or can I buy a copy?
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Peter Cunningham :
17 Feb 2014 6:50:00pm
What a thoroughly captivating documentary constructed in a most unusual style. I missed half due to travel from Chile. I just hole this is aired again, and that every school is engaged in using the docco as a most valuable education tool for kids of nearly all ages. COMMENDABLE. Now - is it on DVD?? PC
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Paul :
17 Feb 2014 6:34:08pm
Came across this documentary by accident. How wonderful and magical. Thank you. I would love to own the soundtrack. The music was a perfect complement to the imagery.
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Keith :
17 Feb 2014 3:39:43pm
Absolute success. Should be compulsory viewing by every politician to see how we used to treat foreigners arriving by sea. Only criticism, credits rolled through too quickly.
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snapoutovit :
17 Feb 2014 8:52:16am
Mesmerising.
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Ian Jones :
17 Feb 2014 2:44:42am
My god!
That was fantastic!
I'm in awe of what you've done with our great coastline, combined with fantastic modern music, no comment needed, just brilliant. -
Paul D. PATTI :
16 Feb 2014 11:59:57pm
Heather,Kate and Shane; standing ovation please.
I have never seen a visual arts production that shouted out to me like "Girt by Sea".
It was as though this SA coastal boy from the 60's had flipped.
Your use of "no narrative" images was brilliant- as was the music by "Panic" - so reflective - I was invited to find warm memories to fill the silence.
You have made me want to seek the "return to sea change" my heart and soul needs.
I don't know whether to praise or chastise you. :D Well Done. -
tlc :
16 Feb 2014 10:59:05pm
The footage....
The narration....
The soundtrack....
What a beautiful piece of art in film.
Thank you...
The edges of Australia from every perspective...
the good...
the bad...
the majesty... -
DAVID SMITH :
16 Feb 2014 11:50:30am
There are more than 50 Island Nations on this planet, Australia being just one. Nostalgia is universal, the beach and all who enjoy, work and arrive, have personal accounts and memories, but not one encapsulating dream or idea about who we are, where we have been and more importantly where we are heading. Girt by sea may well be another romantic notion of this idea.
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Deborah Clark :
06 Feb 2014 11:28:17am
What a terrific idea for a documentary. I'm really looking forward to this. Well done ABC for continually screening interesting, relevant, thought-provoking aspects of Australian life in drama, documentary, current affairs and the arts. In my opinion the ABC is very clearly on the side of Australia in all aspects of its operation.
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Tim Kempton :
25 Jan 2015 4:06:16pm
Why is it that the modern footage in this documentary shown in 4:3 format with a grainy texture added. Just watched it and it seems totally dishonest to be showing a fly by of the Gold Coast with the Q1 tower standing proudly above the rest of the buildings with a grainy shot in narrow screen like it was shot in the 1970's when the building began construction in 2002 and was finished in 2006...
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