What Will Become of Us
Sunday 16 August at 7.30pm on HISTORY
Westfield Corporation’s Sir Frank Lowy AC revisits his haunting past to help him make a life changing decision.
Official Selection – Tribeca Film Festival 2019 and Sydney Film Festival 2020
Foxtel is proud to present the documentary feature What Will Become of Us airing Sunday, August 16 at 7.30pm on the HISTORY channel . The documentary follows Sir Frank Lowy, the billionaire co-founder of Westfield Corporation, as he faces a dilemma: whether or not to sell his multinational company. Standing at a crossroads, Sir Frank must look to his past to shape his perspective on this monumental decision.
“When I think of that young Jewish boy fleeing the Nazis I find it hard to believe how I ended up here,” Says Sir Frank.
Frank Lowy arrived in Australia in 1952 aged 21, haunted by the mystery behind the disappearance of his father in the Holocaust. In this documentary, Lowy speaks about his survival instinct and drive to succeed, and in recent years, caring for his beloved wife, Shirley, who has Alzheimer’s.
“Sir Frank Lowy is a titan of Australian and global business, whose early life experiences have been shaped by some of the biggest moments in history. This documentary presents a deeply personal journey of hardship, strength and resilience and is an extraordinary Australian story. Foxtel is proud to showcase this moving and emotional documentary,” said Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television.
Oscar-nominated documentary director Steven Cantor brings us a personal behind-the-scenes look into Frank Lowy’s life. With the help of famed writer David Kushner, Frank revisits his meager beginnings, family tragedies, struggles, and triumphs as he seeks an answer to the daunting question of how to move forward.
“The first time I met Frank Lowy, I knew I wanted to make a film about him. Both his past and present day goals and struggles were rich with storytelling possibilities…While we were making the movie, I liked to joke with him that at the age where most of us were worried about making school sports teams or our first kiss or the pimples on our foreheads, he had fled the Eastern European anti-Semitism, evaded the Nazis for a couple of years, became a refugee, ended up in a detainment camp in Cyprus, and finally made his way to Palestine where he was conscripted into the army to fight as a commando in the Arab-Israeli War…” said Director Steven Cantor.
Born in what is now Slovakia in 1930, he survived World War II living with his mother in Budapest and evading capture by the Nazis. His father and many other family members died in concentration camps. In 1946 he boarded a refugee ship bound for Palestine. He was detained on arrival by British authorities and interned in a detention camp in Cyprus. He later made his way to Palestine, joined the Golani Brigade and fought in the 1948 War of Independence which led to the establishment of the State of Israel.
In 1952 Lowy left Israel for Australia and started a business delivering small goods. In 1953, he met fellow immigrant John Saunders. In 1960 they created Westfield Development Corporation and developed shopping centres throughout Australia before expanding to the United States in the 1970s, New Zealand in the mid-1990s and the United Kingdom in 2000.
In 1999 the University of New South Wales conferred upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in recognition of his contribution to business and the community. In 2000 Lowy was awarded Australia’s highest civilian honour being made a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC) for services to business and philanthropy. He was knighted in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours (UK) for services to business and philanthropy.
He served two five-year terms as a member of the board of Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia. He also served for 10 years as a Director of UK media group, Daily Mail and General Trust plc (UK) until 2007.
He has served in several corporate, community and philanthropic roles in Australia and internationally, including as Chairman of Football Federation Australia (2003-2015); as founder and Chairman of the Lowy Institute for International Policy; Chairman of the Institute for National Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv; and, founder and Chairman of the Lowy Medical Research Institute.
Coast Australia - Season 4
COAST AUSTRALIA RETURNS FOR SEASON FOUR
Starts Monday, January 11 at 7.30pm
Stream all episodes from January 11 On Demand
Or watch new episodes weekly on the HISTORY channel Hosted by internationally renowned archaeologist and historian Neil Oliver
With co-presenters Professor Tim Flannery, Dr Alice Garner, Dave Johnston, Professor Emma Johnston and Dr Dean Miller
The highly anticipated brand-new season of Coast Australia , hosted by world-renowned archaeologist and historian Neil Oliver, returns for a captivating fourth season on Monday, January 11 at 7.30pm, with all eight episodes available to stream On Demand or watch weekly on the HISTORY channel.
This season, Neil and his crew of co-presenters journey farther and wider than ever before, giving Australian viewers a first-class ticket to a host of spectacular coastlines from their own loungerooms, while offering inspiration to travel within this vast and beautiful continent in the future.
In season four, Neil visits eight stunning coastlines around Australia. Joined by palaeontologist-explorer Professor Tim Flannery; marine ecologist Professor Emma Johnston; historian Dr Alice Garner; marine biologist Dr Dean Miller and introducing brand new co-presenter, Indigenous archaeologist Dave Johnston, Neil and the team set out to investigate and capture the most fascinating stories around the edge of Australia, a blossoming nation built on an ancient land.
Said Jim Buchan, FOXTEL’s General Manager, Factual and General Entertainment, “We’re thrilled to announce the return of our most spectacular and popular local commission. Coast Australia season four will return at a time when Australians are appreciating more than ever how wonderfully unique, beautiful and special our isolated continent is.
“Since 2013, the Coast Australia franchise has been a true phenomenon for the History channel in both performance and in redefining how history can be told in such a contemporary and highly entertaining fashion. The local stories, characters and Australian history we’ve captured over the years is priceless.”
From the rugged West Coast of Tasmania to one of Australia’s most remote territories off the coast of Western Australia, to the Bight in the south and the tip of Cape York in the north, Coast Australia takes audiences to breathtaking and hidden corners of the country, revealing unknown fables rich with history and character.
The territories explored in season four are:
Episode 1: Great Australian Bite, South Australia
Episode 2: West Coast Tasmania
Episode 3: Melbourne (Port Philip Bay), Victoria
Episode 4: Arnhem Land & The Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory
Episode 5: Sydney, New South Wales
Episode 6: Cooktown to Karumba, Far North Queensland
Episode 7: Bunbury to Geraldton, Western Australia
Episode 8: Cocos & Christmas Islands
Coast Australia is produced by Phil Smith and executive produced by Cathy Scott at Great Southern Television for FOXTEL. It is available to watch on the HISTORY channel and to stream for FOXTEL subscribers On Demand via internet connected IQ boxes, on smartphones and tablets using the FOXTEL GO app and via FOXTEL NOW.
C21 reports Foxtel has bought the rights to Secret Nazi Expeditions (6×60’) for History channel. The documentary was produced by Go Button Media for Super Channel in Canada.
Note - US broadcast time.