SBS and NITV will premiere unmissable documentaries and current affairs, adding to its line-up ahead of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum
- Feature-length documentary You Can Go Now starring activist and award-winning artist Richard Bell premieres on Sunday 24 September at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS.
- Four-part documentary series Rebel with a Cause, featuring First Nations trailblazers across media, politics, poetry and law premieres on Sunday 1 October at 9pm on NITV and SBS.
- Special episodes of Dateline and Insight will be presented by Walkley Award-winning journalist Karla Grant airing in September and October.
- Current affairs program The Point: Referendum Road Trip continues its journey around the continent elevating community voices on Country, airing Tuesdays on NITV and SBS.
- SBS’s network-wide offering includes ongoing comprehensive coverage across NITV News, SBS News and SBS Audio in more than 60 languages, and live coverage on the day of the referendum on NITV.
As Australia prepares to vote in a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament on 14 October 2023, SBS is continuing to provide multiplatform and multilingual news and information across its network. Over the coming weeks there will also be new program premieres added to its comprehensive referendum line-up, to help Australians make an informed decision when casting their vote.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) will premiere three landmark documentaries which explore First Nations trailblazers over the decades in Rebel with a Cause, the life and work of activist and artist Richard Bell in You Can Go Now, and Indigenous suicide in the Kimberley and the people making a difference in its prevention in Keeping Hope.
SBS will also present special episodes of flagship current affairs programs Insight and Dateline, guest presented by proud Western Arrernte woman, and Walkley award-winning presenter and Executive Producer of Living Black, journalist Karla Grant.
On international current affairs program Dateline , premiering on Tuesday 19 September at 9.30pm on SBS and simulcast on NITV, Karla travels to Norway on a deeply personal journey to understand how the Sámi peoples’ Indigenous Parliament has worked over the past three decades.
Insight premieres on Tuesday 10 October at 8.30pm on SBS and NITV, bringing together a group of diverse Australians to discuss whether they’re planning to vote “Yes” or “No” and the conversations they are having with friends, family, colleagues and neighbours to try and sway others to their side.
Feature-length documentary You Can Go Now starring activist and award-winning artist Richard Bell premieres onSunday 24 September at 8.30pm on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand. The confronting program celebrates 50 years of First Nations activism in Australia seen through the lens of contemporary Aboriginal artist and provocateur Richard Bell.
Examining Bell’s extraordinary life and work, You Can Go Now features a wealth of prominent cultural and political personalities such as proud Wiradjuri woman, Minister for Indigenous Australian, Linda Burney, Munanjahi and Yugambeh woman, professor and Indigenist Health Expert, Chelsea Watego, Kamilaroi and Ngemba man, community leader and political activist Bob Weatherall, and many more.
The four-part documentary series Rebel with A Cause celebrates four iconic and outstanding Queensland-based First Nations rebels - Senator Neville Bonner, poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, magistrate Pat O’Shane and media icon Tiga Bayles – who put everything on the line for change. The program airs weekly from Sunday 1 October at 9pm on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand.
Hour-long documentary Keeping Hope explores the Kimberley region in Australia’s far northwest, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, The Clearing, Savage River), a proud Nyikina man and actor who grew up in the Kimberley, returns to interrogate these alarming suicide statistics and meet remarkable people making a real difference in suicide prevention. The documentary premieres on NITV and SBS On Demand on Sunday 10 September at 8.40pm and encores on SBS on Wednesday 13 September at 8.30pm.
Tanya Denning-Orman, a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman and Director of Indigenous Content at SBS, said: “Whether its NITV providing a vital platform for elevating the diversity of First Nations voices, our unique ability to reach and engage Australians in their preferred language through SBS Audio, or trusted and reliable insights into the latest developments from SBS News, across the SBS network we’re playing a crucial role in supporting all Australians to be informed when they vote on October 14.
“As well as providing trusted, accurate and reliable coverage and context across our news and current affairs, our role as a network is also to inspire all Australians with stories from the world’s oldest storytellers. We’re proud to premiere new documentaries from NITV as we head towards the referendum, which explore powerful stories of those driving change for a better future in Keeping Hope, and the changemakers and trailblazers who have come before us in You Can Go Now and Rebel with a Cause, as well as adding special episodes of Dateline and Insight led by award-winning and pioneering Indigenous affairs journalist, Karla Grant, to our extensive line-up designed to empower all Australians to be a part of this historic conversation.”
Documentary premieres across the SBS network include:
Keeping Hope
Sunday 10 September at 8.40pm on NITV and Wednesday September 13 at 8.30pm on SBS. Also available on SBS On Demand.
This one-hour documentary sees Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, The Clearing, Savage River), a proud Nyikina man and actor who grew up in the Kimberley, return to Country to interrogate the alarming statistics that the Kimberley has one of the highest suicide rates in Australia, with the vast majority being young Indigenous men. Mark meets remarkable people making a real difference in suicide prevention, to explore what’s being done in communities, and what is still needed. Mark meets remarkable people making a real difference in suicide prevention, to explore what’s being done in communities, and what is still needed.
You Can Go Now
Premiering Sunday 24 September at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS. Also available on SBS On Demand.
This bold feature-length documentary stars Richard Bell, an activist masquerading as an artist. Richard’s confrontational work and his irreverent attitude has stirred the Australian art world and is lauded internationally. From a childhood in a tin shack in rural Queensland to the lofty halls of the Tate Modern, Bell’s success is profound and unflinching. At a time when Australia is contemplating voice, truth and treaty, Bell’s ideas cannot be ignored.
You Can Go Now will be subtitled in Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean on SBS On Demand.
You Can Go Now is produced by Good Thing Productions Company Pty Ltd for NITV. Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with the Adelaide Film Festival fund. Financed with support from VicScreen and Screen Queensland. Local distribution by Madman Entertainment.
You Can Go Now writer and director Larissa Behrendt said: “Like Richard, I grew up shaped by the politics of Redfern. His artwork speaks to that world view. Many First Nations people see our aspirations in his work, and as his profile internationally grows, it was timely to bring a profile of this ‘activist masquerading as an artist’ to a broader Australian audience.”
Alex West, Screen Australia’s Head of Documentary, said: “In You Can Go Now, Richard Bell’s extraordinary life and provocative work provides a lens through which audiences can contemplate the last 50 years of First Nations activism in Australia. Presented with a diversity of influential cultural and political figures, everyone who watches this powerful documentary will gain insight into one of our nation’s most vital artists, our complex history and the voices that have helped shape it. It’s an absolute must see!”
Rebel with a Cause
Weekly from Sunday 1 October at 9pm on NITV and SBS.
This four-part documentary series hones in on the political dimension of the personal, showcasing the unparalleled efforts of four First Nations trailblazers who altered the course of Australian history. Interweaving never-before-seen archival material with interviews with loved ones and peers, Rebel with a Cause dives into the philosophies that guided Senator Neville Bonner, magistrate Pat O’Shane, poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal and media icon Tiga Bayles to present an inspirational, vital account of First Nations-led change-making.
Rebel with a Cause will be subtitled in Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.
Rebel with a Cause is an Inkey Media Pty Ltd production for NITV. Principal production funding from Screen Australia and NITV. Financed with support from Screen Queensland.
Dena Curtis and Citt Williams, producers of Rebel with a Cause, said: “Each episode of Rebel with a Cause has been created to intrigue and inspire audiences with what makes our heroes tick as they face unfathomable odds time and again. The episodes unpack the trail each rebel forged, putting everything both professional and personal on the line for change - where there is triumph, there is sacrifice and heartbreak.
It is our hope that these works inspire the next generations coming through - to give them a more fiercely articulated and tangible eyewitness grasp of both what has come before and what can be done with courage and a cause to make change.”
Angela Bates, Head of First Nations at Screen Australia, said: “First Nations-led change-making is at the very heart of Rebel with a Cause. This program celebrates the indomitable spirit of First Nations trailblazers, who against the odds created significant pathways for future generations. Audiences will be taken on a captivating journey as these inspiring and personal stories are brought to life, shining a light on these outstanding and iconic First Nations heroes."
Comprehensive news and current affairs across the SBS network :
SBS and NITV will share more details about its programming for the day of the referendum, as well as in the days following, as Australia reacts to a result, in the coming weeks.
Stay informed on the 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum from across the SBS Network, including First Nations perspectives through NITV. Visit the SBS Voice Referendum portal at sbs.com.au/VoiceReferendum to access articles, videos and podcasts in over 60 languages, or stream the latest news and analysis, docos and entertainment for free, at the Voice Referendum hub on SBS On Demand.