Trauma cleaners clean spaces that no one else will touch – hoarder sites, meth-labs, murder scenes, deaths and suicides. They clean the homes of some of society’s most vulnerable people – the neglected, the lonely, the addicted, and the mentally unwell. When illness forces her away from her beloved trauma cleaning business, Sandra Pankhurst faces up to her traumatic past and begins a search for her natural mother. Meanwhile, her workers approach this difficult work with camaraderie and humour, bringing hope to their clients despite carrying trauma of their own. “Clean” (otherwise known as “The Cleaning Company”) shows us that life is more fragile than we might think, but there is hope and reassurance in human connection.

Director: LACHLAN MCLEOD | Producers: DAVID ELLIOT-JONES, CHARLOTTE WHEATON

Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. RIVER takes its audience on a journey through space and time; spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script create a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honouring the wildness of rivers but also recognising their vulnerability. A profound cinematic and musical reflection on how rivers have shaped both the planet’s elaborate landscapes and all human existence.

Key Creatives: JENNIFER PEEDOM, JO-ANNE McGOWAN, JOSEPH NIZETI, JOHN SMITHSON

Eighth-generation Tasmanian and environmentalist Oliver Cassidy embarks on a life-changing solo rafting trip down the beautiful yet remote Franklin River. His goal is to retrace his late father’s 14-day expedition to attend the blockade that helped to save the World-Heritage listed national park from being destroyed by a huge hydroelectric dam project in the early 80s. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with key players such as Bob Brown and Uncle Jim Everett, the eight-year-long ‘Franklin campaign’ is revealed as the most significant environmental protest in Australia’s history; an inspiring example of the power of nonviolent direct action to bring about lasting change. Physically challenged beyond his limits, Oliver’s journey is one of healing and deeper understanding as he searches for the right way to say ‘goodbye’ to his father.

Key Creatives: CHRIS KAMEN, KASIMIR BURGESS, OLIVER CASSIDY, ANNIE VENABLES, CLAIRE SMITH, NATASHA PINCUS

In 1972, activists erected an Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns opposite Parliament House. Fifty years on, this archival documentary takes a bold dive into a year of incendiary protest and revolutionary change for First Nations people. With a First Nations lens, Director John Harvey has interrogated hours of archive to celebrate the activists who fought so hard to inspire generations to come. Featuring powerful speeches from Paul Coe, Chicka Dixon, Gary Foley, Bobbi Sykes, and Denis Walker, the epic poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the music of Worimi composer Leon Rodgers and many celebrated First Nations performers like Miiesha, King Stingray and Dan Sultan, ‘Still We Rise’ captures the urgency, visceral anger, and defiance of those seeking change and the urgency of their activism resonates across 50 years to our own contemporary reality.

Producer: ANNA GRIEVE | Writer/Director: JOHN HARVEY | Composer: LEON RODGERS | Editor: PATRICK MCCABE

Guided by the animated memories of his Opa, a young Australian jewish man is taken on a journey through Nazi Germany to realise his heritage. He sets out to try to understand the life behind the pages – 80 years after his grandfather fled Germany. When his research leads him down a dark path, he is forced to confront the trauma that has lay buried under the surface of his family’s history, and to understand the significance of his new, little burgundy passport. 

Director/Editor: AARON LUCAS | Producers: ELOISE WALKER, CHRISTINA SCHOEFISCH | Lead Animator ED SMITH | Director of Photography: STEPHEN KORYTKO

Inside Australia’s defamation trial of the century: our most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, suing three pre-eminent newspapers over articles he says falsely accuse him of war crimes. Over more than a hundred days the Federal Court of Australia heard confronting, violent, sometimes scandalous, and at times barely believable evidence in what’s been called Australia’s defamation trial of the century.

Tucked away amongst snow-covered mountains is a tiny Australian town with a dark secret. Journalist Patrick Abboud hears whispers that it was once home to the world’s only ‘gay prison’. A prison that specifically incarcerated gay men. His investigation into what happened inside reveals the full story for the first time. This 8-part queer true-crime journey takes you from underground nightclubs to hidden sex haunts, to remote parts of New Zealand and England. At the centre of it all is a covert government operation to eradicate “the greatest menace to society”: homosexuality. The series has won 9 international awards including the 2022 Walkley award for Best Audio feature, along with a Rose D’Or nomination. Bonus episodes being released in 2023.

Researched, Written and Produced by PATRICK ABBOUD & SIMON CUNICH; Audible Director of Original Podcasts: PAUL HORAN

Dr Henkel’s award-winning career spans more than 30 years as a documentary producer/director and writer, with credits including ‘The Burning Season’, ‘I Told You I Was Ill: Spike Milligan’, ‘Rise of the Eco-Warriors’, and ‘Laura’s Choice’. She is the Director of the WA Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University and is an unfailing supporter of emerging documentary talent.