Is Truth in the Eye of the Beholder?

Wolf Koenig describes cinema as “telling a lie in order to tell the truth”.

Documentarians, feature filmmakers, actors, writer and TV producers are all in the business of storytelling, but when real life stories are portrayed on screen whose truth is really being told? At what point does truth become a casualty to storytelling, and how do storytellers draw the line?

Presented by Metro Screen, The Walkley Foundation, and MEAA.  

Panelists confirmed so far:

Michael Cordell (CJZ)

Michael Cordell is one of Australia’s most established producers and directors. His projects straddle many genres and have won numerous awards. House of Hancock is his most recent drama credit. Earlier drama productions include The Outlaw Michael Howe for ABC and The Great Mint Swindle for the Nine Network in 2013. He is currently developing a television adaption of Shane Warne the Musical. In the factual genre Michael is Executive Producer of Bondi Rescue, now in it’s tenth season and a six-time Logie winner. In recent years he was EP on true crime series Wanted, the documentary feature JFK: The Smoking Gun. He also oversees production on the long-running Two Men… series featuring Tim Flannery and John Doyle. Two Men in China screened on the ABC in 2014. Michael is EP and writer on the ground-breaking SBS series Go Back to Where You Came From that has won a Logie, two Walkley nominations, two UN Media Awards and SPAA Independent Producer of the Year. In an Australian first the format also won the Rose d’Or for the best international TV production of 2011 and an International Emmy in 2013. It is now in its third series.

Cathy Scott 

Catherine Scott is an independent Director/Producer in Australia. She was a former member of the Paper Tiger TV collective for ten years in New York City. She was Director/ Co-writer of Selling Sickness and Director/Co-producer of the Walkley award-winning Business Behind Bars screened on SBS and many TV markets around the world. Her productions include Breathless; Drawing the Line at Pitston and Staking a Claim in Cyberspace. She has been a frequent Coordinating Producer/Director for Deep Dish TV producing Who’s Afraid of the Little Yellow School Bus?, Lock Down USA, (WNET) The Last Graduation. Cathy was a coordinator and Co-producer of the Gulf Crisis TV Project, a timely ten-part series about the Gulf War by Paper Tiger TV and the Deep Dish Network, aired on PBS affiliates nationally, Channel Four (UK), SBS television (Australia). Catherine produced TV Connections, which was part of the Signal to Noise series, and ITVS funded project broadcast on the PBS network in the USA. In 2011 her documentary Scarlet Road was shortlisted for the Walkley Documentary Award.

Rachel Wotton

Was the subject of the documentary Scarlet Road is that explored the life of Australian Rachel Wotton, a sex worker who works with clients who have disabilities.

Mark Davis

Mark is one of Australia’s foremost video journalists. He’s won a Logie and five Walkley Awards, including the prestigious Gold Walkley for Blood Money, a Dateline report in 2000 on the funding of pro-Indonesian militias in East Timor. In recent years, he has gained unprecedented access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; secured the first interviews with two of the Bali Nine; gained worldwide attention via the Dateline website for his profile of Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders and filed two explosive reports on the secretive Manus Island detention centre, Manus Whistleblower and Manus Insider.

Janice Peterson – moderator

Janice Petersen has spent more than 15 years working as a cross platform journalist and news presenter. Each weeknight Janice presents SBS World News at 6.30pm, alongside fellow anchor Anton Enus. Janice brings to SBS a solid background in journalism after many years at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation where she reported on and covered breaking news events right across Australia. In her current role, she regularly interviews leading news makers from world leaders to celebrities and has contributed live reports and updates on major national and international news stories.

The bar will open immediatley after the panel so people stay to continue the conversation over, network and enjoy the spectacular view.

*$4 Booking fee and 2.25% transaction fee applies. POWERED BY THE TICKET GROUP. 

TICKETS

If you are a MEAA member please email lauren.dixon@walkleys.com with your membership number to receive the code for complimentary tickets.