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Filmography
Submariners (2006)
6 x 1 hour documentary series for SBS and RDF International
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Get up close and personal with the crew of HMAS Rankin - the newest of Australia's controversial Collins Class Submarines - as they sail half way around the world to take on the best of the US Navy.
An observational style documentary series that follows the men and women aboard HMAS Rankin - the newest of Australia's Collin's Class submarines - as they undertake a journey from Western Australia to Korea, Japan, Hawaii and back home again.
Submariners is an underwater road movie. Any real journey tests those who take it. In this case, the submarine - a very sophisticated but slightly cantankerous piece of high tech equipment - is tested along with a team of mostly young, keen, professionally minded individuals who have made a remarkable career choice that sees them shut away from the world, their families and friends, for months at a time.
Along the way, they face another more subtle challenge: to overcome the submarine's reputation as a 'dud' - and demonstrate the worth of the boat and their own expertise. Early versions of the submarine leaked, the weapons systems didn't work, the periscopes were faulty and they were noisy underwater. In this series, the Collins submarines are on very public trial for the very first time.
The crew of Rankin are capable, committed individuals that share a powerful fraternal bond. A submarine can be a dangerous place with little margin for error, so they constantly train to deal with any emergency that may endanger their boat - and their lives. They know that even those who may not be their closest friend, will risk everything for the crew and boat.
Shut away with the submariners are a couple of people, each armed with a camera and sound equipment, determined to get to the bottom of the boat's secrets. Secrets are a big thing on submarines. There is the question of national security and not allowing the enemy, or anyone else for that matter, to know the nitty gritty about the submarine. What is the purpose of her mission? How fast can she go? How deep can she dive? How lethal can she be? What noise does her propeller make and what does it look like? What intelligence can she gather? When a submarine leaves port, usually not even other submariners - let alone their families - know where she will go or what she will do. The silent service is top secret - all the more remarkable that they allowed us to spend so much time on board!
The crew have their own secrets as well: the reasons why they became submariners, which they share with each other but do not normally reveal to the outside world. All the same, they take us in and make us welcome, and allow us the rare opportunity to understand the complexity of what it is that drives them.
EPISODE SUMMARIES
Episode 1
Aboard the Australian Collins Class submarine, HMAS Rankin, crew and boat are being tested to the extreme to prove they are up to the challenge of a long overseas deployment.
Episode 2
HMAS Rankin, begins her big adventure. The arrival of female submariners onboard causes problems and mechanical failures threaten to curtail the journey.
Episode 3
HMAS Rankin, continues its journey and home life slips further away. On reaching Korea, the crew celebrates landfall.
Episode 4
A submariner's worst nightmare - trapped on the ocean floor. Australian Collins Class Submarine, HMAS Rankin, sinks to the bottom of the ocean and waits to be rescued by allies.
Episode 5
HMAS Rankin, departs Japan for Hawaii - a three-week journey through oceans nine kilometres deep with no possibility of landfall in between. A cat and mouse war game with the US Navy begins.
Episode 6
The climax to the series. Will the Australian Collins Class Submarine, HMAS Rankin, out manoeuvre the US Navy in a cat and mouse war game leading up to RIMPAC - the world's biggest Naval exercises involving 300 vessels from eight countries?
Awards:
Outstanding Achievement Award, Series Production, 2006 Western Australian Screen Awards.
Outstanding Achievement Award, Music & Sound Design, 2006 Western Australian Screen Awards.
People's Choice Industry Award, 2006 Western Australian Screen Awards.
Special Mention Entertainment Category, 2006 Columbus International Film & Video Festival.