SBS & National Geographic, with December Films (2010)
Writer/director/co-executive producer Sonya Pemberton
Astonishingly, science has uncovered the key to endless life. The bad news is, it can kill you. IMMORTAL reveals nature’s greatest double-edged sword, discovered deep within the DNA of humble pond scum. Awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Medicine, this discovery is now transforming our approach to ageing, stress and cancer.
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FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Awards
2011 Best Science & Nature, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival
2011 Special Jury Mention, Tisza Mozi International Science Film Festival, Hungary
2011 Grand Jury Prize, Finalist, Paris Science Film Festival
2011 EUREKA Award for Science Journalism, Finalist, Australia
2011 ATOM Awards, Best Science, Finalist, Australia
2011 SCIENEMA, Best Documentary, Finalist, Australia
2011 Popular Science, Finalist, BANFF Rockies, Canada
2011 Best Documentary, Finalist, Vedere La Scienza, Italy
2011 Special Jury REMI Award, WorldFest, Houston USA
2010 Best Science, Montana CINE International Film Festival, USA
2010 Best Educational Film, Montana CINE International Film Festival USA
2010 Silver Award, Australian Cinematographers Society, Victoria
Festivals
2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, in competition
2011 Paris Science Film Festival, in competition
2011 Tisza Mozi International Science Film Festival, Hungary, in competition
2011 SCIENEMA, Australia, in competition
2011 “Rockies” BANFF, Canada, official selection
2011 Vedere La Scienza, Italy, official selection
2010 Montana CINE International Film Festival, official selection
2010 WorldFest, Houston USA, official selection
“This film is a real winner… Top-drawer viewing. ”
Sydney Morning Herald & The Age December 2, 2010
“Intriguing…remarkable… an uplifting film, with stunning visuals.”
TV Week
ABC & National Geographic, with December Films (2009)
Writer/director/co-executive producer Sonya Pemberton
One in three of us will get cancer at some stage in our lives. From the moment of diagnosis the common cry is “why me?” Now, across the planet, a select group of scientists is hunting cancer-causing infections. Startling new evidence is revealing that viruses and bacteria are triggering some of the biggest killers of our time. And, believe it or not, this is good news.
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Awards
2010 Best Science Writer – Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards
2010 Special Jury REMI Award - WorldFest, Houston
2010 Best Editing - RealScreen Awards, Los Angeles
2010 Finalist Best Documentary Special - RealScreen Awards, Los Angeles
2010 Finalist Best Documentary Science, Technology & the Environment - ATOM Awards
2010 Finalist - Scinema Festival of Science Film, Canberra
2010 Finalist – Luminous Awards, Melbourne
2009 Silver Award - Australian Cinematographers Society, Victoria
Festivals
2010 International Science Film Festival (Athens)
2010 WorldFest, Houston
2010 Beijing International Documentary Festival, China
2010 FIFO, Tahiti International Film Festival
2010 Paris Science Film Festival
2010 AFI/SilverDocs, Washington
2010 Scinema Festival of Science Film, Canberra
2010 Montana CINE International Film Festival
ABC & Zapruders’ Other Films (2009)
Writer/director/supervising producer Sonya Pemberton
IIn an age of salacious, youth-oriented media, Andrew Denton is heading in the opposite direction and seeking the stories of our elders.
ELDERS explores six very different lives in search of that often undervalued treasure - wisdom. Some of these elders are well known to us - Alan Alda, Clive James, and Richard Dawkins. Others may be less so - indigenous leader Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, human rights advocate Helen Bamber, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
Broadcast ABC 1, November 2009
Sales
ABC & Zapruders' Other Films (2008)
Writer/director/supervising producer Sonya Pemberton
What is it like to lose your mind? And can you get it back again? Remarkable stories from the ‘ghosts in our midst’ - the mentally ill.
“Don't think "Mental illness, how depressing, I'll watch Law & Order instead". Please, please, please watch this, and tell your friends and family and colleagues, bus drivers, shopkeepers and everyone you see in the street to watch. It's important.”
Gordon Farrer, THE AGE, April 7, 2008
29% audience share (Oz Tam ratings 2008)
2008 LIFE Award (Winner), 2008 WA Mental Health Good Outcomes Award (Winner), 2008 Australian & NZ Mental Health Service Achievement Award (Winner), 2008 Queensland Mental Health Week Achievement Award (Highly Commended), 2008 Human Rights Medals & Awards (Highly Commended), 2008 Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia (Special Commendation)
Angels & Demons - view program
ABC (2007)
Executive producer Sonya Pemberton
Writer/director/producer Dr Richard Smith
Nearly 7 billion of us depend on it. Yet few of us know what it is, where it comes from or how it’s shaping the very future of life on earth. A 90-minute documentary feature.
“ A tremendously important film… if you want to understand climate change this is must watch TV”
DR TIM FLANNERY – palaeontologist, author and Australian of the Year (2007)
“A thoughtful, surprising and really important film”
DR DAVID SUZUKI – author and presenter “The Nature of Things” CBC
Winner, 2007 Jackson Hole Film Festival, Best Earth Sciences & Special Jury Recognition Award, 2007 Paris Science Film Festival Best Earth Science, 2007 International Wildlife Film Festival Best Television Program, Best Educational Film & Best Script, 2007 Eureka Prize for Science Journalism
ABC (2004)
Writer/director Sonya Pemberton
How a maverick Australian scientist had the curious foresight to patent 95% of the DNA of every species on earth; the so-called Junk.
“….A remarkable documentary that sets new benchmarks for television science programs.”
Frank Howarth, Director of the Australian Museum.
Winner of the Silver Prize, Beijing Science Film Festival, 2004, $10,000 Premiers Literary Prize 2004, $10,000 Eureka Prize for Science Journalism, 2004, New York Film Festival Finalist 2004
Genius of Junk - Preview & Sales
ABC & Tattooed Media (2003)
Writer/Director Sonya Pemberton
Strange creatures, ten times smaller than any known life form, with a bizarre appetite for plastic and relatives that may have come from Mars. Are they really alive?
Winner, 2003 $10,000 Eureka Prize for Science Journalism, 2002 Grand Prix Beijing Science Film Festival, 2003 Finalist New York Film Festival
“ OUTSTANDING JOB! … Tells the wonderful story of how radical ideas are
treated by the scientific community.
Dr Everett Gibson, Leader Mars Meteorite Research Team, NASA -JSC
Battle of the Brains, ABC (EP)
Winner’s Guide to the Nobel Prize, ABC (EP)
Secret World of Sleepwalkers, ABC (EP)
Home Truths, ABC (writer/director)
First Person – Body and Soul, SBS (writer/director)
Primal Instincts, ABC, CBC (script editor)
Future Tense, Discovery Channel, SBS
Getting Somewhere, ABC (writer/director)
EXANDIS Project, CSIRO (writer/director/supervising producer)