SBS's blog

Tuesday, 24 February 8:30pm on SBS

Episode three of ‘India Reborn’ examines one of India’s culture clashes – between the popular Bollywood culture and India’s traditional caste system.

‘Manufacturing Dreams’ begins with the wedding of Neha Chopra, a millionaire’s daughter who is having a ‘Bollywood’-style wedding in New Delhi. Society weddings have become a competitive sport in India: Neha’s wedding lasts for 14 days and 8000 guests are invited.

Her marriage was an arranged one. For Neha’s father, his priority for the marriage was the other family. “I wanted a good family background and the second priority was that he was a good boy. I got a good family and luckily I got a good boy too,” he said.

Over 50 per cent of the marriages in India are arranged. On the other side of the track, Pradik Sharma, a night watchman, has collected only 10,000 rupes for his 4 year old daughter’s wedding. The modern marriages conveyed in Bollywood films are not appealing to Pradik. According to him, they disrupt the traditional caste system which has governed Indian families for generations.

“I hate the social environment we have today. I don’t like the fact that the guy is from one caste and she is from another… If my daughter told me she was in love with somebody, I would shoot her because I don’t like that at all.”
(Night watchmen, Pradik Sharma)

AS IT HAPPENED:
TRY EVOLUTION

Friday 19 October
8.30pm

Screening on SBS Television in the As It Happened timeslot, Friday, October 19 is Try Evolution.

Try Revolution tells the story of how the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand impacted on South Africa. In this one-hour documentary South Africans from Archbishop Desmond Tutu through to ordinary rugby fans talk about how the games, the images, the reports and the conversations that surrounded “The Tour” affected them personally and helped to change the apartheid system.

The 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand had been greatly anticipated by the rugby-mad white community of South Africa. New Zealand was their most cherished rival and this tour was going to be live on television, a first for South Africa. So when they tuned into the first broadcast, the Hamilton match, and saw hundreds of protestors standing on the field, they went into a kind of collective shock.

Try Revolution explores what happened over the ensuing months and indeed years as the impact of the “The Tour” was fully realised. From a prison mate of Nelson Mandela to the Captain of the ’81 Springboks, the documentary uncovers how the actions of the New Zealand protestors were perceived, understood, and used to help in the struggle against the apartheid regime.

DOCUMENTARY SERIES

A new seven-part reality series
Begins October 17, 7.30pm

Screening on SBS television, Wednesday, October 17 at 8.30pm, Is Your House Killing You? is an entertaining scientific makeover show about toxics in the home. It once and for all separates the facts from the filth and provides valuable tips and tricks for the viewer.

In this era of cocooning, creating a retreat from the world has become an intense focus of our lives. We spend most of our time indoors. But in creating this haven, little do we know that there is a parallel universe within that is more toxic than the one we’re trying to escape. Government and media focus has shifted to indoor air pollution. And the main culprits are right under your nose – mould, pesticides, solvents, deodorizers, cleansers, dusty carpets, paint, particleboards, adhesives, fumes from gas heating…

The focus of the show is to bring the invisible dangers to light, and provide guidance for the viewers. Recent studies confirm that the wider community is concerned about toxins but most people don’t understand the issues and desperately want information about the hidden health and environmental risks indoors. Research is indicating that 21st Century disease, Sick Building Syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities and other chronic diseases such as asthma and eczema are on the rise. The ongoing value of this show is that it is not only fun to watch the experts track down the culprits and find solutions, but it also interprets science for household use.

The expert team worked through a diverse range of homes in a CSI-style investigation – some houses had to be evacuated before we even were able to shoot! This was one of the early signs that this show has a very important role to fulfil – and it might even save lives. No matter what house you live in, the experts discovered that they all harbour a parallel microscopic world of hidden dangers.

Whether you live in an old home, are about to buy a new house, or are renovating, whether you are preparing your nest, growing a veggie patch or working in your shed, Is Your House Killing You? is essential viewing. Life won’t be the same once you ask: ‘Is Your House Killing You?’

Dr. PETER DINGLE – PRESENTER

Dr. Peter Dingle is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the School of Environmental Science at Murdoch University in WA. His research has led him to believe that the way we lead our modern lives is preventing us from reaching our full potential. Our health, our work, our environments, our outlook. Dr Dingle has made public speaking an art. His presentations are enthusiastic and inspirational, entwined with memorable stories and spiced with a slice of magic. He interacts and motivates. He takes complex scientific information and converts it so that it is dynamic, easy to understand and informative. He is a regular in state and national print media and may be heard weekly on radio and TV, reporting on health and the environment. You can frequently catch him on ABC radio programs around the country.

CEDRIC CHEONG – PRESENTER

Cedric Cheong B.Env.Sc, MSc (Env.Sc), is currently an Associate Lecturer at Murdoch University teaching Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. Cedric is actively researching the area of mould remediation and fungi in indoor air and occupational health and safety initiatives particularly in the areas of behavioural modification.

DOCUMENTARY
IN SEARCH OF GANDHI

Tuesday 16 October
11.00pm

Screening on SBS Television in the Why Democracy? timeslot, Tuesday October 16 at 11.00pm is In Search Of Gandhi.

In the early decades of the twentieth century Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of non-violent revolution, or Satyagraha, inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state, and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India.

In 2007, the country is preparing to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its existence as an independent nation. But what kind of a democracy does India have today? What does it actually mean to live in the world’s largest democracy?

In road-movie style the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi’s salt march, the remarkable mass campaign that galvanized ordinary Indians to join the non-violent struggle for democracy and freedom almost a century ago.

Stopping at the same villages and cities, where Gandhi and his followers had raised their call for independence, the film documents the stories of ordinary citizens in India today. Although inspired by a historical event In Search of Gandhi is not a journey back in time. Instead it is a search for the present and future of democracy in India.

why democracy?
Dinner with the President

Tuesday 16 October
10.00pm

Screening on SBS Television Tuesday, 16 October at 10pm in the Why Democracy series timeslot is Dinner with the President.

What are the implications for democracy in Pakistan when secular political parties have succumbed to the Islamic agenda? What does it mean when the army appears to be the only force able to contain the opponents of democracy, the armed Islamists? President Musharraf agrees to explore this apparent contradiction over dinner at his official residence, the Army House. As the discussion moves in and out of the different worlds in Pakistan a complex tapestry emerges revealing a society unique yet universal.

The filmmaker talks to diverse individuals, from labourers to intellectuals, from street vendors to religious right wing political party members, and from journalists to industrialists. What is their idea of democracy in Pakistan? What is their idea of President Musharraf’s vision of a modern Pakistan? Dinner with the President questions the role a military leader can play in guiding a state towards modern democracy.

*** NOTE: From Sunday 7 October, SBS Television will join forces with 25 other TV networks worldwide to screen a series of programs under the theme ‘Why Democracy?’ The films were commissioned globally and do not represent a solely European or Western point of view. The series has two purposes: to examine the real prospects for global democracy, the dominant idea of our time, and to debate a new style for this emerging democracy, which may not necessarily be based on Western ideals.

why democracy?

8.30pm

Screening on SBS Television Tuesday, 16 October at 8.30pm in the Why Democracy timeslot is Taxi to the Dark Side.

Over one hundred prisoners have died in suspicious circumstances in U.S. custody during the “war on terror”. Taxi to the Dark Side takes an in-depth look at one case: an Afghan taxi driver called Dilawar who was considered an honest and kind man by the people of his rustic village. So when he was detained by the U.S military one afternoon, after picking up three passengers, the villagers wondered why this man was randomly chosen to be held in prison, and, especially, without trial? Five days after his arrest, Dilawar died in his Bagram prison cell. His death came within a week of another death of a Bagram detainee. The conclusion, with autopsy evidence, was that the former taxi driver and the detainee died due to sustained injuries inflicted at the prison by U.S. soldiers.

The documentary, by award-winning producer Alex Gibney, carefully develops the last weeks of Dilawar’s life and shows how decisions taken at the pinnacle of power in the Bush Administration led directly to Dilawar’s brutal death. The film documents how the former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, together with the White House legal team, were able to convince Congress to approve the use of torture against prisoners of war. Taxi to the Dark Side is the definitive exploration of the introduction of torture as an interrogation technique in U.S. facilities, and the role played by key figures of the Bush Administration in the process.

*** NOTE: From Sunday 7 October, SBS Television will join forces with 25 other TV networks worldwide to screen a series of programs under the theme ‘Why Democracy?’ The films were commissioned globally and do not represent a solely European or Western point of view. The series has two purposes: to examine the real prospects for global democracy, the dominant idea of our time, and to debate a new style for this emerging democracy, which may not necessarily be based on Western ideals

SHOWCASE

9.30pm

In 1998, General Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile was arrested in Britain whilst holidaying there, courtesy of British Aerospace. He was enjoying the sights, shopping for clothes and planning back surgery. Pinochet was detained for 500 days.

On Sunday October 7 at 9.30pm, SBS Television will screen Pinochet in Suburbia in the Showcase timeslot. The program tells the remarkable story of General Pinochet’s arrest and his fight to avoid extradition to Spain.

Pinochet in Suburbia delicately weaves several narrative strands, including a tense and intricate legal battle that twisted and turned it way through the courts whilst the whole world watched and waited to see what fate awaited the once powerful dictator.

Not since the Nuremburg trials had there been such a significant test of the power of international law. The whole case was given further prominence by the tireless campaigning of former UK Prime Minister, Lady Margaret Thatcher, for General Pinochet’s release.

Writer/director Richard Curson Smith (If, Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures) interspersed the drama with footage of news stories about the General’s time in detention. Pinochet in Suburbia is a powerful human rights story that gets behind the outer armour of the hard and proud dictator to tell the private and psychological story of his own experiences. “The film expertly mixes the passionate drama of those whose lives were forever scarred by that period in Chile and the political machinations of those having to deal with its aftermath.” (The Hollywood Reporter).

Pinoches in Suburbia boasts an all star cast headed by Derek Jacobi (Gladator, Cadfael)as Pinochet, Anna Massey (The Machinist, Miss Marple: Hotel du Lac) as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Phyllida Law (Miss Potter, Copying Beethoven).

SCIENCE

8.30pm

Palaeontologists claim that 65 million years ago a massive meteorite emerged from space, and ploughed into the Earth. This catastrophic event is what most scientists believe wiped out the dinosaurs. But what would have happened if it missed? How would it affect the way we live today?

On Sunday October 14 at 8.30pm in the Science timeslot, SBS Television will screen My Pet Dinosaur where a panel of experts are asked to re-run the tape of evolution.

Many scientists have debated that the dinosaur was a doomed species in every sense of the word. If not the meteorite, then the ice age would have certainly sealed its fate! However, recent fossil discoveries have led some experts to believe that these animals were far more adaptable then given credit for and could have comfortably adjusted to a variety of environments, from polar conditions, to regions of rivers and forests, jungle and deserts.

Had the dinosaur avoided death by meteorite and lived through the Ice Age, the world as we know it would be very different. If humans managed to survive alongside the dinosaur, we would be one of very few mammals left roaming the earth.

Would we be hunting Hadrosaurs instead of bears? Or farming Protoceratops instead of pigs? Would dinosaurs be kept as pets? Or would the human race be forced to surrender its throne as the dominant species?