SECURES DEVELOPMENT FUNDING FROM SBS FOR THEIR AUSTRALIA UNCOVERED STRAND OF DOCUMENTARIES.
March 09, 2021
Hard-Ons: the Most Australian Band Ever! has secured development funding from SBS for their AUSTRALIA UNCOVERED strand of single and feature documentaries. The announcement was made on Wednesday night after a pitch session hosted by AIDC (the Australian International Documentary Conference).
Director and producer Jonathan Sequeira of production company Living Eyes says:
“It’s important that public broadcasters recognise Australia’s cultural history, and we appreciate that SBS are championing a story so relevant to their charter. At the Hard-Ons’ very first pub gig an audience member shouted out ‘Channel O Band’ – Channel O of course being what SBS was known as back then, and the band of course comprising members of Korean, Sri-Lanken and Croation descent – so it seems the perfect home for a multicultural success story like the Hard-Ons.
“It’s very exciting and we look forward to working with SBS to move from development to being fully commissioned for broadcast.
“Big thanks to SBS and also AIDC who hosted the pitching session that secured the development.”
Hard-Ons: the Most Australian Band Ever! will share the pool of $80,000 development funding with four other films also announced at AIDC.
While the development funding is an important step in financing the film, public support is still essential.Tax-deductible contributions can be made through Documentary Australia Foundation.
https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/hard-ons-the-most-australian-band-ever/
Watch the official trailer
“I fucken love the Hard-Ons!” – Eamon (The Chats)
“(The Hard-Ons) opened my eyes to a whole new world!” – Ian Haug (Powderfinger)
“They absolutely changed everything for me!” – Adalita (Magic Dirt)
“Iconic. Totemic… The Hard-Ons are everything.” – Tim Rogers (You Am I)
“Hard-Ons were and still are amazing” – Warren Ellis (Dirty Three/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
“(They) should be in the ARIA Hall of Fame!” – Dave Faulkner (Hoodoo Gurus)
“I love the Hard-Ons! It was an honour to tour with them!” – Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
“Hard-Ons are trailblazers!” – Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys)
Hard-Ons: The Most Australian Band Ever! is being made with the group’s participation. Hard-Ons bassplayer and spokesperson Ray Ahn says: “The Hard-Ons are extremely pleased to be having a documentary made about us, by professionals that know our band musically, spiritually and ideologically, very well. We are honoured and flattered. We look forward to the finished film in great anticipation. We want our story told.”
Living Eyes principal and the film’s director Jonathan Sequeira adds: “We’re thrilled to be making this film about one of the most important bands in Australia, and a terrific bunch of people. Hard-Ons are a band that everyone in Australia should know about and be proud of. It’s great to get some initial Screen Australia seed funding, but it’s not easy or cheap making movies and we need your support. DAF is a great organisation, and all contributions are tax deductible plus you get your name on the big screen!”
Director and producer Sequeira’s first film – and Living Eyes’ first film – was the internationally acclaimed documentary Descent In The Maelstrom: The Radio Birdman Story, about the iconic punk-era Sydney band.
He directed and co-produced another internationally acclaimed feature Waiting: The Van DurenStory (about the long-lost Memphis power popper) with producer Wade Jackson, and now the two have teamed up again, together with an additional co-producer Nalini Sequeira, as Living Eyes returns to Aussie punk and alternative music with Hard-Ons: The Most Australian Band Ever!
Over the years, the Hard-Ons have won the vocal support of artists like Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra.
They’ve influenced subsequent generations of punk bands – from the Meanies to Frenzal Rhomb to Private Function – as well as a wide ranging groundswell of Australian alternative artists – from Spiderbait to You Am I to Silverchair to Regurgitator to Magic Dirt to Powderfinger to the Dirty Three to the Chats – each of whom have been inspired by the Hard-Ons’ energy, free spirit and uncompromising dedication.
Hard-Ons: the Most Australian Band Ever! | Documentary Australia Foundation
Hard-Ons: The Most Australian Band Ever! is expected to be released in 2022.