Netflix is quickly becoming a global powerhouse documentary-maker. While many other countries have benefitted from this new way of filmmaking, Australia was yet to have one commissioned, until now.
The streaming service has officially announced its first-ever Aussie Netflix Original documentary, Microworlds: Reef.
In partnership with Screen Australia and in association with Screen Queensland, the film will immerse viewers in The Great Barrier Reef and for the first time, in the exquisite world of the reef’s tiny, weird and wonderful inhabitants.
“From a rarely seen perspective, a coral reef comes to life with the slow, the fast and the almost-alien world of the creatures that underpin its ecosystems,” the official logline reads. “This naturally contained world is home to dramas that play out every day unnoticed by the human eye.”
Head of documentary at Screen Australia, Bernadine Lim, said that they are “proud to support” the “incredibly innovative project”.
“The techniques that have been developed specifically for this project are ground-breaking and demonstrate the creativity and ingenuity of Australian filmmaking teams.
Microworlds: Reef will allow viewers to explore hidden worlds often too small to be seen by the human eye, and we are excited Netflix will bring this documentary to both Australian and international audiences,” she said.
The film aims to take audiences into the most beautiful of micro-worlds, and as producer Nick Robinson says, it’s “a world as epic as the African plains and as alien as the frontiers of space”.
“It’s a hugely ambitious project but a vital story to tell in the face of our changing planet,” he said in a statement.