PRODUCTION COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: Joined Up Films

WA production company Joined Up Films has two new documentaries heading into production in the first half of this year, Me and My Tourette’s and Keeping Hope, thanks to production funding from Screenwest, Screen Australia, SBS and NITV.

Me and My Tourette’s is set to be a fascinating one-hour documentary about a condition that has no cure and is so little understood, even by medical science.

Around one in every hundred Australians is diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome (TS). With repetitive, sudden movements and sometimes inappropriate vocals, the involuntary physical effects (tics) can leave people with Tourette’s feeling on the outskirts of Australian society.

Directed by Lisa Dupenois and executive produced by Joined Up’s Jacqueline Willinge, Anthony Willinge and Dan Brown, the documentary will follow three people as they experience one of Australia’s biggest Tourette’s camps. Through the personal stories of a young man recently diagnosed, a teenager struggling with self-acceptance and a girl on the cusp of adulthood looking to her future, we learn about the difficulties faced by them and their families as well as the spectrum of this disorder.

“As a society we are starting to better understand and talk about neurological conditions. Yet Tourette’s Syndrome, which is almost as common as autism, is still little known and often completely misunderstood. The associated tics can cause serious physical harm, however the biggest struggle for people with Tourette’s is often not the condition itself, but society’s reaction to it. Through following the lives of three people who are affected by Tourette’s in different ways, we will highlight the complexity and individuality of this neurological disorder and get to know some of the incredible people behind the tics. This documentary asks that we, as a society, try to overcome our judgemental reaction to Tourette’s, and learn to celebrate our differences.” said Lisa Dupenois, Director.

Me and My Tourette’s will be part of ‘Australia Uncovered’, SBS’s returning strand of prime-time single documentaries exploring diversity and equality in contemporary Australia. This is Joined Up’s second contribution to the series, with the company collaborating with recent Walkley Award-winning director Nel Minchin (Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra) to produce documentary The Truth About Anxiety with Celia Pacquola for last year’s Australia Uncovered.

“Through the single documentary strand Australia Uncovered we can tell unexpected stories and provide a different perspective on a subject, with the aim of helping us all understand what it means to be Australian today. With these documentaries we are not only able to reflect the diversity of contemporary Australia, but to also showcase the creativity and quality of our local sector. Me and My Tourette’s is a perfect example of this and the Joined Up team have assembled a story that explores Tourette Syndrome with curiosity and compassion,” said Bernadine Lim, SBS Commissioning Editor Documentaries.

“Joined Up Films continue their hot streak of films tackling revealing topics, in this case the widely misunderstood Tourette’s Syndrome. It’s great to see one of their projects included in SBS’s Australia Uncovered series for a second year running.” said Paul Williams, Screenwest Documentary Manager.