Amazon Prime Video, LadBible investigate racial injustice down under

Documentary series Unheard

Global streamer Amazon Prime Video has partnered with social media publisher LadBible on an investigative documentary series spotlighting racial injustice in Australia.

Unheard is an extension of LadBible Australia’s existing campaign of the same name that launched in February this year.

The six-part series, produced by LadBible Australia Originals with production funding from Screen Australia, will launch on Prime Video in Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand on October 29, with the first two episodes free to stream on primevideo.com.

The series investigates Indigenous deaths in custody, the targeting of Indigenous youth, attacks towards Asians during Covid-19, Islamophobia, the vilification of the African community and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

Each episode is told through intimate interviews, blended with animation, archive footage, podcasts, photographs, phone conversations and infographics revealing the shocking statistics and complexities behind the larger issues.

Campaign partners include the National Justice Project, Human Rights Commission, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, The Refugee Council of Australia, Change.org, African Women Australia, Asian Australian Alliance, Islamophobia Register Australia, Deadly Connections Community & Justice Services and All Together Now.

It marks the first documentary series produced by LadBible Australia Originals and comes after the youth-focused brand launched a UK-based content studio headed by former Channel 4 and Endemol executives earlier this year.

“The opportunity to programme this compelling investigative series is significant to us. Unheard is a necessary action and awareness series that is globally relevant to Prime members in Australia and makes them aware of social injustice locally,” said Tyler Bern, head of content at Amazon Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Executive producer, writer and creator Shahn Devendran, head of originals at LadBible APAC, said: “The Unheard campaign and documentary series not only provides a platform for these powerful stories to be told, but also helps put a global focus on Australian incidents of racial injustice that are often overlooked.”

The show was written and produced by Devendran with Jack Steele (Between Two Lines), Cathy Vu (SBS), Luke Cornish (Alone Out Here), Dan Mansour (The Final Word), Olivia Suleimon (Rosaline’s Untaming) and Ellen Dedes-Vallas (Nickelodeon).

Screen Australia’s head of documentary Alex West added: “Unheard shines a light on racial injustice in Australia and, with personal insights into its devastating impact on individuals, will be vital viewing. We’re proud to support this powerful series that will reach rapidly growing new audiences in the digital space domestically and globally and will spark crucial discussion.”