SBS' own Safe Harbour has won Best Movie/Mini-series at the International Emmy Awards, which recognise programs from outside the U.S.
In Safe Harbour, Five Australians on a sailing holiday come across a fishing boat full of desperate asylum seekers. Deciding to help, they tow the boat but, in the middle of the night, it disappears. Years later, one of the Australians, Ryan, steps into a taxi driven by one of the refugees, Ismail. Overjoyed to learn the refugees reached Australia, he invites Ismail and his family to a barbeque - reuniting everyone. It’s there that Ryan and the others learn the truth - someone cut the rope between the two boats and, as a result, the fishing boat sank and seven people died, including Ismail’s nine-year-old daughter. Old secrets come to light, relationships are shattered and lives are put in danger.
Safe Harbour featured a stellar ensemble cast featuring award-winning actor Ewen Leslie (Rake, Janet King, Top of the Lake: China Girl), acclaimed actress Leeanna Walsman (Seven Types of Ambiguity, Cleverman, Looking for Alibrandi), AACTA and Logie award-winner Joel Jackson (Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, Deadline Gallipoli), Australian making waves internationally Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, H2O Just Add Water), Logie Award-winner Hazem Shammas (Underbelly), Nicole Chamoun (Romper Stomper), Robert Rabiah (Tomorrow When the War Began), and award-winner Jacqueline McKenzie (Romper Stomper, The 4400, The Water Diviner).
Filmed on location in the underused backdrop of beautiful Brisbane, Safe Harbour was directed by Glendyn Ivin (Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Beautiful Lie) and executive produced by SBS’s Sue Masters (The Principal, Deep Water, The Family Law) and Matchbox Pictures’ Debbie Lee (Mustangs FC, Hyde & Seek, Oddlands) and produced by Stephen Corvini (Better Man, Hyde & Seek). Based on an original concept by Simon Kennedy and Phil Enchelmaier, showrunner and writer Belinda Chayko (Barracuda, Secret City) headed a strong writing team that included Matt Cameron (Sunshine, Secret City) and Phil Enchelmaier (Jar Dwellers).
