TV for Friday, June 19
Gardening AustraliaCredit:
GARDENING AUSTRALIA
★★★
7.30pm, ABC
Just like a well-tended garden, this pleasant program is a sanctuary from a troubled world. We not only come away calmer, but wiser about simple things to which we might not have previously paid attention. This episode drops gems of wisdom about soil health, plants with prickles and spikes, and a citrus-plant disease, and calls into question the practice of gathering seaweed for fertiliser. There’s also an inspiring segment on a food garden initiative in the Blue Mountains.
Great escape: Tianna Sansbury (left), Laura Monaghan and Everlyn Sampi walk across a dry salt lake in Rabbit-Proof Fence. Credit:
RABBIT-PROOF FENCE
Movie ★★★★½
7.45pm, NITV
Phillip Noyce’s 2002 adaptation of Doris Pilkington Garimara’s book based on her mother’s true journey home from a mission is an enduringly powerful work about Australia’s stolen generations. The scenes of separation are devastating; the inner conflict of the tracker (David Gulpilil) charged with capturing the brave escapees, agonising. The cast includes Deborah Mailman, Kenneth Branagh, Garry McDonald, Roy Billing and the late Ningali Lawford-Wolf.
America In ColourCredit:
AMERICA IN COLOUR
Double episode ★★½
7.35pm, SBS
In this pertinent time in which to review the events that shaped the US, this televisual museum continues its tour through the early 20th century, tracing the economic boom in which entertainment (entirely wholesome of course) and sport began to flourish. The second part follows the recovery from the Great Depression, with some awe-inspiring footage of infrastructure projects, and the explosion on the music and dance scene that would influence the world.