Persons of Interest wins for SBS with Film Critics Circle

ASIO documentary series, Persons of Interest, which screened earlier this year on SBS, has won the Best Feature Documentary at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.

The four-part series, produced by Smart Street Films for SBS, beat four other Australian made documentaries at a ceremony held in Sydney on Tuesday night.

“We are very proud that Persons of Interest has been acknowledged with this prestigious award”, SBS Head of Documentaries, John Godfrey said.

“The program explored a unique ‘secret’ history of Australia that resonated with our viewers. I congratulate director Haydn Keenan and producer Gai Steele for their work.”

In each episode, an Australian ‘person of interest’ was given their previously secret ASIO intelligence file and discussed their time under ASIO surveillance.

The series uncovered never-before-seen photographs and covert surveillance film recorded by ASIO, focusing on well-known Australians Roger Millis, Michael Hyde, Gary Foley and Frank Hardy.

For the first time, ‘persons of interest’ and former ASIO officers and agents revealed the powerful stories within the files.

Persons of Interest aired on SBS in January this year, and screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The series was also nominated for a Walkley Documentary Award.