Pria Viswalingam

Pria Viswalingam

Pria Viswalingam is a prominent Australian documentary and filmmaker. He is a Sydney-based producer, writer and director, known earlier for his work with the Australian Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) network.

After graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1987, his broadcasting experience began in radio, as a newsreader and reporter, specialising in politics and international affairs.

In 1989, he moved to SBS Television and worked for News and Current Affairs, where he presented and reported live-to-air programming. As well as anchoring the network's World News, he hosted Dateline, Tonight, Asia Report and Wine Lovers’ Guide to Australia. Most popular and memorable were his A Fork in the Road travelogues from 1992 until 2005. Including A Fork in Australia, A Fork in Asia, A Fork in Africa and A Fork in the Mediterranean, 62 episodes of approximately 25 minutes length were aired. The Fork series has been broadcast on SBS for 19 years.

In 2001, he wrote, produced, directed and narrated for SBS Class, a 4 x 52 minutes series "that looks at the slow death of egalitarian Australia. A society changing into an economy in which new wealth-driven divisions are widening the gap between rich and poor", said the summary by the Australian Film Commission.

Also in 2001, he wrote and directed the four 30 minutes episodes of A Yen for a Dollar, a series which had a look at Asian culture through the prism of business. This series aired on the ABC in February 2002.

In between "Forks..", in 2003, Viswalingam took created new series on Australia's corporate world, She'll be right, Boss! - a layman's look at "the big end of town" in Australia which comprised 5 episodes of 25 minutes each.

Again, in between "Forks..", in 2006. he wrote, produced and presented Decadence, with reflections on modern life in the West, in six episodes of 25 minutes each.

In 2007/8, he wrote and directed (with Animal Media) a 1hr documentary on the life of Birute Galdikas and her 36 years of pioneering study of Borneo's orangutans, and was narrated by Mel Gibson.

In 2008, based on the success of the SBS TV series, Viswalingam began work on a feature documentary entitled,DECADENCE - The Decline of the Western World. This was released in Dec 2011 to critical acclaim and played in cinemas throughout Australia.

In 2013, Viswalingam co-wrote and directed COAST AUSTRALIA for the History Channel and the BBC. This was the inaugural Australian version of the long running BBC series, COAST. A second series of COAST AUSTRALIA which Viswalingam co-wrote and directed was broadcast in early 2015. Also in 2015, Viswalingam post produced the inaugural series of COAST NEW ZEALAND which airs in 2016.

Separate to his television work, Viswalingam is developing a feature film franchise in the UK with the BFI along with two other features in partnership with Screen Queensland.

References

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