ABC explains The Mystery of the Mikveh
Documentary-makers Dan Goldberg and Adam Kay latest offering “The Pool” explores the variety of water activities which embrace Australian life…and they have included the mikveh.
Adam Kay
Producer Dan Goldberg and an award presented to Mint Pictures
The Pool is a two-part ABC TV series on the social history of the humble pool and how it has seeped into our DNA…it’s our town square, where battles have been fought, and won, on race, sexuality and gender…and Olympic triumphs.
The program has been produced by award-winning Goldberg and Kay’s Mint Pictures who brought to our screens Strictly Jewish, an in-depth look at the life of the ultra-orthodox Jews who live in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea. the Code of Silence which focused on sexual abuse in the Australian Jewish community and Breaking the Silence which followed child sexual abuse advocate on his journey to face on of his alleged abusers now living in New York.
Also facing the Mint lenses and mikes was Ronni Kahn who founded Oz Harvest which redistributed unwanted food to the needy.
Also featured in another The Pool segment is Melbourne social history commentator Dennis Altman.
Timmy Rubin tells the story of the ‘Jewish’ pool – the mikveh…a special digital extra clip from the program which will not be screened on television. Here it is…
We are the world capital of pools – Australia boasts more than 100 ocean pools, more than 1000 public pools and more than one million backyard pools. The pool is where we splash around as kids, chase Olympic-sized dreams as teens, keep fit as adults and gather as a multicultural community of equals.
Stripped to our budgie smugglers or boardies, bikinis or burqinis, we all have nostalgic memories of the pool – relief from the blistering heat, the sting of chlorine, the terror of the school swim carnival, poolside fashion, bellyflops, bombs and dives.
The pool is also our theatre of competition, where Olympic heroes are crowned, and communities have fought for access and acceptance. From the Freedom Rides at Moree to the fight to keep Paramatta Pool open, unlike any other country on Earth, our pools play a pivotal part in our lives.
The series is narrated by Richard Roxburgh.
The Pool will be screened by ABC-TV on Sunday, September 22 and Sunday, September 29 at 7:40 pm and will be available on iView.
