Guest Curator Aisha Dee selects her SBS On Demand favourites

We invited the star of the thrilling new SBS Original mini-series 'Safe Home' to share what you should add to your SBS On Demand watchlist.

(L-R) 'Aisha Dee', 'See What You Made Me Do', 'The Tailings', 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' Source: SBS

Atlanta

This acclaimed, multiple Golden Globe Award-winning comedy drama created, co-written, produced by and starring musician and actor Donald Glover follows the lives of Earnest 'Earn' Marks (Glover), a young Princeton dropout with a two-year-old daughter, and his rapper cousin Alfred 'Paper Boi' Miles (Brian Tyree Henry), who break into Atlanta's music scene and try to get their lives off the ground. Their opposing views on art, commerce, success and race make their quest anything but smooth-sailing. Glover is brilliant and the show is, as rottentomatoes says, "as excellent as it is eccentric". (In case you were wondering, the ratings website gives the show's seasons 1, 2 and 4 98% and 96% for season 3 on the Tomatometer; they're right – the show is quality season after season.) 

Every episode of Atlanta is streaming at SBS On Demand.

The Tailings

In a remote West Coast Tasmanian town, teenager Jas (Tegan Stimson) undertakes a maverick investigation after her father Brendan, mysteriously dies. Her community are quick to dismiss the death as an accident, however refusing to believe this, Jas comes into conflict with new young teacher Ruby (Mabel Li – who stars alongside Aisha Dee in Safe Home), who has just arrived in town and comes carrying her own past trauma. Unexpectedly, Jas and Ruby build a mutual trust as they confront the layers of their grief and ultimately uncover the truth behind Brendan's death.

Comprising 6 x 10-minute episodes the series is a quick and compelling watch.

The Tailings is an SBS Digital Original and is streaming at SBS On Demand.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Céline Sciamma's stunning and sumptuous romance takes place on an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century. Marianne is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse, who does not wish to be married and refuses to be painted. Marianne works in secret, closely observing Héloïse. While living in relative solitude a romance grows. Prepare to shed some tears.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

This is the definitive documentary film about an outside-the-box thinker with extraordinary talent whose boundary-shattering music continues to impact and influence people around the world. This smart, passionate, thought-provoking and uplifting documentary is for anyone who appreciates the power of music to entertain, inspire and transform. The documentary features commentary from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton plus more, and brings John Coltrane to life as a fully dimensional being, inviting the audience to engage with Coltrane the man and Coltrane the artist.

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

Another Round

Thomas Vinterberg's Oscar winner sees four high school teachers launch a unique experiment: upholding a constant low level of intoxication. It's an incredible, moving ode to Danish culture, with a fantastic central performance by Mads Mikkelsen.

Another Round is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

Looking For Alibrandi

Josie Alibrandi (Pia Miranda) lives with her mum, Christina (Greta Scacchi), in the protective shadow of her Nonna, Katia (Elena Cotta) and in ignorance of the identity of her father, Michael (Anthony LaPaglia). She is 17 and about to face the biggest year of her life so far, finishing school. Based on the novel by Melina Marchetta and released in 2000, this film won the AFI Award for Best Film and has become an Australian classic.

Looking For Alibrandi is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

See What You Made Me Do

A "probing, compassionate, respectful and ultimately important inquiry into the scourge of domestic abuse in Australia" (The Australian), revelatory documentary series See What You Made Me Do explores an epidemic that is showing no signs of slowing down. Hosted by investigative journalist, Jess Hill, and inspired by her award-winning book of the same name, this three-part series looks at the shocking number of Australians who have been subjected to domestic abuse and the many shapes abuse can take. It talks to survivors and asks what needs to be done to keep women and children safer.

See What You Made Me Do is streaming now at SBS On Demand. 

If this documentary raises issues for you, or if you're concerned about someone you know, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. For counselling, advice and support for men who have anger, relationship or parenting issues, call the Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit ntv.org.au.

Asking For It

This year Jess Hill followed up See What You Made Me Do with this bold and timely series. The thesis-driven series uses first-person testimony to explore the status of consent in Australia, in all areas of life and from teenagers through the full adult age range. What does consent look like across cultures, at schools and universities, within marriages and same-sex relationships, within institutions and at the highest levels of government?

Asking For It is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

If this documentary raises issues for you, or if you're concerned about someone you know, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. 

SBS Learn has created a teacher resource which can be accessed here.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

The late great Anthony Bourdain – cook, writer, traveller, raconteur, independent thinker, brutally honest muser – visits places all around the world sampling various foods. SBS On Demand has the full seasons of this beloved series.

Seasons 1–5 of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations are now streaming at SBS On Demand.

Safe Home

An SBS Original drama series, Safe Home follows Phoebe (Aisha Dee), a twenty-something professional, who leaves her job at a prominent law firm to work at a struggling family violence legal centre. Interweaving stories unfold and relationships are tested as pressure mounts to save the centre. With so much at stake, Phoebe must navigate a path that isn't always clear, and people aren't always what they seem. The brilliant cast also includes Virginia Gay, Mabel Li, Thomas Cocquerel, Antonia Prebble and David Roberts, plus plenty more talented Australians.

Safe Home is now streaming at SBS On Demand.