You’ve seen The Truman Show. You’ve seen EdTV. Now see the real thing. Sylvania Waters, the original docu-soap, is a searing portrait of the average, dysfunctional, middle class Australian nuclear family.

You will love to hate Noelene Donaher, the unpalatable matriarch antagonist/protagonist, pity her beleaguered and bullied son and sneer at her hen-pecked husband. Go on, get it out of your system. Executive Producer Paul Watson, accused of being the father of the docu-soap genre says, “None of those films has a father, they’re all bastards”. He goes on to dismiss many examples of the genre because they “don’t add to an understanding of anything”. Watson’s original intention was to challenge the status quo, “and you can only do that if you speak to ordinary people.” Judge for yourself. And stay for a chat after the screening.