SBS welcomes the Year of the Pig with an increased commitment to subtitled programming, making more local stories accessible to Australia’s diverse communities.
As customary traditions of Lunar New Year festivities kick in, SBS encourages all Australians to welcome the Year of the Pig with a distinct mix of programs and activities launching across the network.
At the centre of the offering and enhancing SBS’s already comprehensive multicultural and multilingual programs and services, from 5 February, SBS launches the Chinese Collection; a selection of SBS’s commissioned Australian stories with Simplified Chinese subtitles available to stream on SBS On Demand.
SBS Managing Director, James Taylor, said:
“SBS is the world’s most linguistically diverse public broadcaster, providing unparalleled services in 68 languages to the nearly five million Australians that speak a language other than English at home. Subtitled content is an important part of this offering and the Chinese Collection signifies a deeper commitment by SBS in service of Australia’s diverse communities.
“As we move forward, we will increase the accessibility of SBS’s distinctive local stories to more Australians by growing the selection of subtitled programs in more languages, building on our strong offering of international subtitled programs, which included more than 3700 hours over the last twelve months.”
Titles featured in the collection include crime drama Dead Lucky, documentary series exploring mental illness, How ‘Mad’ Are You?, female-led boxing drama On The Ropes, a search for Australia’s brightest child in Child Genius and a look at the truth about sexism in Australia, Is Australia Sexist? In addition, the collection also includes a selection of episodes of SBS’s award-winning first person current affairs program Insight.
Elsewhere on the network, SBS celebrates with several dedicated shows, including Chinese New Year: The Biggest Celebration on Earth and World from above – Aerial Asia, narrated by celebrity chef Adam Liaw. SBS VICELAND marks the occasion with a Lunar New Year movie season in prime time and SBS Food will showcase a weekend marathon of Lunar New Year inspired travel food shows and SBS On Demand’s new Chinese Collection will also feature collections of Kung Fu classics and modern Martial Arts masterpieces.
Full Program Information – SBS
Chinese New Year: The Biggest Celebration on Earth
Tuesdays from 5 February, 2pm
An amazing insight into the massive annual celebration, Kate Humble, Jing Lusi and Ant Anstead attend the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival – an extraordinary sub-zero celebration in China’s far north east. Their journey sees them experience the New Year’s Eve in Beijing and culminating in an extraordinary fireworks display in Hong Kong.
World from Above (Aerial Asia)
Saturdays from 2 February, 7.30pm
Narrated by celebrity chef Adam Liaw, this breathtaking 4K aerial series will take you on an epic journey across some of Asia’s most diverse landscapes, ancient cities and massive metropolises. Join us as we travel from the beautiful colour-soaked subcontinent of India, to the coral gardens and menacing volcanoes of Indonesia, from Malaysia’s rolling rainforests to Singapore’s spectacular skyline.
SBS VICELAND – Lunar New Year movie season, every Saturday
The Grandmaster
Saturday 2 February, 9.30pm
An epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master – IP Man. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts.
Ip Man: The Final Fight
Saturday 2 February, 11.30pm
In post-war Hong Kong, legendary Wing Chun grandmaster IP Man (Anthony Wong) is reluctantly called into action once more. What begins as a simple challenge from rival kung fu styles soon turn deadly, drawing him into the dark and dangerous underworld of the triads. Now, to defend life and honour, he has no choice but to fight one last time.
House of Flying Daggers
Saturday 9 February, 8.30pm
Zhang Ziyi plays a blind courtesan who turns out to be a member of the Flying Daggers, a shadowy squad of assassins waging a guerrilla insurgency against the corrupt and decadent government.
Kung Fu Jungle
Saturday 9 February 10.45pm
A martial arts instructor (Donnie Yen) is imprisoned after killing a man by accident. But when a vicious killer starts targeting martial arts masters, the instructor offers to help the police in return for his freedom.
The Curse of the Golden Flower
Saturday 16 February, 8.30pm
On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The EMPEROR (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, PRINCE JAI (Jay Chou).
Young Detective Dee: Rise of Sea Dragon
Saturday 16 February, 10.35pm
Mark Chao stars in Tsui Hark’s historical action-adventure prequel, which tells the story of Detective Dee’s early years, long before he tackled the case of the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.
The Iceman
Saturday 23 February, 8.30pm
An imperial guard and his three traitorous childhood friends ordered to hunt him down get accidentally buried and kept frozen in time. 400 years later they are defrosted, continuing the battle they left behind.
Mr Six
Saturday 23 February, 10.25pm
The Japanese army attempts to form a dubious alliance with a local crime boss in war-torn Shanghai in 1930s.
SBS On Demand Chinese Collection – available to stream from Tuesday 5 February
Kung Fu classics and modern Martial Arts masterpieces
14 Blades
After he’s framed for treason, a legendary royal guard (Donnie Yen) joins forces with a skilled gang of outlaws to save an empire.
Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate
A Ming Dynasty freedom fighter (Jet Li), a warrior (Zhou Xun), and a corrupt eunuch (Kun Chen) are among those who converge on a remote desert hostel that sits atop a city of treasures.
The Game Of Death
Footage filmed before Bruce Lee’s death in 1973 is blended with new material in this tale as a kung-fu master takes on a group of drug lords.
Fist Of Fury
Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) has left his homeland of China and relocated to stay with family in Thailand and swears to avoid violence in his new life. When he finds out the factory he works at is a cover for a drug ring, and his family members are murdered by members of the gang, he can’t avoid fighting no more and decides to confront his corrupt boss.
Legend of the Naga Pearls
A royal descendant of an ancient winged tribe embarks on a quest to find magical pearls. When they fall into the hands of a human, he joins a team of unlikely heroes in a race against time to prevent the destruction of his people.
