Midnight Oil’s 'The Hardest Line' Documentary To Air On ABC Tonight

Earlier this month, ABC announced its stacked programming for Ausmusic Month, which will spotlight Australian music and stories throughout November.

Highlighting programs like Take 5 With Zan Rowe, Countdown 50th anniversary celebrations, rage Ausmusic Month specials, and more, it was easy to miss that Midnight Oil’s latest documentary, The Hardest Line, will also air on ABC.

Airing tonight at 8:30 pm local time on ABC TV, the documentary features unheard interviews with Midnight Oil, as well as unseen live and studio footage.

The Hardest Line premiered at the Sydney Film Festival back in June and had its cinema debut a month later.

According to the documentary’s synopsis, The Hardest Line tracks The Oils’ outspoken, contrarian, passionate 45-year career by showcasing moments like their iconic “Sorry” performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, touring with the Warumpi Band, and their famous Exxon protest concert in New York City.

The Hardest Line was written, directed, and executive produced by Paul Clarke, who worked with producer Carolina Sorensen and executive producers Mikael Borglund and Martin Fabinyi.

Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst said about the film, “With strong management, a tough crew and a sabre-tooth lawyer, bands can often dwell in a kind of mobile Faraday cage - the lightning striking all around, while the musicians remain high and dry in a studio, on a stage or wedged inside a Tarago.

“Thus, it was for Midnight Oil: rarely were we able to focus on the horizon and see the ‘Big Picture’ if there was such a thing. So, a film such as The Hardest Line is as much a revelation as a chronicle. Perhaps at last we can frame the last 50 years, make some collective sense of it, wrap it in a box marked ‘the Luckiest Band Ever.’”

Paul Clarke added, “There is no other rock band in the world like Midnight Oil. For half a century, they were fearless, contrary, and totally original. When Australia was creaking under the weight of its own myths, they told us the truth.”

Check out the trailer for The Hardest Line below.