The Channel Within: The Ashley Semmens Story shows a member of the Royal Australian Navy’s elite clearance diver unit who cheats death & disaster many times. Ashley was blown up, shot at & hunted on the battlefield during the War on Terror in Afghanistan. He served his country, tackling the most perilous job in the Navy as a bomb disposal expert & faced repeated unimaginable trauma during 18 years’ service – from fighting shadowy Taliban bombmakers & battle-hardened combatants in a seemingly never-ending foreign war, to hunting greedy & ruthless foreign drug traffickers on the high seas. He also faced the threat of predatory killers of the ocean – sharks. Every time Ashley dived in the water, he waged a war within & battled a morbid fear of them. Joining the Navy at 18, Ashley lived his life struggling with other insidious enemies – cumulative trauma, a harsh military code of silence & suicide. Five Navy colleagues committed suicide during his time of service: Ashley nearly became the sixth. And many more have taken their own life since he left the Navy. Despite a Royal Commission & many enquiries, veteran suicide continues to be a major social/health problem in Australia with a suicide rate among ex-servicemen 42% higher than in the general male population. Women who served are 110% more likely to die by suicide than women in the general population. Ashley walked to the edge of a cliff literally and figuratively – and somehow found the fortitude, & a reason, to step back from the brink. He was medically discharged from his dream job in the Navy & lost his identity. Despite that, Ashley selflessly has used his lived experience to support other veterans & give a voice to the voiceless, as a witness in Australia’s historic Royal Commission Into Defence and Veteran Suicide. And now in The Channel Within, we see a world first with Ashley ‘finning’ Navy Clearance Diver style (on his back just kicking his legs) across the English Channel, the Mt Everest of swimming.
Jack Lawrence is a documentary filmmaker with a passion for storytelling and cinematography, especially in the world of sports and social issue documentaries. His work isn’t just about capturing the action and the story; Jack dives deep into the personal stories behind the subjects—their struggles, their victories, their cause and why it matters and everything in between. His latest documentary Diamond Of The Sea was nominated for Best Australian Film at the Gold Coast Film Festival and is currently streaming on Kayo/Fox in Australia. Jack has a knack for turning athletic journeys into compelling, relatable narratives that stick with viewers long after the credits roll.
