It has been called “the face that launched a thousand lawsuits”, which from the point of view of many a holocaust survivor would be putting it extremely mildly.

The story of a Nazi-looted painting, Egon Schiele's 'Portrait of Wally,' it is a fast-paced watch for a subject so steeped in research. The aforementioned painting was discovered on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in 1997, triggering a historic court case that pitted the Manhattan District Attorney, the United States Government and the heirs of a Viennese gallery owner against a major Austrian Museum and MoMA. Filmmaker Andrew Shea deftly paints the surprisingly political saga of the infamous artwork after it was wrenched from a Jewish gallerist by the Nazis. We get to follow what amounted to a 70-year struggle to reclaim it, even as it hung publicly in major museums.

So, what is the big deal about the painting, and who IS Wally? Well, the small 1912 painting by the Austrian artist Schiele is perhaps the best-known representation of his model, lover, and co-conspirator, teenage beauty Walburga ‘Wally’ Neuzil. Hailed as a masterpiece, with its enigmatic grin the work has been dubbed the “Viennese Mona Lisa”, and other, more overtly erotic images of Ms. Wally – including “Wally Neuzil in Black Stockings” or “Wally in Red Blouse with Raised Knees” – have fascinated art lovers for decades.

Her hypnotic eyes and tawny hair are familiar, but the life of the woman who stood by Schiele from 1911 until 1915 remains in large part a mystery. Who really was Wally Neuzil? She was born in August of 1894 in the Lower Austrian town of Tattendorf and her family background was firmly lower-middle class. Her father Josef Neuzil, from a town in what is now the Czech Republic, was a grammar school teacher for a time, a position that, if not well-paid, was at least well-regarded. After his early death, Wally apparently moved with her remaining family to Vienna in 1906 and met Schiele in 1911 at the age of 16. The story goes that she was also Gustav Klimt’s model and perhaps even mistress, leading to even more intrigue around her mysterious gaze.

The story of the relatively small painting might never have come to light had it not been loaned to a traveling exhibition. Days before the closure of the show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1997, a New York Times piece exposed the sketchy provenance of the “Portrait of Wally” and owner Rudolf Leopold’s alarming collection practices. Several artworld and political players called for the painting - valued at the time at about USD$2 million - to be removed from the show and returned to the heirs of Lea Bondi Jaray, the painting’s original owner. The piece was confiscated by the federal government and stored as a more than decade-long battle raged over its ownership. Tonight’s documentary tells that story in a pacey, uncluttered way, clocking in at just 90 minutes.

The story is compelling, and the fallout of the 13-year legal battle over the painting helped establish important legal precedence regarding art looted from Holocaust victims. One would assume that returning property pilfered from Jews during World War II should be a moral no-brainer, but apparently not.

 PORTRAIT OF WALLY premieres Thursday 13th October at 8.30pm on Rialto Channel

He was the ultra-cool male film star of the 1960s, who rose from a troubled youth spent in reform schools to being the world's most popular actor. Over 25 years after his untimely death from mesothelioma in 1980, Steve McQueen is still considered amongst the hippest blokes who ever lived, and he endures as an icon of popular culture.

Tonight’s film STEVE McQUEEN – THE MAN & LE MANS covers a point in his life where his midlife crisis and motor racing passion truly seemed to intersect, but for me it also demonstrated exactly how much the aforementioned “troubled youth” had grown into a very self-destructive man.

With a mother who was a prostitute and a father who was a circus stuntman who regularly beat him during his childhood in Los Angeles, McQueen didn’t have a great start in life (to put it mildly). Whilst still a kid he joined a gang and was sent to reform school for stealing hubcaps, and by 16, he was reportedly working as a towel boy in a brothel.

After being discharged from the Marines, McQueen spent time in South Carolina and Washington D.C., and worked as a getaway driver for bank robbers (weirdly foreshadowing his hit 1972 film, THE GETAWAY). The gig apparently ended abruptly when one of the robbers was shot and nearly killed, and after that McQueen became a pimp for a prostitute named Lindy and went into the business of flogging illegal handguns. "I thought I was making easy money - guns and Lindy. And no taxes to pay,” he once recalled. “But it never ends well.” Bizarrely this realization saw him travel across the US to New York to study acting. The rest as they say, is history.

Which brings me to tonight’s film STEVE McQUEEN – THE MAN & LE MANS, a story of obsession, betrayal and ultimate vindication. It is the story of how one of the most volatile, charismatic stars of his generation (at one point reportedly the highest paid actor in Hollywood) seemingly lost everything he held dear (even his marriage), in the pursuit of his dream, yet nevertheless followed it to the end. The film is a weird and sad watch, and an air of solemnity hangs over the tale of the film he took on in 1970 at the height of his celebrity prestige. It is clear from the outset that the film was something between a vanity project and a midlife crisis. McQueen could never decide on a script or story, and the movie went insanely over budget as his hand-selected team of professional drivers risked their necks shooting hours and hours of ambient race footage.

His passion for his sport and representing it on film is palpable, but scenes in the movie involving his children and then wife, Neile Adams are heartbreaking. It is also interesting – and terrifying – to see the times in which he lived and circles in which he moved, including a Manson Family connection. In Hollywood in the ‘60s, McQueen was a regular at the Whisky a Go Go, where he eventually met celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring. The pair soon hooked up with a beautiful young starlet named Sharon Tate there, and the trio engaged in drug and booze-fueled threesomes, reportedly even after she married director Roman Polanski. In the film we learn that McQueen was supposed to have dinner at Polanski and Tate’s house on the night Tate and Sebring were murdered by Charles Manson and his gang in 1969, but he canceled at the last minute. He later learned he’d been dangerously high on Manson’s “Death List” and this pushed an already paranoid, drug dependant man into near psychosis. After the close call, McQueen renewed his gun license and began carrying a concealed, loaded Magnum pistol at all times, which could have been disastrous considering his temper. He apparently even pulled the gun on wife Adams and demanded to know if she’d ever had an affair, which was rich coming from a bloke who while married to Ali MacGraw maintained a suite at the Beverly Wilshire in L.A. just for quickies.

Years later in 1978, McQueen developed a persistent cough that wouldn't go away. He quit smoking and underwent antibiotic treatments without improvement. Shortness of breath grew more pronounced and a biopsy revealed pleural mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure for which there is no known cure. The asbestos was thought to have been in the protective suits worn in his race car driving days, and the star later gave a medical interview in which he believed that asbestos used in movie sound stage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved. Was it his passion that killed him in the end? The jury is out on that one, but this film definitely points to the effect that it had on his life, his loves and his sanity.

STEVE McQUEEN – THE MAN & LE MANS premieres Thursday 22 September at 8.30pm on Rialto Channel

For many, Paul Newman was a blue-eyed god, a kick arse acting talent and a man who turned salad dressing into serious philanthropy. Also a notable producer-director and political activist, he can be officially counted as the person who had distributed more money - in relation to his own wealth - than any other American during the 20th century. How amazing is that? And those blue eyes to boot… But despite all of his success on screen and as a major raiser of cash for those in need, the actor claimed to be happiest behind the wheel of a racing car.

Racing legend Mario Andretti has spoken about meeting Paul Newman back in 1967, when the actor sponsored one of his cars in a race. He took the superstar for an obligatory spin around the track, and noticed Newman was “white-knuckling” it. But Andretti saw something else, too. “I quite honestly think,” he has said, “that captured his imagination.”

Tonight’s film WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (co-directed by comedian Adam Carolla) shows exactly how correct Andretti was. As a driver, Newman went on to win four SCCA National Championships, 24 Hours of Daytona, took true second at Le Mans (winning his class) and won multiple professional Trans Am races. The actor also owned Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, and together with drivers Mario and Michael Andretti and Sebastien Bourdais, formed one of the most prolific Indycar teams in history, winning an amazing eight championships. To put it mildly: the star lived and breathed racing. To put pedal to metal bought him immense joy, and that is so obvious when watching the film.

Newman, who died in 2008 at 83, might have begun his career as one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, but much of the last half of his life was dedicated to auto racing and he widely acknowledged it as his true passion. But it was a passion he came to later in life. He was already a big star when, in 1968 he was cast with Robert Wagner in a racing film called simply, WINNING. The hunky pair took racing lessons to get into their roles, with one star falling head over heels whilst the other was happy to take or leave the new set of skills he had learned on the racetrack. “[Newman] embraced it and took it right into his soul,” Wagner later told the press, and for his co-star there was no looking back. While Wagner was all-too-happy for their lessons to end, Newman couldn’t get enough. He officially started racing for real at 48, and he wasn’t worried about starting at the bottom. “He wasn’t racing Ferraris. He was racing Datsuns. It was something the average guy could aspire to,” Jay Leno says in the film.

Soon, Newman was forcing film producers who wanted him in their films to schedule his work around his races. He was seriously hooked, and his star power saw many fall in line behind him if they wanted to work with him. He also took up championing the rights of others to race when and where they wanted, including one driver in particular who we meet in the film. Newman used his clout to level the playing field for others, and this included Willy Ribbs, a young black driver. In the film, Ribbs talks about how few people active within the sport supported him, and how the unbelievable amount of racist animosity from other drivers was palpable. Newman used his profile to arrange for Ribbs to be hired on a competitive team, making him a pro driver for the first time in his life. Ribbs later became the first black driver in the Indianapolis 500 and his indebtedness to Newman for his incredible support has lasted long after the actor’s death.

So there you have it - WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN. One hell of a talent, one hell of a driver and one hell of a man. Enjoy.

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN premieres Thursday 15th September at 8.30pm on Rialto Channel

It goes without saying that the sport of boxing loves an underdog tale, and you get served up a pretty damn good one in the life of Filipino pugilist (and congressman) Manny Pacquiao. Thursday's documentary about his life, MANNY may be verging on the hagiographic, but you can’t deny the pull of his extraordinary tale – and that perennially beatific smile.

The only boxer in history to win championships across an amazing eight weight classes, Pacquiao is most definitely a legend in his own lifetime, and one of my own personal favourite boxers ever. His perfect combination of speed, dedication, strength and straight up cojones has seen him take down men picked to annihilate him, and with style and grace.

As a film MANNY is largely chronological, with interviews and archival footage/photos used to introduce us first of all to the fighter’s early life growing up in poverty in rural Bukidnon. It follows him as he proceeds to kick off his career boxing for ridiculously small purses to help his family get ahead, and then on his road to life as a superstar in the sport after coming to the United States. We see him at the age of 14, when he moved to Manila behind his single mother’s back and lived for a time on the streets. There he started boxing for real and made the Philippine national amateur boxing team so his room and board were paid for by the government. In 1995, the death of a young aspiring boxer and close friend, Eugene Barutag, spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional boxing career, which officially began when he was just 16 years old, stood at 4'11'' and weighed 98 pounds (7 pounds under the minimum weight division). He later admitted before American media that he put weights in his pockets to make the 105-pound weight limit.

A man who overcame insurmountable odds to become one of the most loved and respected athletes of all time, he is revered in the Philippines, where he sits in Congress. Despite massive US and worldwide successes he is devoted to his home country and still lives in General Santos City, South Cotabato. Tonight’s film MANNY delves into his political career somewhat, but I would have loved to know more about his policies and rumoured amazing achievements.

This isn’t the only area where I wished MANNY had given me more. Apart from the aforementioned vintage film and some pretty dazzling fight footage, it just skims over many topics seemingly ripe for deeper exploration. These include the clash between Manny's devout Christianity and his gambling and womanising ways; his promoter Bob Arum's purported role in blocking a bout against Floyd Mayweather; his brief career as an action hero; his rumoured steroid use and more. The film has been called “fawning” but I wouldn’t take it that far – just a little more detail would have made for a well-rounded tale.

What I did love however, were the little insights into Manny’s extra curricular activities (outside of clearly, gambling and cheating on his long-suffering wife), such as the pure joy he finds in singing. I loved the scene where Jimmy Kimmel recalls the time Pacquiao sang a duet with Will Ferrell on his TV show, and the associated footage is pure gold!

So in conclusion, despite a few passed over details and a terrifyingly banal, monotonous narration by Liam Neeson (why, oh why?!), MANNY is a great watch, especially if you’re a fan of the Pacman. It's nothing groundbreaking as a sports doc, but Pacquiao's warm personality and amazing story make it well worth your time on the couch.

MANNY premieres Thursday 8th September at 8.30pm on Rialto Channel

As a parent, I can definitely understand the feeling that you sometimes want to squirrel your child away from the big bad world, and all of the stress, sadness and danger that comes with it. This is usually a fleeting feeling however as really, the world is where they learn about life and get to revel in its awesomeness as well as its hardships. You have to push them out there eventually, giving them the right tools for the job and valiantly hoping for the best. Peruvian-born Oscar Angulo clearly doesn’t agree with me however, and the life he created for his own children is presented on screen in tonight’s documentary, THE WOLFPACK.

THE WOLFPACK - which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance – is directed by Crystal Moselle, and is sensitive in its approach as it tells the strange story of the seven Angulo siblings who, for 14 years, barely left their tiny apartment. Their American mother, Susanne, home-schooled her seven children: Bhagavan, twins Govinda and Narayana, Mukunda, Krisna (aka Glenn), Jagadesh (aka Eddie), and sister Visnu. “I went to school,” Susanne says in the film, to explain her decision, “and I realised a lot of socialisation was not positive.” Oscar, meanwhile, was seeking to protect his children from New York’s drugs and crime, but also comes across as quite the megalomaniac in his approach.

Confined to their New York apartment by their parents, the Angulo kids are left to learn about the world pretty much solely via their father’s (eclectic) movie collection. Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the brothers (and sister Visnu, who rarely features in the film) learn about the outside world through the films that they watch, and they spend their childhood and adolescence re-enacting their favourites using elaborate homemade props and costumes. This leads to some serious creativity (thumbs up to Oscar, Susanne and the kids for that, at least) and makes for the more lighthearted scenes in the film, which is a compelling watch.

The family was reportedly so reclusive that many neighbours in their block didn’t know they existed, and once the brood didn’t leave the apartment for a whole year. In the film we see home-video footage of some of the boys racing down the hall of their building on scooters, followed by another wearing skates. That hall was effectively their playground, and other children their age were never encountered. In other home footage, the camera zooms down to street level where the neighbourhood is teaming with kids walking round in carefully constructed Halloween costumes. Sixteen floors up, the Angulos are filming themselves making similar costumes and dressing up in them too, leading parallel lives. The two worlds rarely meet, which is just bizarre to believe but tragically true.

Their imprisonment via Oscar came to an end abruptly in April 2010 when Mukunda, then just 15, snuck out of the apartment and proceeded to roam the streets wearing a mask inspired by  - bizarrely – ‘Halloween’ villain Michael Myers. Clearly drawing attention to himself by being costumed thus, he was arrested, taken to a nearby hospital, and returned home only after being assigned a therapist. The family is officially on record for perhaps the first time ever. The other brothers are buoyed by his tales of the outside world and soon vow to join him - their father could clearly no longer contain them.

Soon the young Angulos were venturing out together, walking the streets and hitting the beach, seemingly oblivious to their otherworldly appearance. Their initial getaway garb of choice was ties, dark clothes and sunglasses accessorised with their amazing waist-length hair – it’s Reservoir Dogs, Angulo-style.

As the documentary draws to a close we see the boys’ gradual assimilation into the world and by golly, it’s not bad at all. Rather than mucking it up entirely they seem to be taking things slowly but surely, and are sticking to the creative pursuits they know so well. The kids are alright, begging the question: was what Oscar did really such a bad thing? That dear watcher, is up to you to decide.

THE WOLFPACK premieres on Thursday 25th August on Rialto Channel 39