November is almost upon us, so here’s a little sneak peak at what you can expect over the coming month. On Wednesday evenings there’s an impressive collection of Australian directors on show. Horror films returns to Friday nights to kick your weekend off with a frightening jolt, and Rialto World is filled with a collection of dramas that take you from Israel (The Green Prince) to Uruguay (Kaplan). Saturday’s Official Selection is screening Lucky Them staring Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church, and Anarchy, staring Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris and Dakota Johnson. And then, there’s Witnesses, an excellent new six episode French crime series that’s at the top of my pick’s list this week. Enjoy. 

November is almost upon us, so here’s a little sneak peak at what you can expect over the coming month. On Wednesday evenings there’s an impressive collection of Australian directors on show. Horror films returns to Friday nights to kick your weekend off with a frightening jolt, and Rialto World is filled with a collection of dramas that take you from Israel (The Green Prince) to Uruguay (Kaplan). Saturday’s Official Selection is screening Lucky Them staring Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church, and Anarchy, staring Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris and Dakota Johnson. And then, there’s Witnesses, an excellent new six episode French crime series that’s at the top of my pick’s list this week. Enjoy. 

Tuesday 27^th October 8.30pm… Witnesses The French are getting in on the Nordic noir movement, creating a television series called Witnesses that’s a cross between the excellent Swedish and Danish co-production The Bridge and Britain’s Broadchurch. Like The Bridge, the first episode of Witnesses starts out in a rather morbid, disturbing way. Detective Sandra Winckler (Marie Dompnier) is called to a show home where someone has arranged three newly dead, exhumed bodies in a show home making them look like a family. It’s a surreal scene and what’s most disturbing is it isn’t the first time it’s happened in this grey, wet coastal town of Le Tréport, upper Normandy. A photo of retired cop Paul Maisonneuve (Thierry Lhermitte) has also been mysteriously placed at the scene of the crime, and Maisonneuve reluctantly agrees to come on board to help Winckler with the case. The two have a history together, he was her chauvinistic teacher when she was training, and obviously there’s more to be revealed about their relationship. The production is classy, the cinematography moody and atmospheric, and the overall tone of the series is creepy and suspenseful. Those suffering withdrawal symptoms from the conclusion of the second series of The Bridge should look no further, Witnesses will fill your crime drama cravings nicely. 

Thursday 29^th October, 8.30pm… Tales of the Grim Sleeper
Double Exposure, the documentary series that features two films over consecutive nights focusing on the same theme, comes to a conclusion this week with two terrific films, The Galapagos Affair (mentioned below) and Tales of The Grim Sleeper. The theme this week is crime, and Tales of The Grim Sleeper tells the horrific story of a serial killer who was left to run rampant on the streets of South Central Los Angeles for over 20 years, killing countless prostitutes. Directed by British documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Biggie and Tupac, Battle for Haditha) Tales of The Grim Sleeper is an extraordinary exploration of social, racial and gender discrimination, and how systemic failure within the community, police and justice system allowed the alleged suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr, to destroy so many lives. With the help of a local ex prostitute, the fearless and charismatic Pam Brooks, Broomfield hits the streets, interviewing Franklin’s friends and family members, victims who survived his attacks, and family members who are still waiting to see justice for their loved ones. What Broomfield creates is not just a film about a heinous killing spree, but a film that tells of a bigger story; that of the disgraceful neglect of a whole community in desperate need.

Friday 30^th October, 8.30pm … The Galapogas Affair: Satan Came To Eden The murder mystery at the centre of this documentary about a group of German’s who retreated from civilization in the late 1920s to the deserted Galapogas island of Floreana, is such a fascinating and bizarre story, it’s hard to believe it hasn’t already been turned into a dramatic feature film. It’s a story filled with lofty ideals, complex characters, sexual intrigue and suspicious deaths, and it took filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (Ballets Russes) 15 years to pull it together. The Galapogas Affair: Satan Came To Eden tells the story of a Berlin doctor who leaves Germany with his mistress to live in seclusion on a tiny island in the Pacific, off the coast of South America. Their adventure is glamourised in the newspapers back home, and soon others join them; a self-styled Swiss Family Robinson and a gun-toting Viennese Baroness and her two lovers. Even though these people all desired a life outside the confinements of normal society, they didn’t get on, and ironically still had to face the issues and conflicts inherent in normal communities. The events that unfolded over the next few years (including the disappearance of the Baroness and one of her lovers) have been pieced together by Goldfine and Geller with the use of never seen before homemade movies, interviews with surviving family members and modern day islanders, HD footage of the incredible wildlife and vegetation on the island, and readings from the original settlers books and journals. An impressive collection of actors are used to voice the thoughts of the original settlers, with Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård and Josh Radnor all helping to bring the story alive. The truth of what happened to these intrepid settlers has more than likely gone to their graves with them, however this is still an intriguing story of urban dreams gone awry.