Saturday 4 March
Fruitvale Station
8:30pm, SBS VICELANDWatch now at SBS On Demand
M
USA, 2013
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer
What's it about?
Based on a tragic true story, Fruitvale Station marks the first collaboration between Creed director Ryan Coogler and his young star Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, Friday Night Lights). It follows a troubled 22-year-old San Francisco resident, Oscar Grant, on December 31, 2008, as he tries to make good on a promise to become a better son, partner and father. Everything changes when Oscar takes the train to watch the NYE fireworks in the city with his girlfriend, and crosses paths with the BART Police.
[link title="Fruitvale Station review: Indie drama shines a light on victim of violence" url="node/6370"]
Rampart
10:05pm, SBS VICELANDWatch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
USA, 2011
Genre: Crime, Drama
Language: English
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver
What's it about?
A great movie about a bad cop, co-written by iconic crime author James Ellroy ("The Black Dahlia"). Woody Harrelson is Officer Dave Brown, a morally corrupt Vietnam vet and police officer in late '90s Los Angeles, who has grown accustomed to getting away with violent behaviour - until he's caught on tape beating a suspect.
[link title="Why You Should Watch: Rampart" url="node/14926"]
[link title="Rampart Review" url="node/5853"]
Saturday 11 March
Romper Stomper
8:30pm, SBS VICELANDWatch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
Australia, 1992
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Language: English
Director: Geoffrey Wright
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie, Daniel Pollock
What's it about?
This Australian cult classic split the critics over its handling of race-related violence. It hasn't lost any of its impact over time. Hando (a terrifying Russell Crowe) and Davey (Daniel Pollock) are Melbourne skinheads who trawl for trouble with Asian immigrants, including the Vietnamese owners of their local pub. The pair hook up with teenage junkie Gabe, whose presence drives a wedge between the pair.
[link title="Romper Stomper review: The movie David Stratton famously refused to rate" url="node/44563"]
Combat Girls
10:15pm, SBS VICELANDWatch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
Germany, 2011
Genre: Drama
Language: German
Director: David Wnendt
Starring: Alina Levshin, Jella Haase, Sayed Ahmad
What's it about?
Echoing the themes of Romper Stomper, this confronting German movie follows 20-year-old Marisa (Alina Levshin, in an unforgettable performance), an angry young woman part of a neo-Nazi group, where hate, violence, and heavy parties are the norm. When her boyfriend is sent to jail after they attack tram passengers, Marisa is left to become the role model for a naïve teenager who has just joined the group. This newfound responsibility, and later her accidental connection with an Afghan refugee, sees Marisa question everything she knows.
[link title="Combat Girls review" url="node/5821"]
Saturday 18 March
Precious
8:30pm, SBS VICELAND
MA15+
USA, 2009
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, Bill Sage, Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique
What's it about?
A fairytale of brutal proportions, Lee Daniels' Precious is the story of an overweight and illiterate Harlem teenage mother, Claireece or 'Precious' (Gabourey Sidibe), who is routinely abused by her own father and mother (played with terrifying power by Mo’Nique). From such horrifying beginnings, Precious takes the first steps towards freedom and an education with the help of a teacher (Paula Patton) and social worker (an almost unrecognisable Mariah Carey).
[link title="Precious whips up a firestorm" url="node/2044"]
[link title="Why You Should Watch: Precious" url="node/14750"]
[link title="Precious Review" url="node/4875"]
Half of a Yellow Sun
10:40pm, SBS VICELAND
M
UK, 2013
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Binyi Bandele
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose
What's it about?
Based on the 2006 novel by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and set over an eight-year period from the early '60s until the end of the Biafran War, this sweeping epic was described as "Gone with the Wind in Nigeria". Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) plays an academic who, together with his lover (Thandie Newton), decides to teach in a remote town in eastern Nigeria. But their lives are thrown into turmoil after the British leave and Nigeria gains its independence.
[link title="Half of a Yellow Sun: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton interview " url="node/15437"]
Saturday 25 March
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
8:30pm, SBS VICELANDAvailable after broadcast at SBS On Demand
M
UK, 2013
Genre: Thriller
Language: English
Director: Mira Nair
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson
What's it about?
Mira Nair directs this explosive political thriller about the journey of radicalisation. Man of the moment Riz Ahmed (Four Lions, Rogue One) stars as a young Pakistani analyst chasing corporate success on Wall Street. But after the 9/11 attacks, his American Dream turn into a nightmare, as he finds himself racially profiled, and turned into the enemy.
[link title="The Reluctant Fundamentalist: interviews" url="node/1564"]
[link title="The Reluctant Fundamentalist Review" url="node/6194"]
Even the Rain
10:55pm, SBS VICELANDAvailable after broadcast at SBS On Demand
M
Spain, 2010
Genre: History
Language: Spanish
Director: Iciar Bollain
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Karra Elejalde, Luis Tosar
What's it about?
Gael García Bernal plays an idealistic film director, Sebastian, making a revisionist drama about the Spanish conquest of the Americas, which is cheaper to shoot in Bolivia. The line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the oppression faced by the Native Americans in his film echoes the plight of the local Bolivian community, rocked by violent protests against the government's decision to privatise water. Soon Sebastian has to face his own hypocrisy as he realises he's a party to the exploitation he meant to denounce. A clever, self-critical movie written by Paul Laverty, Ken Loach's longtime collaborator.
