True Stories

Tuesday, July 7 on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Jonathan Stack’s follow-up to his award-winning critically acclaimed documentary The Farm . In 1997, Stack spent a year inside Angola Prison, Louisiana’s maximum security prison, where he captured the lives of six men who, because of their sentences, are likely to die in prison. Over the years, Stack has remained in touch with them and the warden, Burl Cain, and this film reconnects with some of the characters, to witness the impact of the passing years on their spirits, body, hopes.

Tuesday, June 30 on M4

Eco-campaigner Tracy Worcester, a former actress and now Marchioness of Worcester, has campaigned for years for quality food, animal welfare and environmental protection through a revitalisation of rural economies. Pig Business is her four year exploration of intensive pig farming.

Tuesday, June 23 on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Jorien van Nes and Femke Wolting’s fascinating insight into online virtual worlds. Second Life, World of Warcraft, Metaplace, U World – all virtual worlds where the user can create their own paradise, far removed from real life. But who creates these worlds and are they the right people to be crafting idealised societies that pretend to address and solve the inadequacies of the real world?

Tuesday, June 16 on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, uncovers the mystery behind a massive explosion that shook Siberia in 1908. The first scientist to eventually visit the site found 80 million uprooted trees lying in neat rows, and thought that a meteor may have been to blame – but failed to find any fragments or crater and so the mystery remained unsolved. One hundred years after the explosion, George Carey packed his camera and set off to Tunguska.

Tuesday, June 9 on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Jennifer Baichwal’s intriguing film which looks at the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. Merging the scientific and the personal, she explores what it means to an individual struck by a bolt and how it changes their lives.

Tuesday 21 April at 10:00pm on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Robinson Devor’s astonishing story of a seemingly average businessman whose secret sexual life led to his shocking death. Blurring the line between documentary and narrative storytelling, True Stories: Zoo gives a humanising look at an extreme case of sexual desire.

Tuesday 14 April at 10:00pm on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Amy Berg’s exposé of the Catholic church’s failure to deal with paedophile priests.

Tuesday 7 April at 10:00pm on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, presents Havana Marking’s riveting documentary looking at the contestants on Tolo TV’s Afghan Star , the country’s equivalent of Pop Idol .

Tuesday 31 March at 10:00pm on M4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries tells the story of one of the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles into landfill sites in the Arizona desert? Chris Paine’s documentary investigates the events leading to the quiet destruction of thousands of new, radically efficient electric vehicles.

Tuesday 24 March at 10:00pm on M4

Werner Herzog’s Sundance-winning documentary, which he introduces, tells the story of Timothy Treadwell, a controversial self-styled animal rights activist who lived among the wild grizzly bears in Katmai national park in Alaska. For 13 years, he managed to live in proximity to them, but in 2003 he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were both killed and partly eaten by a mature bear. Followed at 12:10am by Werner Herzog: In The Edges.