TV Movie Guide: 8 – 14 March

• Audio Description (AD) available for Support the Girls, Corpse Bride, The Lake of Scars and Training Day
  
• Closed Captions (CC) available for Support the Girls, Sherpa: Trouble on Everest, The Lake of Scars, Policing the Police and Training Day
  

 

WEDNESDAY 8 MARCH

Homeland Story
9:30pm, NITV

PG
Australia, 2019
Genre: Documentary
Language: English, Yolngu Matha
Director: Glenda Hambly
What’s it about?
Homeland Story is an intimate portrait of Donydji (pronounced doy-n-ji), a small Aboriginal community in North East Arnhem Land, about 800 kms east of Darwin, in the far north of Australia. The film charts the Donydji community’s transition from traditional life to the digital age, from the 1960s to the present day.

Support the Girls
10:35pm, SBS VICELAND

M, AD, CC
USA, 2018
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: English
Director: Andrew Bujalski
Starring: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James Le Gros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula
What’s it about?
Lisa Conroy (Hall) is the general manager of Double Whammies, a sports bar that features skimpily dressed waitresses. Always nurturing and protective of her staff, she soon faces one trying day that tests her optimism at every turn. Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski (Computer Chess, Results).

 

THURSDAY 9 MARCH

The Piano
9:30pm, NITV (repeats Friday 10 March, 11:50am)

M
New Zealand, Australia, 1993
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Jane Campion
Starring: Holly Hunter, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel
What’s it about?
After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada (Hunter) and her young daughter, Flora (Paquin), are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair (Neill). Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his acquaintance George (Keitel), leading to life-altering conflicts. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Hunter), Best Supporting Actress (Paquin) and Best Original Screenplay for Campion, who also became the second ever woman to be nominated for Best Director.

Original 1993 Movie Show Interviews

 

FRIDAY 10 MARCH

Corpse Bride
7:30pm, NITV (repeats Saturday 11 March, 10:00am)

PG, AD
USA, 2005
Genre: Animation/3D, Comedy, Fantasy
Language: English
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Joanna Lumley, Tracey Ullman, Emily Watson
What’s it about?
This Tim Burton-directed stop-motion animation presents a legend based on a 19th-century Russian folktale, in which a young man (voiced by Depp) mistakenly weds a corpse (Carter) while on a two-day trek to the village of his real bride-to-be. It is up to the groom’s flesh-and-blood fiancée (Watson), who has been pining for the arrival of her intended, to face her wraith-like rival and make peace with her by promising to live her dreams for her and by vowing to remember her always.

 

SATURDAY 11 MARCH

Sherpa: Trouble on Everest
8:30pm, NITV

M, CC
Nepal, Australia, 2015
Genre: Documentary, Adventure
Language: Nepali, English
Director: Jennifer Peedom
What’s it about?
In 2013, the world’s media reported on a shocking mountain-high brawl as European climbers fled a mob of angry Sherpas. Director Jennifer Peedom and her team set out to uncover the cause of this altercation, intending to film the 2014 climbing season from the Sherpa’s point-of-view. Instead, they captured Everest’s greatest tragedy, when a huge block of ice crashed down onto the climbing route.

Amateurs
1:05am, SBS

M
Sweden, 2018
Genre: Comedy
Language: Arabic, Bosnian, German, English, Kurdish, Swedish, Tamil
Director: Gabriela Pichler
Starring: Zahraa Aldoujaili, Yara Aliadotter, Fredrik Dahl, Shada Ismaeel, Maria Nohra
What’s it about?
A small sleepy Swedish province in desperate need of a fresh start, hopes to lure a German low-cost superstore to their area by hiring a pompous commercial director to document their town’s worthiness. However, two bright, brash high school girls (Aldoujaili, Aliadotter) from immigrant families use their mobile phones and selfie sticks to tell the real story.

 

SUNDAY 12 MARCH

What Killed The Roman Empire?
8:30pm, SBS

PG
France, 2021
Genre: Documentary
Language: French
Director: Frédéric Wilner
What’s it about?
What if, contrary to popular belief, a terrible climate change and three deadly pandemics were the real causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire? A fascinating historical investigation, by the greatest European and American scientists, about the fall of the most powerful empire of antiquity.

The Lake of Scars
8:30pm, NITV (repeats Monday 13 March, 11:50am)

PG, AD, CC
Australia, 2022
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Director: Bill Code
Featuring: Jack Charles, Paul Haw, Jida Gulpilil, Cathie Haw, Gary Murray, Ngarra Murray
What’s it about?
In a corner of regional Victoria exists a place of astounding natural beauty, archaeological significance and age-old culture. But the Indigenous scarred trees and artefacts found here are at risk. With the blessing of the local Dja Dja Wurrung People, white horticulturist Paul Haw has made it his mission to care for Lake Boort and its surrounds.

Sgwaaway K’uuna (Edge Of The Knife)
10:15pm, NITV

MA15+
Canada, 2018
Genre: Drama, History
Language: Haida, English
Director: Helen Haig-Brown, Gwaai Edenshaw
Starring: Tyler York, William Russ, Adeana Young, Trey Rorick, Delores Churchill
What’s it about?
Island of Haida Gwaii, northern Canada, 19th century. During a fishing gathering, Adiits’ii (York) commits an unfortunate act. Tormented, he runs away to the wilderness as his mind embraces madness.

 

MONDAY 13 MARCH

Policing the Police
9:00pm, NITV

M, CC
USA, 2016
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
What’s it about?
A look inside the Newark Police Department in New Jersey, one of many troubled forces in America. Writer and historian Jelani Cobb examines allegations of police abuses and the challenge of fixing a broken relationship with the community.

Dead Man Walking
10:00pm, NITV

MA15+
UK, 1995
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Tim Robbins
Starring: Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Robert Prosky, R. Lee Ermey, Celia Weston, Lois Smith
What’s it about?
Based on a true story, this powerful and thought-provoking film explores the issue of capital punishment. Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon, in an Oscar-winning performance), a nun and teacher living in rural Louisiana, agrees to serve as spiritual counsellor for a prisoner (Penn) who is scheduled to be executed for the rape and murder of two teenagers. Winner of the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress (Sarandon) and directed by Tim Robbins.

 

TUESDAY 14 MARCH

Training Day
9:00pm, NITV

MA15+, AD, CC
USA, 2001
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Language: English, Russian, Spanish, Korean
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin
What’s it about?
He’s just got one day to prove himself and he’s a little anxious. He should be. Today is going to be the toughest of his life. Jake Hoyt (Hawke) has been assigned to Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington, in an Oscar-winning performance), the head of an elite narcotics team and he’s got about eight hours to prove his worth to him.