TV Picks of the Week – 10-10-16 By Lisa Jewell

Get stuck into these top TV choices this week.

Documentary – Locked Up in America: Prison State

Monday 10 October, 11.35pm, RTE1

The most influential documentary makers in America have to be the team at PBS’ Frontline, who consistently produce meticulously researched and important films. Locked Up in America: Prison State is one of two films made by the unit back in 2014 and while the first film focused on solitary confinement, this one zeros in on the cycle of mass incarceration in America. The stories of four residents of a housing project in Louisville, Kentucky, are followed as they cycle in and out of the state’s jails and prisons.

At a time when more prisons are being built and more people than ever are being locked up in the US, this film is interrogative in terms of the bigger picture politically and economically. But it also captures the human experiences of being locked up and whether incarceration truly is capable of being rehabilitative.

Film – Life of Pi – Thursday 13 October, 9pm, Film4

Life of Pi was originally a novel that told the story of a young man Pi and his family as they sold their zoo in India and boarded a ship to a new life in Canada (bringing a few of their remaining animals along to be sold abroad). When a storm hits, Pi’s life is forever changed and the film becomes the story of survival against the odds.

The book was a bestseller but was supposedly ‘unfilmable’, largely due to the technical difficulties of filming many of the scenes. Basically films set at sea are tough to film. Add in animals and that makes it ever harder. But in the hands of Ang Lee (who went on to win an Oscar for Best Director for Life of Pi), the film becomes a visual masterpiece and the story itself gives you plenty to think about. Definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it before and it’s a film that stands up to repeat viewings.

Documentary – Storyville – Moazzam Begg: Living the War on Terror

Sunday 16 October, 10pm, BBC4

The acclaimed Storyville series of documentaries returns to BBC4 with this extended interview with former Guantanamo detainee and British Muslim Moazzam Begg. The Storyville series often modifies the titles of films that have previously appeared in cinemas. In this case, it’s The Confession: Living the War on Terror. And what would you know – we reviewed the very same film back in August of this year so check it out in full here.

Biography – Tom Hanks: A League of His Own – Sunday 16 October, 11.10pm, Sky Arts

Tom Hanks ranks up there with the greats in the film acting world. He is a major box office draw (his films have grossed $4.4 billion in total) and he manages to weave his way between heart warming films (Toy Story, Forrest Gump, Big etc.) and critically acclaimed performances (Philadelphia, Saving Private Ryan, Bridge of Spies etc.). Along the way, there have been a couple of duds but surprisingly few for such a long career. Ahead of his next films Inferno and Sully, the actor sits down with Alex Zane to look back over his career and the roles that made him a bonafide star.