TV PICKS OF THE WEEK By Lisa Jewell

Whether you’re staying in or setting the DVR, we’ve your top cultural TV picks for the week ahead.

Film – Still Alice

Monday 17 July, 9.35pm, RTE1

Moving dramatic film that follows the story of a linguistics professor who suddenly starts to falter in her words and forget her whereabouts. The film moves through her journey as she and her family realise that she is showing the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease and brings home just how scary that realisation is to the person entering into the diagnosis and those around them.

Julianne Moore deservedly won an Oscar for her performance and supporting cast, including Alec Baldwin and Kirsten Stewart, acquit themselves well too.

Documentary – The Natives: This is Our America

Wednesday 19 July, 11.50pm, BBC One

An interesting documentary tucked away on BBC One’s late night schedule. Native Americans in South Dakota hit the headlines last year with the protest against the oil pipeline planned to run through their sacred lands. The documentary covers this aspect but is a wide ranging account of what life is like for a young Native American growing up on a reservation.

The Lakota Sioux were forced onto the Pine Ridge Reservation in the late 1800s and it’s now one of the poorest areas in America with a high rate of drug and alcohol addiction. The film looks at these issues but also points to a more hopeful future as young people living in the community show renewed interest in keeping traditions alive.

Documentary – U2 Agus An Arc

Thursday 20 July, 7pm, RTE1

Ahead of their homecoming gig at Croke Park this weekend, this documentary takes a look at the early years of U2 as they played small gigs in the 1970s, hoping to build up a following. It particularly focuses on the Downtown Kampus gigs run by students in UCC at the legendary Arcadia Ballroom in Cork.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw4kA7z7-AA