Crime

“Jack Black gives the performance of his career, under the pitch-perfect direction of his School of Rock director, Richard Linklater, who expertly crafts a black comedy with a deceptively sunny surface.” — NY Post

This superb true crime doco by Werner Herzog examines the case of a Florida man convicted of a triple homicide, still protesting his innocence after 17 years and one last-minute stay of execution on death row.

This superb true crime doco by Werner Herzog examines the case of a convicted wife murderer who converted to Islam in prison and confessed to earlier murders. A case of genuine remorse or a ruse to postpone execution?

This superb true crime doco by Werner Herzog examines the cases of two of the ‘Texas Seven’ who pulled off a spectacular break-out from a Texas maximum security prison in 2000 – and, once thwarted, went from life to death row.

This superb true crime doco by Werner Herzog examines the case of a woman sentenced to death for her role in the murder of 25-year-old Joana Rodrigues in order to kidnap the latter’s baby son. Her hired accomplices go free.

Japanese provocateur Sono Sion (Love Exposure) shot this radical tale of teen rage in post-tsunami landscapes. “A near-masterpiece from one of the most significant Japanese directors working today.” — Little White Lies

This year the Festival’s popular collaboration with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra features the ninth and final silent film directed by young master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. With classic Charlie Chaplin short Easy Street.

Legendary French-Algerian con artist Frédéric Bourdin recounts his own breathtaking exploits. “A mesmerizing psychological thriller bulging with twists, turns, nasty insinuations and shocking revelations.” — Hollywood Reporter

A senseless triple homicide committed by two 18-year-olds during a car theft has been the defining event in a world of damaged lives investigated in this ‘rigorously humane’ (NY Times) documentary by Werner Herzog.

Matthew McConaughey is a Texan cop with a sideline in murder (for hire) in this lurid and bloody trailer-trash melodrama. With Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon. “Unabashed pulp.” — The Guardian

Inspired by a true-crime story, this bold and unsettling revenge film takes a road trip down the dark by-ways of modern Chinese society. Director Cai Shangjun won the Best Director Award at Venice for this searing vision of moral decay.

Quick-witted undercover cop thriller set in a vast Paris nightclub. “With this tightly paced nail-biter, director Frédéric Jardin has made a film that’s surpassed its US counterparts by a country kilometer.” — Time Out NY

Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh were producers on this lucid, angry documentary and key players in the battle for justice for the ‘West Memphis Three’ imprisoned as teenagers for murders they did not commit.