Sarah Palin - You Betcha!

Director: Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill

Year: 2004

Twelve years ago Nick Broomfield made a film Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer.  Aileen's lawyer, her born-again Christian mother and the Florida State police have all been involved in trying to sell her story - that of America's first female serial killer - to the highest bidder.  Aileen herself, who was convicted of murdering seven men, ironically emerged with the most credit.<br />  <br /> Aileen and Nick Broomfield kept in contact, writing to each other occasionally.  Then, in October 2002, Broomfield was subpoenaed to appear at Aileen's final State appeal prior to her execution.  Extracts of Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer were shown in court and many of her childhood friends were also called as witnesses.<br />  <br /> Then, unexpectedly, Aileen changed her plea and announced she had killed the seven men in cold blood, not in self-defence as she had asserted previously and she wanted to die immediately.  Jeb Bush, the State's governor, welcomed Aileen's decision and announced his intention to reunite Aileen with her maker as soon as possible.  In a subsequent interview Aileen admits in an unguarded moment, when she thinks the camera is turned off, that she did kill in self defence but that she can no longer stand being on death row and has to die.<br />  <br /> The film portrays Aileen's childhood in Troy, Michigan, as one of terrible abuse and violence, which continued during her years on the road as a hitch-hiking prostitute and ultimately culminated in the murders.  In her last interview, which Aileen grants to Nick Broomfield exclusively, she said she believed her mind was being controlled by radio waves and that she would be taken away by angels on a space ship.<br />  <br /> The film provides an insight into the mind of a deeply paranoid, yet seemingly sympathetic person, who lost her mind and killed seven people.<br />  <br /> Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer is a powerful statement against the death penalty and raises disturbing questions about executing the mentally ill.<br />  <br /> Aileen Wuornos was executed in the State of Florida on October 9th, 2002.

Director: Hannah Berryman

Year: 2024

A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle.<br /> Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all.<br /> At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? <br /> This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. <br /> Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere<br /> Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere

Director: Tristan M Copeland

Year: 2025

WHAT ABOUT GARY is a raw and emotive documentary that delves into the tragic consequences of misinformation, exploring how conspiracy theories led to the death of Gary Matthews from Covid-19. The film intimately portrays the profound grief of Gary's family and friends as they grapple with this senseless loss.<br /> Director Tristan Copeland, Gary's cousin, questions the purveyors of these falsehoods, driven by a need to understand why they ensnared Gary. Through vérité footage, archival materials, and Gary's own paintings, the film explores Gary’s descent into a distorted reality, seeking the root causes of his susceptibility to misinformation.<br /> Shot during the pandemic in Shrewsbury, England, WHAT ABOUT GARY captures the isolation that made many, including Gary, vulnerable to manipulation. With kinetic editing, evocative camera work, and a poignant score, the film examines how society failed to protect its citizens from misinformation.<br /> A potentially controversial yet vital work that questions how conspiracy theorists wield such influence and whether others can be saved from similar fates. A cautionary tale for a world grappling with truth in the digital age, and a tribute to a life tragically cut short, driven by a need to understand why.