Headliners - 7 compelling true stories that made headlines
This August on CinemaWorld, we present to you “Headliners” – a collection of films that drew inspiration from compelling true stories that captured international headlines. Whether a sensational love crime that shocked Australia in the late 1990s or a memoir of WWII’s most enigmatic and mysterious female spy, these films will surely leave you hanging on to its threads of truth.
Catch One Breath on CinemaWorld on 9 August (9PM SIN), an awe-inspiring tribute to the late freediving champion, Molchanova. It traces her life trajectory – from her failed marriage to her dissatisfaction with her dreary life and finally, to that fateful day in August 2015 when she descended into the deep blue on one breath and never resurfaced. With eerily spellbinding cinematography from 100 metres below sea level, this is a film that will show you what true female courage and human endeavour looks like.
- New York Times: Free Diver Natalia Molchanova Descends for Fun, Then Vanishes
- Time: The World’s Greatest Free Diver Is Missing and Presumed Dead in Spanish Waters
For more headline-inspired stories, watch these 6 films exclusively on CinemaWorld On-Demand*.
From Italy, we have “Duisburg”, a gritty mob movie that spotlights the decades long San Luca Vendetta between two Calabrian mafia clans. In 2007, the feud culminated in a bloody finale, the infamous “Ferragosto massacre” in Duisburg, Germany.
- Reuters: Six Italians shot in Germany in mafia feud
- The Guardian: A mafia feud that began with a row over a firework leaves six dead
On a lighter note, there’s the Italian film, “The Startup”, which tells the true story of the young Italian Mark Zuckerberg, Matteo Achilli, who began his own networking platform at only 19 years old.
- BBC: Is this Italy’s Mark Zuckerberg?
- Business Insider: Why Microsoft and Google are backing the 22-year-old ‘Italian Zuckerberg’
Up north, “The Spy” is a German historical drama inspired by the life of WWII double agent and femme fatale, Vera von Schalburg, also known as Vera Eriksen or ‘The Most Beautiful Spy’.
- co.uk: Ballerina who became a spy: But was she an MI5 agent?
- The History Press: Vera Eriksen: The Second World War’s most enigmatic spy
From Poland, “Strike” is a gripping fictionalised biopic about Anna Walentynowicz, affectionately known as the “mother of independent Poland” for her crucial role in establishing the Solidarity trade union and labour activism. Directed by Academy Award winner, Volker Schlöndorff.
In the 2017 Sundance Grand Jury Award Winner, “The Nile Hilton Incident”, an increasingly fractured Cairo is thrown into the spotlight as civilian tensions rise and politicians’ immunity dissolve. The movie is inspired by the murder of Lebanese Arab singer Suzanne Tamim in Dubai in 2008.
- The Guardian: A tale of money, murder and spin
- New York Times: Egyptian Tycoon Sentenced to Death for Murder
Lastly, we have “Joe Cinque’s Consolation” from Down Under. It tells the sensational true story of Joe Cinque and his beautiful but narcissistic girlfriend, Anu Singh. It’s 1997 and in a horrifying twist of events, Singh concocts a macabre plan to end her mental suffering – one that will shake the nation with its chilling cruelty.
- VICE: Why a Beautiful, Promising Law Student Killed Her Boyfriend With a Massive Dose of Heroin
- com.au: Anu Singh wants forgiveness from Joe Cinque’s family for his death
Watch anytime on CinemaWorld On-Demand*.
*Available in selected territories.
