Veteran documentarian Nick Broomfield joined us to discuss his 2015 documentary Tales of The Grim Sleeper. The film digs into the case of the notorious serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper, who terrorised South Central Los Angeles over a period of twenty-five years, raping and murdering upwards of 100 young women.

Nick's film is as much an exposé of the alleged murderer, local resident Lonnie Franklin, who was arrested in 2010 (and who is currently still awaiting trial and proclaims his innocence), and as it is a vivid portrait of a community long plagued by drugs, crime, poverty and racism. Local local law enforcement teams were often slow to act and were less than conscientious when handling the homicide cases of these black sex workers. It is this deeper social context of these killings that drives Nick's eye-opening film.

We were honoured to welcome Director Nick Broomfield and Producer Marc Hoeferlin to Watershed, in conversation with Mandy Rose from UWE's Digital Cultures Research Centre, to discuss the documentary. In this video of their introduction and Q&A session, Nick and Marc give advice on filming challenging stories in difficult environments; talk about the divide that exists in Los Angeles between rich and poor; and they ask what the future holds for American politics and the criminal justice system.

Posted on Wed 4 Feb 2015.

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