Something new for those of you who enjoy true stories... a round-up of movies coming up on the True Movies channel.
The channel has been on DStv (Channel 138) for two and a half years already but it's always been tucked away with no mention of it anywhere. It was launched with no frills or fuss and no attention has been given to it, until now.
The channel seems to be trying to rev things up because they've started releasing highlights so we thought we would share them:
The Disappearing Act
On: Wednesday April 6 at 20h45
A mother Fay Dolan (Patty Duke) goes to Chicago to try to find her son David (Robert Floyd) who has suddenly quit contacting her and can't be reached.
In reality: On September 6, 1992, in the early morning hours, Michele Roger brutally murdered David A. Richmond, her lover. Roger stabbed Richmond while he was sleeping, because she wanted to terminate their relationship.
After stabbing him at least two additional times while they struggled, Roger, not knowing whether he was alive or not, left their home to go to her parents, where they cleaned her up and discussed what to do over coffee. Roger and her father returned to the condo to find that Richmond was "no longer alive". They then disposed of the body.
The movie follows Fay’s battle to bring her son’s murderer to justice.
Christmas on Division Street
On: Monday April 18 at 17h15
The true story of a teen who moves from Philly and befriends a homeless man living on the streets of Chicago.
The movie explores what he learns about life from his acts of kindness and stars Fred Savage (The Wonder Years) and Hume Cronyn (The Seventh Cross, To Dance with the White Dog, Broadway Bound).
DC 9/11
On: Friday April 22 at 15h30
The story of the days directly after 9/11 and how the US, its president and its government came to terms with the catastrophe of the destruction of the New York Trade Center towers.
The producers wanted a sense of authenticity to underpin the film spent vast amounts of time on research which included an interview with President Bush. The film wanted to answer a number of questions many people had that day, most notably where President Bush was during events and why was he out of contact for so long. It stars Timothy Bottoms as Bush.
Tangiwai
On: Monday April 25 at 20h45
Xmas Eve 1953: Cricketer Bob Blair (Ryan O'Kane) is in South Africa, days away from batting for New Zealand. His fiancée Nerissa Love (The Lovely Bones' Rose McIver) is boarding an ill-fated train that will plunge into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, in what became New Zealand’s worst rail disaster.
Message from Holly
On: Thursday April 28 at 08h30
Best friends Holly (Lindsay Wagner, The Bionic Woman) and Kate (Shelley Long, Cheers) share beauty and intelligence - but otherwise they couldn't be more different. Holly is a free spirited artist, a single mother living in the country with her daughter Jenny. Kate is a high-powered New York executive with no time in her life for anything but her job.
Until, that is, she receives a desperate message from Holly. Stricken by illness and with only a few months to live, Holly confronts a shocked Kate with a request: that when Jenny no longer has a mother, Kate should raise her as her own daughter. Holly knows that only Kate can give Jenny what she will truly need: unconditional love.
Kate's life is about to change forever. Not only must she help Holly to reconcile herself to her situation and the inevitable loss of her daughter, but she must fight against Holly's family who are violently opposed to Holly's plans for her daughter.