Five things to watch this weekend
Fifa Uncovered — Netflix
There’s a lot of anger directed at this month’s Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Allegations of corruption have plagued the decision to stage the world’s biggest sporting event in a boiling hot country with a questionable human rights record — where homosexuality is a crime, women are treated as second-class citizens and justice is meted out according to the violently retributive edicts of Sharia law.
However, this is hardly the first time the event has been hosted in a country with questionable political attitudes. The 1934 event was hosted in Mussolini’s Italy; the 1950 edition in the military dictatorship in Brazil; the 1970 tournament in Mexico’s dirty war era; 1978’s event was overseen by the murderous Argentinian military junta; and the last World Cup was in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
What has changed is our understanding of the dirty dealings within football’s world governing body Fifa. This four-part docuseries examines the depressing history of corruption in Fifa to ask some difficult questions about why we’re all about to turn our attention to Qatar and what, if any, the consequences have been for those Fifa bosses and their rapacious practices.
Argentina 1985 — Prime Video
Before our own lauded Truth and Reconciliation Commission process in the 1990s, there was the attempt by the democratic Argentinian government to bring to justice the members of the military junta that ruled that country from 1976-1983 and oversaw a terrifying period of civilian assassinations and disappearances.
Director Santiago Mitre’s engaging legal drama tells the story of prosecutor Julio César Strassera and his team of young, enthusiastic researchers who in spite of threats from conservatives fought valiantly to hold the leaders of the junta to account for the most bloody dictatorship in the history of the country.
Is That Black Enough for You? — Netflix
Film critic Elvis Mitchell directs and narrates this deeply personal love letter to black American cinema of the 1970s. He has lots of help from those who were involved in a brief but memorable period of diverse, angry and innovative expressions of the black experience and those who were inspired to become the new generation of black filmmakers at the forefront of American cinema today.
The Ipcress File — Showmax
Joe Cole steps into the narrow-cut suits and trendy thick-rimmed spectacles of Len Deighton’s hustler turned Cold War spy hero, Harry Palmer, for this sumptuously realised, cool 1960s’ twisty thriller-series adaptation of the book and reimagining of the character immortalised by Michael Caine back in 1965.
The Man Who Fell to Earth — Showmax
Nicolas Roeg’s 1976, David Bowie-starring film of Walter Tevis’ novel is a cinematic masterpiece. For this series adaptation of the story of an alien who comes to earth looking for a woman who will help him secure the future of his species, Chiwetel Ejiofor steps into Bowie’s shoes and delivers a standout, complex and layered performance that pushes this version into new territory in the era of global warming and the threat of planetary destruction.