Getting under their skin
By Yasmin Sholgami
Nick Broomfield first discovered his love for photography at the age of 15 on a foreign exchange visit to France. That love for photography soon became a love for film making films. He made his first film ‘Who Cares’ which was about Slum Clearance in Liverpool was made by borrowing a wind up Bolex camera and shooting it on short ends.
Originally being influenced by the observational style from film makers such as Robert Leacock and Fred Wiseman which in turn led to to a greater sense of freedom from the confines of observational cinema which led to more experimental and investigative filmmaking such as his work ‘Aileen Wuornos’ and ‘Biggie and Tupac’.
His latest experiment titled ‘Tales of the Grim Sleeper’ tells the story of Lonnie Franklin Jrs life. Lonnie Franklin Jr was arrested in in July 2010 after a 25 year killing spree in which it is thought he could have killed over 100 victims, potentially making him the most prolific serial killer in history. Significantly his arrest was not the product of painstaking detective work but completely accidental, the result of a computer DNA match that linked him to a possible 20 victims. Franklin is current awaiting trial. Tales of the Grim Sleeper looks into how it was possible for all of this to happen.
