The Fabulous Picture Show

The Two Escobars

Investigating the intersections of crime, sport and nationalism in Colombia.

Both born in Medellin, Colombia, but not related, Andrés Escobar and Pablo Escobar shared a fanatical love of football.

Andrés grew up to become one of Colombia’s most beloved players, while Pablo became the most notorious drug baron of all time.

As Pablo’s criminal success accelerated, his growing personal – and financial – interest in football was mirrored by a broader cultural fervour.

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Amanda Palmer talks to The Two Escobars directors Michael and Jeff Zimbalist

The Colombian national football team rose to unprecedented glory, coming to a head when Andrés’ shocking own-goal in the 1994 World Cup lost his team a shot at the title, and lost his nation the chance to redeem its international image.

Drawing on an encyclopaedic arsenal of archival footage, directors Michael and Jeff Zimbalist adeptly investigate the intersections of crime, sport and nationalism, revealing the surprising links between the deaths of Andrés Escobar and Pablo Escobar.

The Zimbalist brothers join Amanda Palmer, Al Jazeera’s head of entertainment, for a special Q&A hosted from New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, in which they explain how they discovered long-lost match footage buried in the grounds of a prison.

Cannes Film Festival

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Cannes 2010 opened with Robin Hood starring Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe

The world’s biggest film festival, Cannes 2010 featured a bumper crop of productions from veteran international directors including Ken Loach, Abbas Kiarostami, Mike Leigh, Lee Chang-dong, Bertrand Tavernier Xavier Beauvois, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Woody Allen.

The film festival opened with Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, starring Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe.

FPS brings you the highlights, the accolades, and of course the inevitable controversies.

Bal (Honey)

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Semih Kaplanoglu’s Honey

The last in Turkish filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu’s trilogy about a young poet named Yusuf, Bal (Honey), won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Kaplanoglu talks to FPS about how he found a new child star in seven-year-old Boras Altas.

Atlas plays a young boy forced to learn the harsh realities of nature as his beekeeper father disappears in the forest.

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Thursday, May 27, at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0600; Friday: 0030, 0830; Saturday: 1130, 2330; Sunday: 2130; Tuesday: 0530, 1230; Wednesday: 0300; Thursday: 0030.