Foxtel doc highlights ‘injustice’ in outback

The Queen & Zak Grieve

Australian pay TV platform Foxtel will screen a one-hour documentary examining the case of a young Indigenous man who faces life in prison after being convicted of murder.

Prodco In Films is making The Queen & Zak Grieve, the man who was given the life sentence under the Northern Territory’s mandatory sentencing laws, a decision which the judge described as an “injustice.”

The documentary has been written and will be presented by Dan Box, national crime reporter at The Australian newspaper, who spent weeks in the town of Katherine investigating the killing and the events that led to Grieve being jailed, despite evidence he was not there when the crime took place.

Screen Australia is providing production funding in association with state agency Create NSW.

The doc will be available initially as a 6×10’ vodcast streamed via The Australian, starting on August 28.

It will then screen on Foxtel’s Crime + Investigation channel at 19.30 on September 27.

Liz Stevens, Screen Australia’s senior manager, documentary, said: “The Queen & Zak Grieve brings together the talents of reporter Dan Box and the team at In Films for a powerful examination of justice that audiences will find shocking.”

Director Ivan O’Mahoney added: “This was a unique opportunity for us to work with one of Australia’s best reporters on a story of national importance and pioneer a new way of longform documentary storytelling.”