Documentaries Fill HBO's Summer

Subjects range from Iraq to Roman Polanski

Zap2It.com

April 16, 2008

Roman Polanski

The writers' strike has left HBO bereft of original series for this summer -- no "Entourage," no "Flight of the Conchords," no "Big Love."

That doesn't mean, though, that the pay-cable channel will be without original programming. The seven-part miniseries "Generation Kill," an Iraq war story from "Wire" creator David Simon, debuts in July, and HBO has now announced a slate of documentaries to help fill out the schedule.

The docs will air at 9 p.m. ET on Monday nights starting June 9. They'll cover subjects ranging from high-school debate teams ("Resolved," June 16) to the Iraq war as seen through the eyes of Iraqi teenagers ("Baghdad High," Aug. 4) to profiles of influential African-Americans ("The Black List," Aug. 25).

Leading off the slate is "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired." Directed by Marina Zenovich, the film re-examines the "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" director's conviction for unlawful intercourse with a minor, which caused him to flee to Europe, where he's lived for the past 30 years. Zenovich aims to challenge some of the myths about the case while also training a critical eye on the media and the legal system.

Other films in the series include "Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery," focusing on the area of Arlington where soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried; "The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly's Not for Sale," about the artist's fall from grace; and "Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal," about Fleiss' fitful attempts to open a brothel in Nevada that caters to female clients.