Vice.com
The War Of Others
Another remarkable film from Vice, which seems increasingly willing to go where established channels fear to tread. This new offering sees Sebastian Weis of its German team visit Kobani in Syria to explore how the conflict is drawing in volunteers from around the world. Weis meets Canadians, Germans, Poles and Italians who have arrived in Syria both to fight Isis and to try and rebuild the country’s shattered infrastructure.
BBC iPlayer
Life And Death Row: Love Triangle
Making A Murderer might be the most zeitgeisty recent true-crime hit, but BBC3 has had a serialised crime documentary strand of its own ticking over for a few years now. On 25 April, Life And Death Row returns with two daily 10-minute episodes that tell a prisoner’s story over a four day period. Viewers will also be able to explore the details of the case by examining real-life evidence on the BBC website. This time it tracks the case of Emilia Carr, on death row in Florida, having been convicted of the murder of a love rival. Is Carr a sociopath or an innocent lured to her destruction? And is every tangled murder case now destined to be filmed and streamed online?
Podcast
Line Noise
Lovers of glitchy and graceful electronica have hit the jackpot with this ongoing podcast from journalists-slash-DJs Philip Sherburne and Ben Cardew. The latest edition comprises Sherburne’s set at Barcelona’s Lapsus festival. But earlier instalments find them discussing everything from Matmos to Moodymann with an engaging thoughtfulness that’s rare for the subject matter.
Available now with new episodes added regularly
All4
A Very British Coup
It’s easy to underestimate the sheer scale and range of Channel 4’s catch-up and archive service All4. Take A Very British Coup, for example. This 1988 drama in which a hard-left Labour leader from Sheffield becomes prime minister – which, in turn, leads to all manner of hidden-state sabotage – seemed far-fetched at the time. In fairness, it seems far-fetched now. Even so, given the treatment meted out to the current leader of the opposition, it’s not without prescience or pertinence.
Available now
Netflix
Ajin: Demi-Human
With the upcoming Hollywood remake of manga classic Ghost In The Shell garnering negative attention for its casting of white actors, it’s Netflix to the rescue with an unproblematic anime fix. Japanese high-schooler Kei is killed in a traffic accident, only to return from the dead as an immortal Ajin. He’s soon forced on the run by those targeting him for his unusual ability, in a gripping series complete with a wonderfully catchy theme song
Available now
Vimeo
The Outs
Netflix and Amazon Prime are far from the only big streaming players out there. Premium video-sharing site Vimeo is the latest firm to launch its own original content arm, having snapped up this formerly Kickstarter-funded webseries that’s drawn comparisons with the likes of Broad City and Master Of None. The premise? A humanising look at gay millennial life in Brooklyn that steers clear of cliches. Showrunner Adam Goldman stars as Mitchell, a cardigan-wearing worrier with a troublesome ex. Catch up with the first series for free at theouts.com before launching into the latest run.
