Zodiac Killer Project

One of history’s most notorious unsolved cases forms the basis of a humorously insightful investigation into the true-crime genre. After multimedia artist Charlie Shackleton (The Afterlight, MIFF 2022) fails to get a mooted documentary off the ground — an adaptation of a book that offered theories as to the identity of the Zodiac Killer, the mysterious real-life serial murderer fictionalised in David Fincher’s Zodiac — he instead takes us beat by beat through how he would have made the movie. Interrogating every well-worn cliché of the true-crime genre with a wryly humorous gaze, Shackleton explores the intentions and ethics of content creators and the seeming insatiable bloodlust of audiences. Fresh from screenings at SXSW, CPH:DOX and Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Innovator Award, this funny and disquieting feature-length video essay offers an unexpected and creative unpacking of genre tropes. Examining everything from landmarks like The Thin Blue Line (MIFF 1989), the Paradise Lost documentary series (MIFF 1996, 2001) and The Jinx through to Netflix’s contemporary commodification of the form, Zodiac Killer Project offers a fascinating exploration into why we watch the things we watch. “It is in Shackleton’s withering breakdowns that we begin to see how easily true crime projects can become bankrupt creative endeavors … It’s like we’re being given some sort of secret code that, once you see it, will forever change how you look at [them].” – The Wrap