The SLMan Culture List – October

New four-part documentary series Beckham tells the inside story of a global football star and cultural icon. From his working-class beginnings in east London, his drive and determination to win, and the battle to find balance between ambition, love and family, David Beckham’s story is one of immense ups and downs. This new series takes viewers on that rollercoaster and builds a surprising, personal and definitive story of one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time. In Beckham, actor and director Fisher Stevens (Hugo in Succession) along with Oscar-winning producer John Battsek (One Day in September, Searching for Sugar Man, Winter on Fire) are granted unprecedented access to David, his wife Victoria, his family, his friends and his teammates. The result is a portrait of a man as well as a chronicle of modern sports and celebrity culture.

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When this launched in the US in April, it became FX’s most-watched premiere for an unscripted series. Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur is an American documentary miniseries directed by Allen Hughes (the award-winning director of critically acclaimed The Defiant Ones), about rapper and poet Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur, who was a Black Panther party member and activist. The deeply personal five-parter defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of a mother and son.

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In Glutton, comedian, Great British Menu judge and Off Menu host Ed Gamble shares a relatable selection of experiences and stories from a life lived through food. From the trials of being a diabetic with a sweet tooth to his teenage battles with obesity, to the joy of cooking and the power of food to bring us together, this is a hilarious and heart-warming memoir. Inside, he chronicles how before he could walk, he already knew that he preferred poached salmon to purée, that celery was a calorie-sapping waste of time, and that mashed potatoes should be made with loads of butter. While he might ordinarily have been upset by the calls of 'precocious little sh*t' coming from his family, he was too busy eating and staging rebellions against the patronising list of misery that is a children's menu. For more, you can book tickets to Ed’s live event – in celebration of the launch – at the Southbank Centre on 26th October.

Visit Amazon.co.uk

From the peaks of Snowdonia to the shores of California, celebrated Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas shares his favourite rides from around the world. Across the UK, into Europe and further afield, these are the training rides, races and journeys closest to his heart. From one-day classics in the Peak District and Snowdonia to Tuscany and the wide-open vistas of New Zealand's South Island, these are the routes you'll want to ride alongside the cycling superstar. There are also suggestions from other racers: from world champion Remco Evenepoel and his favourite winter training ride in Calpe, Spain; around Yorkshire with Tom Pidcock – Olympic mountain bike champion, world cyclo-cross champion and newly crowned winner of Strade Bianche; and the wilds of western Ireland from champion sprinter Sam Bennett. Ideal for any cycling fans in your life.

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From internationally bestselling author Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Wolves of Eternity is the new book in a visionary series that began with The Morning Star. It is 1986 and Syvert Løyning has returned from military service to his mother's home in southern Norway. One night, he dreams of his late father, and the next morning can't shake him from his mind. Searching through his father's belongings for clues and connections, Syvert finds a cache of letters that leads to the Soviet Union. In present-day Russia, Alevtina Kotov, a biologist at Moscow State University, is travelling to celebrate her stepfather's 80th birthday. Alevtina has always been curious and driven, but recently – tired and preoccupied with the care of her young son – she has felt adrift. Her friend Vasilisa offers some intellectual nourishment: she is writing a book about belief in eternal life. But it is a meeting with a visitor from Norway that will redraw the line of Alevtina's world, on the same weekend that a mysterious new star appears in the sky.

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Following its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, If The Streets Were On Fire has launched as a Storyville documentary on iPlayer. Set during the height of the knife crime epidemic in London, it follows the story of two young men, Mac and Milo, from London’s Bike Life community, fighting for their futures as they try to escape the harsh realities of street life through the brotherhood of biking. In a landscape decimated by austerity measures, a community called "BikeStormz” has sprung up in the void, providing one of the last safety nets for young people who are searching for hope in difficult circumstances. For those involved, biking is their escape, their respite and redemption, a lifeline, and a way of seeking solidarity and acceptance in a community that understands the realities of living in such proximity to the world of street crime. Through the lives of two men, the film weaves a rich tapestry of what it means to be a young person dealing with the realities of street life at this unprecedented moment.

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One of the most anticipated cinema releases of the year, Killers of the Flower Moon is directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and based on David Grann’s bestselling book. At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also stars Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons.

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