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Oscar Pistorius: Third Anniversary Of Reeva Steenkamp’s Death And A Movie

Published on: February 14, 2016 at 3:44 PM
By Anne Sewell

It was three years ago today that South African Paralympic Oscar Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

On February 14, 2013, Pistorius, 29, reportedly awoke, thought there was an intruder in his home, and shot Reeva through the locked bathroom door. Three years later and interest in that fateful night is as strong as ever. In fact, interest is so strong, a documentary is being made about the fatal shooting and the subsequent trial of Oscar Pistorius.

As reported in the Independent Online , the documentary will be dubbed Oscar Pistorius: Killing a Dream and will be produced by Western Edge Pictures. The director of the film will be Vaughan Sivell, founder of the company, and shooting is set to start in March with the film to be released early in 2017.

Sivell will be collaborating with journalist Gareth A. Davies, boxing correspondent for the Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. who also reports on Paralympic sport. Davies has reportedly known the Bladerunner , as Pistorius is known, since he was 16 years of age.

Screen Daily interviewed Sivell, who said the Pistorius trial had shown how the Paralympic star “self destructs.”

Sivell said the appeal ruling in the Oscar Pistorius case starts with the line, “This is a tragedy of Shakespearean scale.”

He reportedly found it fascinating that a judge could use those words, saying the story mirrors the time when Nelson Mandela was released and “we saw this nation of reliance and courage, and now there is so much violence and corruption.” He added that Pistorius self destructs in the same way that the country of South Africa self destructs.

“There are so many levels to it. It’s what makes great films.”

Sivell continued by saying the film will explore the tragedy of Reeva Steenkamp’s death together with a look at South Africa’s turbulent recent history.

“For us it’s the story of South Africa alongside the story of Oscar, it’s so cinematic, it’s a real once-in-a lifetime project in terms of scale.”

Reportedly, the producers of the film plan to attempt to interview both Pistorius and also the Steenkamp family for the documentary.

As for Oscar Pistorius himself, on the first anniversary of Reeva’s death on February 14, 2014, he said that no words could adequately capture his feelings about the “devastating accident that has caused such heartache for everyone who truly loved – and continues to love Reeva.”

Pistorius’ trial was televised live, drawing massive media attention. Many international journalists were on the scene at the time.

In September 2014, Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide in the Pretoria High Court and in mid-October that year received a five-year prison sentence. Along with this, he also received a three-year suspended sentence on a charge of reckless endangerment regarding a separate incident with a firearm in a restaurant.

Pistorius was released in mid-October 2015 under house arrest after serving only one year in prison, but in December last year, things changed. At that time, the Supreme Court of Appeal found the High Court had erred in its judgment and stated Pistorius was, in fact, guilty of murder in the killing of Steenkamp . As reported by the Inquisitr at the time, Pistorius said he was terrified of returning to prison having had a hard time before due to his disabilities.

At present, Oscar Pistorius remains under house arrest and his lawyers have said they will appeal the new conviction. Pistorius is facing a possible 15-year jail sentence for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and is currently due back in court on April 18 for sentencing.

[Photo by Alon Skuy/The Times/Gallo Images/Getty Images]

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