U.S. channel to premiere Oscar Pistorius movie
JOHANNESBURG — An American television channel plans to air a film about Oscar Pistorius and how he murdered girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, drawing criticism from the family of the former South African track star.
Lifetime says “Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer,” which is to premiere on Nov. 11, is told from “the point of view” of Steenkamp and her mother and tells “what allegedly happened” in 2013 when Pistorius shot her.
Carl Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian’s brother, said Tuesday that the film is a “gross misrepresentation of the truth” that reflects the arguments of prosecutors. He said the Pistorius family will take legal action.
South Africa’s top appeals court convenes Nov. 3 to hear prosecutors’ arguments that the six-year prison sentence for Pistorius, who was convicted of murder, should be increased.
The parents of Steenkamp also have expressed outrage over the film.
June and Barry Steenkamp said they were “horrified and upset” at reports that the film claimed to tell the story of the 2013 killing from the perspective of Reeva and June, her mother. The Steenkamps stressed they had not collaborated in the project or knew anything about it being made, and said they were still in mourning for their daughter.
“Any impression that is created that this is June’s view, or that the movie is endorsed by the Steenkamp family, is untrue and incorrect,” they said in a statement.