Trial SBS On Demand's gripping Courtroom Drama collection

You can soak in SBS On Demand’s fascinating content from your couch. A collection of legal films, biopics, dramas and documentaries, from uplifting stories of lawyers fighting to defend justice and equality under the law to gripping reenactments of a real case.

Jury: Death on the Stairs

Jury: Death on the Stairs It recreates a real-life manslaughter trial, with actors presenting the court transcripts verbatim before a new jury of 12 ordinary Australians. Jury: Death on the Stairs introduces us to Carlo* and Shaun*, a couple living in Sydney’s inner west; Carlos is found dead at the bottom of a staircase and Shaun declares his innocence. (*Names and locations in the series have been changed to protect the identities of those involved in the original trial).

The actors are so convincing that you forget you are watching a mock trial. Part documentary, part reality TV show, and part social experiment, Jury: Death on the Stairs It provides a unique perspective on Australia’s jury trial system.

Five-part series Jury: Death on the Stairs It premiered on November 6; New episodes will air on SBS on Wednesdays at 20.30 and can be watched on SBS On Demand after the episodes air.

Jury: Death on the Stairs

Safe House

Safe House introduces us to Phoebe Rook (Aisha Dee), who swaps her cushy life in corporate law for a job at a domestic violence community law center, where she meets attorney Jenny Lee. Filmed in Melbourne Safe House It shows the challenges Lee (Logie nominee Mabel Li) faces helping immigrant women navigate the Australian family court system.

There seem to be countless other legal dramas involving brutal corporate lawsuits, which Safe House especially because it’s refreshing IT is one of the few TV programs to realistically portray the vital work of community legal centers in providing free legal advice to vulnerable people. As a lawyer working in the community legal center industry, I recommend this SBS Original four-episode miniseries as mandatory viewing for lawyers who wish to work in the social justice sector.

Four-part series Safe House currently airing on SBS On Demand.

Black and White

Black and White It is based on the true story of young Aboriginal man Max Stuart (played by David Ngoombujarra), who is sentenced to death after being found guilty by a jury of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in the remote town of Ceduna. Region bordering South Australia. David O’Sullivan (Robert Carlyle), the energetic young lawyer assigned to defend Stuart, realizes the police have extracted a false confession from him. The film follows O’Sullivan and his lawyer friend Helen Devaney (Kerry Fox) as they fight to prevent Stuart’s execution. Black and White It offers a striking look at the racial prejudices First Nations people faced as they navigated the court system in Australia in the 1950s.

Black and White is now streaming on SBS On Demand.

Doctor Gamma

Doctor Gamma It is based on the real life of Luiz Gama, Brazil’s first black lawyer, who used the legal system and courts to secure the freedom of more than 500 slaves in Brazil. Gama was born free but was sold into slavery at the age of 10 to pay off his father’s debts. Teaching himself to read and write, Gama became a self-taught lawyer and also a journalist and poet who used the law to free himself and other slaves. Wristwatch Doctor Gamma To learn about Gama’s lifelong struggle to abolish slavery in Brazil.

Dr. Gamma is now streaming on SBS On Demand.

Conviction

set in paris Conviction introduces us to 32-year-old Roxane Bauer (Alice Isaaz), who works at a fancy law firm owned by her husband’s wealthy family. Bauer seems to have it all; a successful, strong corporate law career and a supportive husband who is also a partner in the family business. But after her husband is accused of rape, Bauer is forced out of her cushy law job in the big end of town and reluctantly returns to the tough area where she grew up. Returning to his hometown, he soon realizes that criminal defense lawyers are in great demand and realizes his true calling as a lawyer defending the voice of the accused. Conviction It captures the complexity of being a woman in law and being caught between the two worlds of rich and poor.

Watch all eight episodes of Conviction on SBS On Demand.

Lawyer

Lawyer takes us to Busan, South Korea in the 1980s, where the oppressive military government regime has succumbed to communist sympathizers. The film is loosely based on the real-life “Burim case,” in which more than 20 students, teachers and workers at a book club in Busan were falsely accused of being North Korean sympathizers. lawyer Song Woo-seok (played by Song Kang-ho) is a sole practitioner who earns big money as a tax lawyer, but his friend’s son is tortured and arrested on trumped-up charges. Song, a North Korean sympathizer, assembles an all-star legal team to defend the group of young activists Lawyer It follows Song’s journey from money-obsessed tax lawyer to human rights advocate.

The Advocate is currently airing on SBS On Demand.

Pink

Pink It is a Hindi-language courtroom thriller about Minal Arora’s struggle to seek justice after she is arrested and accused of attempted murder. Her accuser is a man who sexually assaulted her during a night out, and Minal (Taapsee Pannu) defends herself by hitting him with a bottle. To clear his name, his neighbor Deepak Seghal (Amitabh Bachchan), a retired and respected lawyer, dusts off his court robes and tells the court that “no means no.” Pink It deftly tackles the issue of consent in a misogynistic and patriarchal society.

Pink is currently streaming on SBS On Demand.