Directed by BAFTA award-winner Daniel Gordon (“Hillsborough,” “George Best: All By Himself”) and produced by Academy Award-winner John Battsek (“Searching for Sugarman,” “One Day in September”), the documentary tells the story of the South African Paralympic sprinter and international hero, who had inspired millions with his determination and dedication – and who was then suddenly at the centre of a murder investigation. The circus that surrounded the tragic death of Reeva Steenkamp became just as much a story of the time as his initial rise to glory.

“The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius is the culmination of an exceptional year of work from ESPN Films,” says  said Evert van der Veer, Vice President, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company Africa. “This latest entry in the iconic 30 for 30 library is another example of  how ESPN continues to build on its legacy as the home of the best storytelling in sports, joining films such as LANCE, Be Water, Long Gone Summer and more, which we are thrilled to be bringing to audiences across the continent.”

Featuring interviews with more than a dozen of the figures closest to the story, the film recounts Pistorius’s fall from grace after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the wee hours of 14 February 2013 in his home in Pretoria, South Africa. According to Pistorius, the event was a tragic accident, but his troubled past and questionable testimony cast doubt on his innocence. As the saga unfolds, the story flashes back to the very beginning of the future Paralympic star’s life, chronicling his improbable ascent from a young boy who had both his undeveloped legs amputated as a toddler to overnight teenage phenomenon at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. Shattering records and convention, “The Blade Runner,” as he became known, then went on a quest to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Olympics. His struggle against international track and field officials continued for years before Pistorius finally prevailed and competed at the London Olympics in 2012. Less than a year later, he was in a South African courtroom, accused of murdering his girlfriend.

“The story of Oscar Pistorius is remarkable in its complexity. It’s at once inspirational and harrowing, and provides a lens of insight into a breadth of issues – from gender based violence to disability rights, racial inequality and media frenzy,” said director Daniel Gordon. “My hope is that the film gives audiences additional context and layers to a story they think they know.”

Broadcast information

ESPN (DSTV 218)

• Part 1: Thursday 19 November at 20:00. Repeat on Sunday 22 November at 20:00
• Part 2: Thursday 26 November at 20:00. Repeat on Sunday 29 November at 20:00
• Part 3: Thursday 3 December at 20:00. Repeat on Sunday 6 December at 20:00
• Part 4: Thursday 10 December at 20:00. Repeat on Sunday 13 December at 20:00

The films will also be available to view on DStv Catch Up and the ESPN Player App.

Leading the slate is LANCE, which features unprecedented access to Lance Armstrong through raw interviews and personal perspective on his controversial story. The two-part film is directed by Marina Zenovich (Fantastic Lies, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind). Part’s one and two will be premiere on ESPN at 21:00 on Saturday 30 May and 6 June respectively, as well as being made available on demand on ESPN Player.

Bao Nguyen’s film Be Water, an intimate and very personal look at the life and purpose that motivated Bruce Lee, the martial artist trailblazer and pop culture icon, will debut on ESPN at 21:00 on Saturday 13 June, as well as ESPN Player.

Both films received acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LANCE directed by Marina Zenovich

From acclaimed director Marina Zenovich, LANCE is a fascinating, revealing, comprehensive chronicle of one of the most inspirational – and then infamous – athletes of all time. Based around extensive interviews and conversations with Lance Armstrong, the two-part, four-hour film tells the story of the cyclist’s rise out of Texas as a young superstar cyclist; his harrowing battle with testicular cancer; his recovery and emergence as a global icon with his seven consecutive Tour de France titles; and then his massive fall after he was exposed in one of the largest doping scandals in history.

Armstrong, along with a collection of teammates, friends, rivals, and journalists, all reflect on his story, creating a fascinating character study, capturing a unique chapter of sports history, and insisting the audience make its own interpretations about the many different sides of a complex saga.

Be Water directed by Bao Nguyen

In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland, Hong Kong. Over the next two years, he’d complete four iconic films that would define his legacy, a legacy cut short when he died, stunningly, in the summer of 1973. He was 32 years old.

Be Water is a gripping, fascinating, intimate look at not just those final, defining years of Lee’s life, but the complex, often difficult, and seismic journey that led to Lee’s ultimate emergence as a singular icon in the histories of film, martial arts, and even the connection between the eastern and western worlds.

The film chronicles Lee’s earliest days, as the son of a Chinese opera star born while his father was on tour in San Francisco, and then raised in Hong Kong over what became an at times troubled childhood. Sent to live in America at the age of 18, he began teaching Kung Fu in Seattle, and established a following that included his future wife, Linda. His ambition ever rising, Lee eventually made his way to Los Angeles, where he strove to break into American film and television. There, despite some success as a fight choreographer and actor, it was clear Hollywood wasn’t ready for an Asian leading man – and so he returned to Hong Kong to make the films that would in fact make him a legend, his international star skyrocketing just as his life was cut short.

Be Water is told entirely by the family, friends, and collaborators who knew Bruce Lee best, with an extraordinary trove of archive film providing an evocative, immersive visual tapestry that captures Lee’s charisma, his passion, his philosophy, and the eternal beauty and wonder of his art.