'Ruthless' Palin film set to screen before primaries

He is the verite film-maker whose subjects have included the South African far-right leader Eugene Terre'Blanche, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and America's most notorious female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos.

Now Nick Broomfield has Sarah Palin in his sights after announcing that the politician will be the subject of his next documentary.

Broomfield is believed to be close to finishing work on a feature-length film about Palin, which could complicate the former Alaska governor's possible run for the White House.

Famed for his dogged pursuit of often unwilling subjects, Broomfield is said to have secured interviews with Palin's parents and has persuaded former aides to speak on camera. According to the Los Angeles Times, the film will describe its subject "not as the likable repository of aw-shucks wisdom Palin likes to present but a more ruthless politician who has trampled over opponents and is now a potential presidential candidate".

The film will be shown to US distributors and submitted to festivals this year in the expectation that it will receive a release in time for the 2012 presidential election primaries.

Broomfield turned to the former Republican vice-presidential candidate after lack of access forced him to abandon a planned Amy Winehouse documentary.

The Palin film has "been a struggle because she has been difficult", Broomfield revealed. "Making her evangelism intelligible and interesting was difficult. All that you're trying to do is tell a story as simply as possible, putting together a cohesive piece that will entertain."

Although the film could make uncomfortable viewing for Palin, she can take comfort in the knowledge that she is following in the footsteps of her political heroine, Margaret Thatcher, who took a reluctant lead role in Broomfield's 1994 documentary, Tracking Down Maggie. Denied access to Baroness Thatcher, Broomfield's film instead followed his comical attempts to gatecrash her US book-signing tour, at one point triggering a security alert when he tried to ambush her at the hairdressers.

Palin is set to be the focus of another film, which promises a kinder portrayal. The Undefeated, a documentary by Stephen Bannon, a Tea Party activist who interviewed a number of Palin supporters, is to receive a limited cinema release next month.

Although Palin does not appear herself, she is said to have encouraged friends to give interviews for the film, which those who have seen it say does nothing to dispel the suggestion that she will run for President.

A fictionalised Palin, played by Julianne Moore, will appear in a new film, Game Change, adapted from Mark Halperin's gossipy insider's account of the 2008 presidential election.

Broomfield's challenge will be to discover a fresh perspective on Palin, who has been the subject of intense media scrutiny since she was catapulted from relative obscurity to become John McCain's running mate.

Broomfield's approach of placing himself at the centre of his film has been an influence on others such as Michael Moore.

In recent years, Broomfield has swapped films which follow strong personalities for issue-based dramas. In 2006 he released Ghosts, a fictional story based on the 2004 Morecambe cockle-fishing disaster and followed that with an Iraq war film, Battle For Haditha.

BROOMFIELD'S SUBJECTS

The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife (1991)

Broomfield's repeated attempts to gain an interview with Eugene Terre'Blanche, South African white supremacist leader, are rebuffed until one aborted encounter. The film prompted a libel claim from Jani Allan, who Broomfield claimed was having an affair with Terre'Blanche.

Kurt & Courtney (1998)

Broomfield's Seattle trawl fails to uncover a murder "conspiracy" behind the suicide of Kurt Cobain involving Courtney Love. His interviews with former associates prompts Love to urge MTV to pull out of funding the project, which Broomfield includes in the narrative.

Biggie & Tupac (2002)

Investigation into the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry which resulted in the murders of rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Broomfield speaks to B.I.G's mother and examines the role of Marion "Suge" Knight, head of Tupac's Death Row records.

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)

Second film about serial killer Aileen Wuornos and the campaign to stop her execution, which was approved by Florida Governor Jeb Bush. It features an interview with Wuornos the day before her death in which she claims she was tortured in prison. A 1992 film The Selling of a Serial Killer questioned Wuornos's ability to get a fair trial.

- INDEPENDENT