Director Charlie Shackleton planned to adapt Lyndon Lafferty’s book The Zodiac Killer Cover-Up: The Silenced Badge, but this intended project wasn’t able to be realised. 

What happened instead was the Zodiac Killer Project, a film about the not-making of the intended film. 

Through long, steady shots of unrealised locations, and with his unique narration, the director describes the kind of film he would have made. 

Interwoven with this is an exploration of the way in which the true crime genre operates, and the Zodiac Killer Project effectively explores – and deconstructs – the genre, even as it unfolds. 

The results are a fascinating and personal film with a tinge of Errol Morris’ documentary classic Thin Blue Line.  

Director Charlie Shackleton won the NEXT Innovator Aware award at Sundance, and watching this film it’s easy to see why, this is an invigorating film that will have everyone thinking again about the true crime genre.

Screens with the short film Emile is Missing - Sam Carson, Félix Morreo Zisserman, Australia, 2024, 16:00