Entertainment

Louis Theroux to be interviewed on stage at Edinburgh TV Festival

The documentary-maker will be in conversation with Dawn O’Porter.
The documentary-maker will be in conversation with Dawn O’Porter.

Louis Theroux is returning to the Edinburgh TV Festival after an 18-year absence.

The documentary film-maker will be interviewed on stage by Dawn O’Porter about his career so far, how he chooses his subjects and who he thinks is the “new Louis Theroux”.

He will also discuss the genre of authored documentaries from Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield and Ruby Wax, alongside documentaries fronted by presenters such as Stacey Dooley and Reggie Yates, and the new wave of self-publishers on platforms such as YouTube.

Theroux will also reveal a selection of his current favourite clips and discuss the range of people he has met along the way, from his Weird Weekends series, following black nationalists, white supremacists and porn stars, to When Louis Met, and his experience and subsequent revelations regarding Jimmy Savile.

The session When Dawn Met Louis… will also look at his more recent documentary series, Altered States, and his revisiting of the Westboro Baptist Church in Surviving America’s Most Hated Family.

Theroux said: “It’s been 18 years since I was at Edinburgh TV Festival!

“I’m thrilled to be coming back and talking to Dawn about my favourite films and shows and opening up about my own process.”

O’Porter added: “So excited for this. Louis continues to be the master of factual TV and I have endless questions to ask him about it all.”

The Edinburgh TV Festival will run from August 21 to August 23.