Michelle Offen - East West 101: Chapter Five - Haunted by the Past
Michelle Offen grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales. In her gap year she lived in Germany as an exchange student. She studied Arts at Newcastle University before being accepted to the highly regarded acting school WA Academy of Performing Arts. Upon graduation she moved to Melbourne, working as an actor and sometime standup comedian. She then attended the RMIT Professional Screenwriting course and made her first foray into a script department as a researcher and script editor on White Collar Blue. She also worked with Knapman Wyld Television developing several new series ideas, one of which was East West 101 which explores the world of crime through a Muslim detective in a Post 9/11 world.
East West 101 (Episode Five 'Haunted by the Past') written by Michelle, explores the murky world of war crimes in the Balkan wars of the 1990’s. It tells a story of a mother and daughter who move to Australia to start a new life, then cross paths with the man who had hurt them in the past. Detective Zane Malik investigates a murder which leaves him pondering the nature of justice. ‘Haunted by the Past’ is Michelle Offen’s first television screenplay. This script was shortlisted for Queensland Literary Awards. East West 101 was awarded Best Original Mini Series by the Australian Writers Guild.
Michelle Offen
East West 101
East West 101: Chapter Five - 'Haunted by the Past'
In the midst of investigating the murder of a Serbian car salesman, Detective Malik’s obsession with the past deepens. Malik seeks to prove that John Hunt was once an armed robber, and the man who shot his father. But this is contrary to the evidence. Is Malik going mad? Can he find the evidence that will prove Hunt’s guilt? And why is Crowley obstructing him? Is it sheer bloody mindedness or is there a reason?
Malik, Koa and all at Major Crime, work to solve the mystery behind the Serbian killing. The detectives discover that the car salesman is not as respectable as he appeared. Has his dark past something to do with this death?
The muddy and complicated Balkan Wars is explored in this episode when a woman meets the man who hurt her family and the past intersects with the present.
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