Award-winning director who collaborated on a trilogy of films that shone light on a child murder case

Sinofsky also worked on Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, an acclaimed documentary about the heavy metal band

Sinofsky in 2012: members of Metallica, about whom he made an acclaimed film, described him as 'smart, funny and dedicated' (AP)

Bruce Sinofsky was an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary film-maker who gained prominence for works that shone a spotlight on a child murder case. Sinofsky and his long-standing collaborator Joe Berlinger drew praise for their Paradise Lost trilogy about three teenage boys convicted in 1994 of killing three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The films (1996, 2004 and 2011), raised questions about evidence used to convict the teens, who became known as the West Memphis Three.

They spent 18 years in prison but in 2011 were allowed to enter a plea in which they asserted their innocence while acknowledging that there was enough evidence to potentially convict them. The first film, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, won an Emmy, while the final film, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Sinofsky and Berlinger also worked on the critically acclaimed Brother's Keeper, which documented the case of an elderly man accused of killing his brother, and on Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, an acclaimed documentary about the heavy metal band. Members of Metallica wrote on their website: "Smart, funny and dedicated, Bruce was with us almost every day in the early 2000s and was an integral part of helping us to navigate the rough waters during those times. Although not very welcomed at times, he was there through some of the darkest times of Metallica."

Born in Boston, Sinofsky graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University in 1978. He and Berlinger formed a production company, Creative Thinking International, in 1991. He died of complications from diabetes.

Bruce Sinofsky, film-maker: born Boston 31 March 1956; died 21 February 2015.