War Crime Trials
This six-part documentary will be the world's first comprehensive, accessible and intelligent introduction to the subject. It will speak to a wide audience, intelligibly and creatively, about the problem of evil, the prosecutions and trial of alleged war criminals, and the troubled relationship between war and law. It will use footage available from trials (e.g. the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, and the Milosevic Trial); interviews with victims, perpetrators, lawyers, and judges; images and scenes drawn from popular representations of war crimes trials (Judgement at Nuremberg) and re-enactments to ask the big questions about war crimes trials. Are war crimes trials always simply victors' justice? Why do some crimes never get prosecuted? Is the current focus in African war crimes a form of racism? Can past leaders such as Tony Blair, George W. Bush and John Howard be tried for crimes arising out of the Iraq War? Is war itself a crime? Are those accused of maltreatment on Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib guilty of war crimes? What about the lawyers who wrote the memos justifying such tortures?
Writer/Presenter: Gerry Simpson
Producers: Tony Ayres and Michael McMahon
Executive Producer: Penny Chapman
Genre: Historical documentary
Target Audience: 25+
Duration: 6 X 1 Hour episodes
Shoot Gauge: HD Video
Status: In development
Distribution: Currently seeking Australian and International distribution.