Saturday, July 7, 2012

No. 7 The Reckoning (2009)

Battle for the International Criminal Court


A couple of years ago I saw this documentary at a Human Rights Watch film festival held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.  The ICA is one of my favourite venues, hosting a number of interesting film festivals throughout the year and also some great art and live music events.  

A number of documentaries have been made about Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former Prosecutor of the ICC. Moreno Ocampo, the Argentine lawyer who first prosecuted the military Junta in 1985 and 1986 in Argentina, became the first prosecutor of the ICC when it was established in 2002 (following the coming into force of the Rome Statute 1998).  

The documentary 'The Reckoning' follows Ocampo on his missions to Uganda, the Congo, Central African Republic and Colombia over the course of three years.  Made by the same team of filmmakers of 'When the Mountains Tremble' and 'How to nail a dictator' the documentary interviews witnesses, survivors and staff members of the ICC and demonstrates the difficulties faced by Moreno Ocampo in prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Hague.  

According to Pamela Yates:
'The film is about accountability. It's about bringing the perpetrators of the worst crimes happening in the world to justice'. 

As part of this skylight pictures has partnered with Facing History to create a short course on 'Teaching the Reckoning' available here: http://www.pbs.org/pov/reckoning/teaching.php

The documentary thus carries out important outreach work for the ICC teaching people around the world why the ICC is necessary.  

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