Directors Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel’s THE UNCONDEMNED is a riveting documentary about an underdog group of lawyers and activists who defied the odds to do what had never been done: prosecute rape as an international war crime. In 1997, the young men and women at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found themselves inexplicably in charge of the first case of genocide in history. Underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed, they faced incredible hurdles as they pursued their first case against a small town mayor. Crimes of war and against humanity had not been prosecuted since 1946, and surviving witnesses feared for their lives. And then, based on a last minute revelation, the prosecuting team amended the charge to include rape. Three heroic women would overcome their fears and shame to speak for all those who could not. Secret memos, witness assassinations, setbacks and barriers – THE UNCONDEMNED captures the untold, remarkable story that changed the course of international judicial history. Co-director and producer Michele Mitchell joins us for a conversation on the Rwandan genocide, an unprecedented prosecution, and remarkable courage by remarkable women.
For news and updates go to: theuncondemned.com
The Uncondemned is screening the starting Friday, October 28, 2016 at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles
Q & A schedule with special guests at the following screenings:
Friday, October 28 – 7:10 Pierre Prosper, Michele Mitchell
Saturday, October 28 – 4:30 pm Naama Haviv, executive director of Panzi USA, & Michele Mitchell, co-director/producer
7:10 pm Mike Brand, atrocities prevention expert and advocacy director, Jewish World Watch; Naama Haviv, executive director, Panzi USA; Michele Mitchell, co-director/producer
Tuesday, Nov 1 – 7:10 pm Dr. Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College, principal researcher at Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media; Chelsea Byers, creative action coordinator at Beautiful Trouble and campaign activist with CODEPINK: Women for Peace; Schatzi Throckmorton, associate producer, THE UNCONDEMNED
Wednesday, Nov 2 – 7:10 pm Mike Brand, atrocities prevention expert and advocacy director, Jewish World Watch; Schatzi Throckmorton, associate producer, THE UNCONDEMNED
Thursday, Nov 3rd – 7:10 pm Junemarie Justus, Human Rights Watch; Schatzi Throckmorton, associate producer, THE UNCONDEMNED
“What “The Uncondemned” convincingly demonstrates is the cumulative power of a small group of people with an intense passion for justice, idealists with practical experience whose belief in the power inherent in speaking the truth is not to be denied.” – Kenneth Turan, LA Times
“Though it is, indeed, at times hard to take, it should be seen by everyone. – David Not, Film Journal International
“While this sober documentary about rape during wartime treats those words and its subject with the required gravity, there are also moments of inspiration.” – Ken Jaworowski, New York Times
“In their eye-opening documentary, directors Nick Louvel and Michele Mitchell reveal how the young, idealistic prosecutors, already overextended, uncovered evidence of the systematic violation, torture, mutilation, and enslavement of women in Taba.” – Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader