Massaker

MASSAKER

Director Monika Borgmann, Lokman Slim, Hermann Theissen / 2004 / Germany, France, Lebanon

What drives people to commit atrocious acts of mass cruelty, and how do they live with the knowledge of their part in such savagery' These are the questions at the heart of Monika Borgmann, Lokman Slim and Hermann Theissen's incisive and riveting documentary, Massacre, for which they were awarded the prestigious Fipresci Award at Berlin. In November 1982, over a period of just three days, somewhere between 1000 and 3000 Palestinians - mainly women, children and the elderly - were murdered at the Sabra and Shantila camps in Lebanon. The mass execution was carried out by Forces Libanaises, the Lebanese Christian militia, which, as the filmmakers note, has strong links to the Israeli military forces. In this astounding documentary, the filmmakers focus not on the stories of the victims and survivors, but rather on six of the perpetrators of this horrific massacre. With the precision of forensic psychologists, the filmmakers create an illuminating profile of the murderers, drawing compelling parallels between their dispositions and the political environment.


D/S Monika Borgmann, Lokman Slim and Hermann Theissen P Joachim Dietmanns L Arabic w/English subtitles TD 35mm/col/2004/89mins Lokman Slim was born in Lebanon in 1962. Monika Borgmann was born in Germany in 1963. Massacre (MIFF 05) is their first feature documentary.

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