Syria: Witnesses for the Prosecution

Syrie: Témoins à charge

DIRECTORS: Garance Le Caisne, Olivier Joulie   COUNTRY: France   YEAR: 2016   LANGUAGE(S): English, Arabic   SUBTITLES: German   RUNNING TIME: 52 min  

SECTION: Open Eyes 2017

SYNOPSIS

Meet the evidence hunters risking it all to collect and document evidence of war crimes committed during Syria’s war. They film, take photographs and collect physical evidence in the hope that one day the perpetrators will be punished. They have recovered military orders, collected bomb fragments, taken toxic samples, filmed mutilated bodies and archived thousands of testimonies to make sure the trace of evidence does not disappear.
The story of these evidence-hunters is one of a Syria never told: a story of men and women who choose as their weapons of war their mobile phones, their pens and the penal code, to become witnesses for the prosecution against all abuses committed in Syria. In SYRIA – WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTION, we follow some of these unknown heroes who risk everything to ensure that one day justice will be served.

GARANCE LE CAISNE
Garance Le Caisne is a free journalist and writes for “Le Journal du Dimanche” and “L’Obs”. Since 1990 she reports on the Middle East. After several trips through shattered Syria she started the quest for “Caesar”. It took her more than six months to find him and to gain his trust. In her book “Codename Ceasar” she writes about the discussions she had with the photographer. They talk about the atrocities that happen under the regime of Assad. With her book Garance Le Caisne became internationally known and received the “Geschwister-Scholl-Preis” in 2016.

FILMOGRAPHY

Syria: Witnesses for the Prosecution (2016)

OLIVIER JOULIE
Olivier Joulie works as a director and cinematographer for various TV broadcasters.

FILMOGRAPHY
On Behalf of Our Breasts: The Dark Side of Mammography Screening (2016), Syria: Witnesses for the Prosecution (2016), Des Syriens au pays de la cancoillotte (2017)

PRODUCERS: Arnaud Hamelin, Coline Tison   CAMERA: Olivier Joulie, Kevin Vincent   EDITOR: Cédric Harrang   MUSIC: Jérôme Coullet  
PRODUCTION: Sunset Presse & La Jolie Productions   WORLD SALES: Olivier Semonnay, Java Films   GERMAN DISTRIBUTOR:

WEBSITE
http://www.javafilms.fr/spip.php?article2137