Hot Docs 2008

Nicknamed the "Butcher of the Balkans," Slobodan Milošević was brought up on war crime charges in 2002, in what has been called the most important legal case since Nuremberg. Milošević defiantly chose to represent himself against charges of crimes against humanity, breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the customs of war, and genocide, all the while refusing to recognize the UN tribunal as a legitimate legal body. Mind games, leading questions and stall tactics were Milošević's preferred legal strategy. His ultimate strategic manoeuvre was perhaps his own death from a heart attack in 2006, just prior to the verdict. Milošević on Trial provides insight into the banal and extraordinary machinations of the international court system, through exclusive behind-the-scenes access to principal trial attorney Geoffrey Nice and Milošević's advisors. Director Michael Christoffersen sifts through more than 2,000 hours of footage to bring cohesion and understanding to this history-defining trial.
-Angie Driscoll