The Uncondemned is a 2015 documentary film produced by Film at Eleven Media. Co-directed by Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel, the film examines the first trial that prosecuted rape as a war crime and an act of genocide.[1] Rape was declared a war crime in 1919 but was not tried in court until 1997 during the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu as a part of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Shot in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Netherlands and the United States, The Uncondemned premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 9, 2015.[2]

The Uncondemned
Directed by
Written byMichele Mitchell
CinematographyNick Louvel
Edited byNick Louvel
Production
company
Release dates
  • October 9, 2015 (2015-10-09) (Hamptons International Film Festival)
  • October 21, 2016 (2016-10-21) (United States)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
French
Kinyarwanda

Synopsis

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The Uncondemned recounts the 1997 trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu for his alleged knowledge of the rapes and other war crimes during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. The film features three women, who were victims of rape and anonymously testified in the trial, as well as American prosecutors Pierre-Richard Prosper and Sara Darehshori recalling their building the case against Akayesu.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Jeltsen, Melissa (July 29, 2014). "A Look Back At The Trial That Made Rape A War Crime". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  2. ^ "The Uncondemned". Hamptons International Film Festival. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  3. ^ Builder, Maxine (May 31, 2015). "The Uncondemned: the fight for the first rape conviction in Rwanda". ypfp.org. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
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