Vérité et réconciliation (documentary)
[Français]
Directed and written by Fadel Saleh, Vérité et réconciliation is a documentary produced by Médiatique Inc.
Truth and reconciliation commissions have been established in many countries in the aftermath of civil wars, serious violations of human rights, collective crimes or tyrannical regimes. They represent an ambiguous and often contradictory reality. Nonetheless they are essential. How can a shattered and divided country envisage the future? How can the infernal cycle of violence be avoided? What can be done to make those responsible acknowledge their responsibility and to enable the victims to free themselves enough from the past to look to the future? The usual solutions are no longer enough to put an end to impunity and build a lasting peace.
The documentary Vérité et réconciliation allows us to discover a model based on another conception of justice, a justice more restorative than punitive, more focussed on the re-establishment of relationships, on learning the art of living together. How does a Truth and Reconciliation commission work? Is it empowered to lead investigations, compel witnesses to testify; recommend reparations to the victims; condemn or grant amnesty to those who have confessed? The structures vary according to the needs. A common element to all commissions, though, is the hearing -- which is often public -- at which the victims relate their experiences and, as in South Africa, the authors of the violations reveal the truth about the crimes they have committed. For the victims, this is often their first opportunity to tell of their sufferings, to give a sense of their lives during the conflict.
In Vérité et réconciliation, we look at three examples.The first is that of South Africa, which put the process truly on the world map. The second is that of Morocco, the first Muslim country that has set up such a commission. And finally, in Canada, we examine the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that aim to deal with the painful heritage of abuses in our aboriginal residential schools. DVD available in French (English script and separate M & E available): $14.95 (plus taxes and shipping).
HG Distribution Inc.
249 de Clèves Street
Laval
(QC)
H7M 4W5
Telephone 1 : 514 944 8038
Last Update : 2014-02-11
