The Hunting Party
Just a quick update to publicize a new film that is worth seeing, particularly if you are interested in what I am doing over here. I haven't seen the film yet, but have heard a lot about it and thought I would bring it to folks' attention.
The film is called The Hunting Party. It is based on true events which are really at the heart of what the ICTY is all about. The real life basis is the situation surrounding Radovan Karadzic, the former political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, and Ratko Mladic, the former military commander of the Bosnian Serb Army. Both have been indicted on the most serious charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in relation to their role in the War in Bosnian in the 1990s.
The ICTY has outstanding arrest warrants against both men, and the U.S. government has placed a $5 million reward on each of them. Despite concerted search efforts by U.N. and various national authorities, countless rumours and alleged sightings, both men are still at large. They are generally believed to be hiding somewhere in Serbia or in Bosnia's Republica Srpska, and most believe they are being aided by Serb authorities. There are also a number of rumors that one or both of them is hiding in Russia, Greece, or elsewhere.
The movie stars Richard Gere and Terrence Howard as journalists who go on their own search for "the Fox", an at-large war criminal in the Balkans. It's written directed by Richard Shepard (of The Matador). It is deliberately based on Karadzic and Mladic and they are mentioned in the end of the film.
I can't vouch for either the quality of the movie or its ideological and political stances, since I haven't seen it yet. But at the very least it focuses attention on the horrible crimes that occurred all over the former Yugoslavia (which I spend my days prosecuting!) and also this remaining problem of these two men in particular who remain at large.
The movie website is http://www.thehuntingpartymovie.com/ and the imdb page is http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455782/. It was released on September 7th but it's only showing in limited markets, so keep your eye out for it!
x-posted rachinholland.blogspot.com