Beyond Punishment
Three different countries: one case of deadly violence in each. Three men who have killed and three families who have lost a loved one. Our conventional understanding of guilt and punishment dictates that three must be punished and three must forget. That the two sides might draw closer to each other is unthinkable. This film tells three times the same impossible story: that of meeting your enemy, in thoughts, in messages, in person. In Germany, in Norway, in the US.
BEYOND PUNISHMENT tells the stories of Leola, Lisa and Sean, of Erik and Stiva, and of Patrick and Manfred. The people involved in these three life-changing acts of violence have still not found peace – neither the victims nor the offenders. Years after verdicts have been reached and sentences served, both sides are still searching…
A prison in Wisconsin offers the starting point for a journey into the inside workings of crime and punishment. In this maximum-security facility, where violent criminals are normally kept under lock and key for decades, something quite extraordinary is happening. Twice a year, thirty inmates come face-to-face with a large group of crime victims, and together they do something elsewhere unheard of: they talk to each other.
Through this prison discussion group, director Hubertus Siegert meets Lisa and Leola, whose brother and son was killed several years ago. From their story, the film traces an arc from the USA to Norway and onwards to Germany.
Three crimes in three different cultures, three legal systems, and numerousways of coming to terms with trauma. The film enters new territory by positing that the pain of loss can be overcome by something other than retribution and retaliation.
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Nominated for Best Documentary Film, German Filmprice, 2016
Best Director, METROPOLIS, 2015
Berlinale – LOLA, 2015
Nominated Hessischer Filmpreis, 2015
Film ohne Grenzen Festival 2015
DOK.fest München 2015
A film by Hubertus Siegert
Camera: Marcus Winterbauer, Jenny Lou Ziegel, Börres Weiffenbach
Sound: André Zacher
Editor: Anne Fabini
Producer: Hubertus Siegert
Co-Producer: Christian Popp
Commissioning Editor for 3sat: Udo Bremer
A production of S.U.M.O. Film in co-production with ZDF/3SAT and DOCDAYS Productions. Supported by HessenInvestFilm, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), German General Filmboard (BKM), Creative Europe | Media Development, DEFA Foundation, Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.
Length: 90 min
Release Date: 2015
Three different countries: one case of deadly violence in each. Three men who have killed and three families who have lost a loved one. Our conventional understanding of guilt and punishment dictates that three must be punished and three must forget. That the two sides might draw closer to each other is unthinkable. This film tells three times the same impossible story: that of meeting your enemy, in thoughts, in messages, in person. In Germany, in Norway, in the US.
BEYOND PUNISHMENT tells the stories of Leola, Lisa and Sean, of Erik and Stiva, and of Patrick and Manfred. The people involved in these three life-changing acts of violence have still not found peace – neither the victims nor the offenders. Years after verdicts have been reached and sentences served, both sides are still searching…
A prison in Wisconsin offers the starting point for a journey into the inside workings of crime and punishment. In this maximum-security facility, where violent criminals are normally kept under lock and key for decades, something quite extraordinary is happening. Twice a year, thirty inmates come face-to-face with a large group of crime victims, and together they do something elsewhere unheard of: they talk to each other.
Through this prison discussion group, director Hubertus Siegert meets Lisa and Leola, whose brother and son was killed several years ago. From their story, the film traces an arc from the USA to Norway and onwards to Germany.
Three crimes in three different cultures, three legal systems, and numerousways of coming to terms with trauma. The film enters new territory by positing that the pain of loss can be overcome by something other than retribution and retaliation.
A Film by Hubertus Siegert
Camera: Marcus Winterbauer, Jenny Lou Ziegel, Börres Weiffenbach
Sound: André Zacher
Editor: Anne Fabini
Producer: Hubertus Siegert
Co-Producer: Christian Popp
Commissioning Editor for 3sat: Udo Bremer
A production of S.U.M.O. Film in co-production with ZDF/3SAT and DOCDAYS Productions. Supported by HessenInvestFilm, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), German General Filmboard (BKM), Creative Europe | Media Development, DEFA Foundation, Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.
Length: 90 min
Releass Date: 2015