Hunt for Justice (2005) (TV)

Director:

Charles Binamé

Writers:

Ian Adams (teleplay)
Riley Adams (teleplay)

Release Date:

2005 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The world is watching.

Plot:

The heroic struggle of Canadian Louise Arbour, Chief War Crimes Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Wendy Crewson	...	Louise Arbour
John Corbett	...	Capt. John Tanner
Stipe Erceg	...	Pasko Odzak
William Hurt	...	General Mortimer
Michael Murphy	...	General Salinski
Heino Ferch	...	Keller
Claudia Ferri	...	Tina
Jacques Godin	...	General Léveillée
Gabrielle Boni	...	Melanie
Leslie Hope	...	Camille Gilbert
Neville Edwards	...	Odon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kresimir Bosiljevac
Lynne Deragon	...	Rose
Jasson Finney	...	Jim Vis
William Hoyland
Mark Antony Krupa	...	Driver
Elina Löwensohn
David Rigby	...	Cripple man crossing SOC
Faruk Sofic
Maya Toman	...	Merama Selinovic

Also Known As:

Endgame in Kosovo: The Louise Arbour Story (Canada: English title) (working title)
Jagd nach Gerechtigkeit (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and disturbing images.

Runtime:

Greece:89 min

Country:

Canada | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Galafilm Productions

An Intrigue Drama from Life

HUNT FOR JUSTICE is a Canadian television drama that has made it to DVD and that is reason for gratitude for those who hunger for educational dramas that inform us about facts of current history that somehow get buried in the media. The film is not a Hollywood production, it relies heavily on footage from court files, but it also introduces to many of us the act of heroism of Louise Arbour in bringing about the trial of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Louise Arbour (veteran Canadian actor Wendy Crewson) is a Canadian judge appointed by NATO as the Chief War Crimes Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. The film begins in 1996 when Arbour travels to The Hague to face the political obstacles that are preventing the Tribunal to bringing to justice the war criminals in the war Yugoslavia has been waging in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia, a war that has gross evidence of crimes against humanity in the form of genocide, extermination camps, and other heinous abuses. The progress toward bringing the criminals to justice is hampered by generals (including one played by William Hurt) who fear a major World War if precautions against same are infringed upon. Arbour, with the keen help of her translator Pasko Odsak (Stipe Erceg), her staff including Keller (Heino Ferch) and the unexpected assistance from British Capt. John Tanner (John Corbett), forges ahead, focusing the impossible task of bringing all responsible parties to justice on three specific events. Two of the three top suspects are captured but during their trials each meets his end. This leaves only Slobodan Milosevic himself, and Arbour and her colleagues are successful in bringing the war criminal to justice in 1999.

There are several touching side plots employed in the telling of this well-documented tale, stories that make the point in history more personal. Some may find the film footage of corpses and prisoners and death camps too strong to watch, but they are necessary to bring home the purpose of the film. Wendy Crewson carries the power to drive the message home - the message that war crimes must never go unpunished. There is much current history to be learned from this film: writers Ian Adams, Riley Adams and M.A. Lovretta have condensed the information and made it dramatic as well. Director Charles Binamé balances the docudrama with the story progress, never forgetting that he has a tale of intrigue to tell as well. HUNT FOR JUSTICE is worth watching! Grady Harp