Dochouse Presents: Watchers Of The Sky

Dir. Edet Belzberg
US - 2014 - 114 mins

"An impressive and artful cinematic thesis of palpable substance." - Variety

"Sad and disturbing, this smartly and conscientiously crafted film is a powerful wake-up call, heard but not yet implemented, by the 'civilized' world." - Hollywood Reporter

"Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of an individual?" Raphael Lemkin changed the course of history with this one question. Examining the life of the lawyer and linguist, who coined the word 'genocide', Watchers of the Sky explores one man's perseverance to convince the world that there must be legal retribution for mass atrocities, setting the stage for the Nuremberg trials and the creation of the International Criminal Court.

Weaving together the rare archive images she could find, director Edet Belzberg makes beautiful use of animation to tell Lemkin's story. She also highlights the work of four individuals continuing Lemkin's legacy including Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Watchers of the Sky is a lyrical, illuminating film on the power of a single word and one man's determination.