Public Execution

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris investigates the case of a man who became an authority on capital punishment, but was discredited when he got involved on the wrong side of a court case. Leuchter, a meek man whose appearance belies his grim expertise, develops what he says is a more effective electric chair. Before long, he's in demand from officials who want his opinions on other execution methods. But when called to aid the case of an accused Holocaust denier, Leuchter's problems begin.

Eight men escape from the most isolated prison on earth. Only one man survives and the story he recounts shocks the British establishment to the core. This story is the last confession of Alexander Pearce.

The Execution of Wanda Jean chronicles the life-and-death battle of Wanda Jean Allen, the first black woman to be put to death in the United States in the modern era.

Nine fictitious documentaries and films reflect the mood of late 1970s Germany, particularly the two-month period in 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped by the RAF (Red Army Faction). The kidnap had been made to orchestrate the release of the original leaders of the RAF, aka the Baader-Meinhof.

TV documentary about Manfred Smolka, an officer of the GDR border troops who was executed in Leipzig on July 12, 1960. He had been ambushed after his escape to West Germany and a show trial was held after his arrest.

On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.

Scott Panetti was tried for the capital murder of his parents-in-law on September 8, 1992 in Gillespie County, Texas. He was subsequently sentenced to death on September 22, 1995. Panetti has an extensive history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, manic depression, auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Panetti was hospitalized, both voluntarily and involuntarily for mental illness fourteen times in six different hospitals before his arrest for capital murder in 1992. Following his conviction, Panetti’s former wife, and daughter of the victims, Sonja Alvarado, filed a petition stating that Panetti never should have been tried for the crimes as he was suffering from paranoid delusions at the time of the killings.

In the early 1970s, Otto Schily and Hans-Christian Ströbele were part of the group of attorneys of the left-wing extraparliamentary opposition in Germany. In this function, they, for instance, represented the militant Horst Mahler in court. One thing that united all three of them was their goal to create a new and different republic. They viewed Federal Germany as an oppressor of political freedom and as a vassal of the United States. Today, Schily is a former Federal Minister of the Interior with a firmly conservative stance and Ströbele is a well-respected member of the left wing of the Green Party in the German parliament while Mahler has again come into conflict with the law because of his extremist right-wing activities.

The hanging of child murderer, William Carr

A documentary on the executions that took place during and after the Finnish civil war in 1918.

For the first time, some of Vidkun Quisling's closest followers as well as his opponents come forward and describe their impressions of the Norwegian Nazi leader. The documentary uses unique archive material; films, photos, secret documents, letters and facsimiles. Quisling's own words are also presented to give a deeper profile of the man who still is a Norwegian riddle.

Ein deutscher Boxer

Documentary about abolitionist John Brown

A depiction in the hanging of Edward Heinson, an assumed criminal assault convict in Jacksonville, Florida.

We came to the end of the road. We told you the story of the establishment of a democracy throughout 9 episodes... We witnessed the collapse of a one-party regime. We witnessed the disappearance of the national chiefdom. Together we experienced the holding of the first free general elections and the raising of democracy in pain. And finally, we told you about the birth, rise and fall of a new power. Where we ended up was a military intervention. Whatever the reasons, the storm of revolution had blown once. Now the task of the officers who seized power on the morning of May 27 was to contain that storm. But it didn't. After a while, the storm started to drag the revolutionaries in front of it. The historical scenario was repeated. The Revolution ate some of their children. The revolution was now speaking its own language...

A compilation of various accidents, disasters, executions, and other acts of mayhem and human feats caught on film.

The true story of the massacre of a small Czech village by the Nazis is retold as if it happened in Wales.

The filmmaker, Simon Brückner, goes in search of his long-deceased father, one of the central figures of the German students' movement. A picture of a multi-faceted character emerges and a piece of German history is retold.

In September 1847, the people gathered at the “Salmen” inn in Offenburg and put forward 13 demands: freedom of the press, trial by jury, fair taxation and a parliament representing the people. What began as a protest became the revolution in Baden. In April 1848, Friedrich Hecker set out from Konstanz with a volunteer militia, in September Gustav Struve proclaimed the republic in Lörrach, and in May 1849 the Baden army went over to the people. Grand Duke Leopold fled and a provisional government took control of the country. Only Prussian troops brought the Baden Revolution to an end: on 23 July 1849, the fortress of Rastatt surrendered.

About Jonas Falk and his stepfather Anders Frid who are both tired of living in poor conditions. They jointly committed a robbery against a post office. The robbery is successful in the sense that they came across a large sum of money, but the fact that Jonas shoots the postilion to death during the robbery turns out to have fatal consequences.