Rex Bloomstein
Torturers, Part 1
Summary
Rex Bloomstein begins an exploration of the act of torture, as well as the role of the torturer. Part 1 of 2.
Rex Bloomstein
Rex Bloomstein has produced films on human rights, crime and punishment, and the Holocaust. He pioneered the modern prison documentary with films such as Lifers (1983) and Strangeways (1980), which won two British Academy Awards. As well as other television productions such as Auschwitz and the Allies, and his three-part history of anti-Semitism, The Longest Hatred, he produced KZ, described as one of the first post-modern Holocaust documentaries. Other feature documentaries include An Independent Mind (2008), on freedom of expression, This Prison Where I Live (2010), on imprisoned Burmese comedian, Zarganar, and The World of Jewish Humor (1990), which traces the evolution of Jewish humor from New York’s turn-of-the-century Lower East Side to the present.
Yes, well, it’s, I should be discussing that. It’s a very interesting question. I should be discussing that in part two on Thursday because it’s used as a justification by regimes that there’s a tremendous need to get information and there’s a greater need because people will be injured or damaged or murdered or killed if we don’t get this information. But it doesn’t wash as an argument. You imagine being tortured, can you imagine the pain involved? You will say anything. So the value of what is being said, I think is limited, but it is an excuse and I’m afraid it’s an excuse that no longer washes and it’s illegal, it’s banned by international law. But I will examine this in more detail in part two.