Films and documentaries

A woman, victim of rape by a stranger in her childhood, finds herself talking to her attacker, 33 years later. This improbable meeting is possible in France by the entry into French law of "Restorative Justice", during the Taubira reform, in 2014. This direct encounter is one of the very first in France. This encounter is only the beginning of Maiana's (victim and director of the film) quest, which takes her across the Atlantic, to Quebec to meet other victims and aggressors putting into practice this new vision of justice. 

The documentary explores the difficult journey of victims and offenders participating in a RJ process; it focuses on the Belgian and Swiss experience in RJ.
Read more here.

In 1985, Kathleen lost her brother Eddie, an American soldier, at the hands of the Red Army Faction, a German leftist terrorist organization. Now, decades later, she has decided to seek out the group responsible for his murder.
Read more here.

The film tells about the meeting between a mother and an offender twenty-five years after the rape and assassination of the woman’s son.
Read more here, or on the website of our member IFJR.

The film tells the story of the first Victim-Offender Dialogue in the state of Massachusetts through the eyes of Janet Connors and a group of of mothers of murdered children who transform their grief and loss into healing for themselves and young people affected by trauma.
Read more here.

This docudrama is based on a real meeting which took place between Ailbhe Griffith and the man who, nine years earlier, subjected her to a horrific sexual assault and left her seriously injured and fearing for her life.
Griffith, in an extraordinary move, has chosen to play herself in this unique drama from one of Ireland’s most provocative filmmakers, Alan Gilsenan. What emerges is a truly unique and unorthodox cinematic experience as Ailbhe courageously seeks healing through a progressive form of justice, rapidly gaining momentum throughout the world.
See themeetingfilm.com for more details.

This documentary follows Eric Butler, a RJ pioneer working to combat racial discrimination in schools by replacing suspensions and expulsions with mentoring and conflict mediation circles. Butler, who is struggling to raise his 15-year-old son, Tre, in a neighbourhood dominated by gangs and drug dealers, finds his RJ strategy tested when Tre goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit.
Read more here.

Original title: Ich muss ihm in die Augen sehen: Kann man einen Mord verzeihen?
A German film about a mother who wants to meet with the murderer of her son.
Watch it here.

The documentary is made by filmmakers from the United States, Cambodia and Australia, telling the stories of three people who had the courage to step out of the tragic darkness of the past to move on from grief to compassion and forgiveness.
Read more here.

A violent supermarket incident involving a refugee in East Germany is reenacted in a film studio to reflect on the blurred distinction between civil courage and vigilante justice.
Read more here.

The documentary explores the artistic process and the life of fifteen inmates from a maximum security prison in Mexico and how they got into the world of drug trafficking. Read more here.

The documentary presents a real and unique story for contributing to the struggle to end domestic violence: 20 years after the abuses, the co-director meets her abusive ex-partner, a step towards understanding, accountability, justice and healing. 
Read more here.

The film is based on a theatre performance of a real case where two families meet in the presence of a facilitator, the parents of a young woman who was raped and murdered and the family of the offender. The film aims to raise awareness on the potential power of dialogue between people affected by serious crime, but it does not picture a process fully in line with all methodological requirements of a restorative justice process.
Read more here.

This film tell the story of a former Australian soldier who returns to Afghanistan looking for the family of a man he killed during the war in order to confess his crime and suffer the consequences.
Read more here.

The film is about the exchanges between Leonard, serving a life sentence in prison for two murders, and Agnes, the victims’ mother and grandmother. As the law didn’t allow them to meet, they exchanged letters and joined in a mutual fight to promote RJ.
Read more here.

Healing Justice, explores the causes and consequences of the current North American justice system and its effect on marginalised communities. The film walks back through the history of violence that has led to our current system, bringing into focus the histories of trauma – on a personal, interpersonal, community, and generational level. The documentary addresses the school-to-prison pipeline, the need for comprehensive criminal justice reform, and the importance of healing and restorative practices.

Trailer

The documentary follows former enemy combatants – Israeli soldiers from elite units and Palestinian fighters, many of whom served years in prison – who have joined together to challenge the status quo. The film reveals their transformational journeys from soldiers committed to armed battle to nonviolent peace activists, leading to the creation of Combatants for Peace.
Read more here.

This documentary, shown on Dutch TV (English subtitles available in Dec. 2015) gives voice to a victim of robbery in a cafe. The documentary reconstructs the way the case was handled, the victim’s own actions and her request for restoration.
Watch it here (in Dutch).

The film documents three stories in three different countries (Germany, Norway and US) where the victim and offender of cases of homicide meet.
Read more here.

The documentary examines how crime hurts families of perpetrators.
Read more here.

As the title, says, this documentary is a ‘journey for the discovery of Restorative Justice’. It has been realised by the University of Insubria in Italy. 
Watch the film here.

The movie documents a family group conference held in a small Dutch community struggling with a variety of issues that were negatively affecting the quality of life in the village.
Watch the trailer here.

A documentary on RJ conferences for juvenile offenders in Belgium.
Read more  here.

The documentary celebrates the restorative effect of Shakespeare and literacy on a group of young offenders from Malta prison, realising their talents, developing their self-esteem and finding new connections with each other. 
Watch the trailer here.

A documentary on a South Africa anti-apartheid activist meeting the parents’ circles of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read more here.

The documentary examines areas of conflict around the world and ask what it takes to forgive under the most difficult of circumstances.
Read more here.

The rehearsals of inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”.
Read more here.

The story of a restorative programme using art to facilitate dialogue between victims and imprisoned offenders.
Watch it here. 

The story of a community conference to let the offender explain his actions.
Watch the trailer here.

The story of healing in post-conflict Sierra Leone through the intimate stories of perpetrators and victims.
Read more here. 

The documentary follows the experiences of 27 Palestinians and Israelis that participated in the “Narrative Project” organised by the NGO “Parents Circle- Families Forum”.
Watch the trailer here.

This lecture is highly recommended for restorative justice practitioners: it focuses on the impact of emotions during restorative interventions.
Watch the trailer here. 

The story of three sisters reconnecting with their incarcerating father through a series of video letters.
Watch the trailer here. 

For 15 months, 45 inmates work on a theatre play which touches upon the themes of forgiveness, self- development, stigma and hope.
Watch it here.

The story of the implementation of restorative practices and strong leadership in a troubled high school in Philadelphia.
Watch it here.

The short film tells the life behind the prison bars trough the letters exchanged by three incarcerated youngsters.
Watch it  here.

The story of a woman confronted with the unexpected goodness of her family after spending fifteen years in prison.
Read more here.

The story of a Palestinian boy shot by Israeli soldiers and his father´s gesture of peace: donating his son’s organs to Israeli children.
Watch it here.

This film considers whether killers and survivors can coexist in peace 14 years after the genocide.
Read more here. 

The story of two strangers who met in tragedy; they will meet face-to-face to speak about loss, forgiveness and redemption only once he will be on death row.
Read more here. 
 

The story of three crime victims on their journey towards meeting face-to-face with the perpetrator. 
Read more here. 

Episode of two survivors separated by the Rwandese conflict speak with each other via video letters.
Watch it here.

The story of a RJ Conference after some juveniles burned an historical bridge.
Watch it here.

Three short documentaries around the theme of reconciliation. When the war separated people from ex-Yugoslavia, videoletters have been used to re-bring people together and promote reconciliation.
Read more here.

The implementation of restorative practices in several schools in the U.S., the Netherlands and the U.K.
Read more here.

Narrated by Glenn Close and winner of a 2005 Omni Intermedia Award this film profiles several stories of reconciliation, including the story of a small Midwestern farming community that was forced to confront its own stereotypes when Hasidic Jews moved into town, the reunion between a father and son after years of estrangement. Finally, the hour sheds a startling light on one woman's need to forgive the perpetrators who murdered her husband and raped her daughter.
Watch it here.

The story of an ex-life-sentenced murderer who attempts to so seek redemption with the family of his victim.
Read more here.

The story of a family searching for a “justice that heals” after a murder case.
Watch it here.

This film follows several cases from the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, showing how communication has been used to attempt the country’s social reconciliation.
Read more here. 

The story of a RJ Conference after a murder case.
Read more here.

This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.

The story of Peter Woolf and Will Riley after their meeting in a restorative justice process.
Watch it here.

Documentary on RJ described by victims, offenders, judges, lawyers, scholars, etc.
Watch it here.

Documentary on a group of inmates joining a group of church volunteers for building a labyrinth.
Watch it here.