ALAN PARKER FILM ON DEATH PENALTY PREMIERES IN BERLIN

Acclaimed film director Alan Parker’s latest film The Life of David Gale will be presented today at the Berlin film festival, one of Europe’s top three cinema events. The film, starring Kevin Spacey, is the story of an anti-death penalty activist who himself ends up on death row. Hands Off Cain considers the film proof of Parker’s and also, in part, Hollywood’s commitment to political and civil rights. The exciting thriller also captures an American society ever more conscious of the limitations of the death penalty system. The film is more than an act of denunciation, it is also evidence of an America that can portray itself frankly and transparently even when it comes to a sensitive issue like capital punishment. And because it is a democracy, the filmmakers have been able to shoot in one of the most lambasted death penalty institutions in the world, the Texas death row, from where current president George W. Bush sent more than 150 inmates to their death. Following the commutation of the death sentences of over 160 inmates by former Illinois Governor George Ryan, that has been a major boost for US abolitionists, Parker now keeps the issue in the public eye with this film, one of the first major motion pictures to take an explicitly anti-death penalty perspective. HOC welcomes the launch of The Life of David Gale in Europe. European countries have long criticised the USA’s use of capital punishment and HOC believes that now is the time for Europe to take a firm stand on the issue and present a resolution for a worldwide moratorium on executions at the upcoming UN General Assembly. In view of this, and considering the merits of the film itself, HOC augurs that The Life of David Gale receives the highest recognition at the Berlin Film Festival. The film will be released in the US on February 21.