PROCEDURE 769
THE WITNESSES TO AN EXECUTION

1995 / 35 mm / 83 minutes
Silver Spire Award San Francisco Int. Film Festival 1996

Procedure 769 is the document that lays down how a prisoner is to be executed. For the first time in 25 years the procedure was again followed in California, USA.

On April 21, 1992, just before 6 am, Robert Harris stepped into the bright green light. He could only see the audience throught the thick glass: his brother,
a few friends, and also relative of his victims. There were witnesses on behalf of the state, reporters, and even several VIP's. The warden stood behind the condemned and looked him straight in the eye when he pushed the lever wich lowered the crystals into the acid..
All witnesses had a valid reason to watch. For one is was a democratic duty, another wanted to see justice served, some wanted to help the condemned in the last moments of his life.
They all looked at the same: a dying man. Yet each saw different things happen.

director / script	Jaap van Hoewijk
co director	Rikkert Boonstra
photography	Peter Brugman
sound	Tom d'Angremond
editing	Leo de Boer
music	Joke Geraets
producers	Jan Heijs & Ruud Monster
	Jura Film & NCRV Dokument
distribution	Films Transit Inc.

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