Document details

Perpetrators in Documentaries on Genocide

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (2026), 268 pp.

Contains tables, figures, illustrations, bibliogr., index

ISBN 978-1-3995-5821-1 (hbk); 978-1-3995-5822-8

"Perpetrators in Documentaries on Genocide is a wide-ranging comparative study that analyses how numerous genocides and their perpetrators have been presented in documentary film. Spanning seven 20th-century genocides across three continents and combining interviews with filmmakers, distant reading, content analysis, and historical research, this book tracks the multifaceted representational strategies of over 200 films. Addressing both the local and global contexts impacting their production, the book finds that the socio-political circumstances in the aftermath of genocide, but also the concept of genocide itself, enormously shape the representation of perpetrator groups and their victims. This book highlights and critiques dominant trends in documentary representation, proposing a broader and methodologically innovative approach to studying the depiction of atrocities that provides an encompassing framework for understanding genocide documentaries." (Publisher description)
Introduction
1 The Holocaust
2 The Armenian Genocide
3 The Herero and Nama Genocide
4 The Indonesian Genocide
5 The Cambodian Genocide
6 The Rwandan Genocide
7 The Bosnian Genocide
Conclusion