Aro Tolbukhin: In the Mind of a Killer

Black and white, 35 mm
Spain, Mexico, 2002, 100 min
Section: Another View
Oficiální stránky: www.arotolbukhin.com

Synopsis

In 1982 Hungarian Aro Tolbukhin burned seven people alive in a mission hospital in Guatemala. After being apprehended, he claimed responsibility for killing 17 women, all pregnant, whom he allegedly murdered during his 15-year travels as a sailor. Investigations by his lawyer and psychologist, however, cast doubt upon Tolbukhin’s claim. Prior to Tolbukhin’s execution, two French documentarists, Lise August and Yves Keetman, interviewed him for a five-part series on the death penalty. August and Keetman, fascinated by the killer and his contradictions, question a number of people who came into contact with him. The result is a compelling composition delving to the roots of a person with a mysterious and complicated past, to the source of his obsession and his warped character. At age 16, at the time of the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary, the 42-year-old killer emigrated and joined up with a French unit in Algeria. A year later he deserted into the Sahara which, after the loss of his beloved twin sister, brought its desert demons to reside permanently in his soul. The filmmakers’ multi-level composition leads to a reflection on truth and mystification, as well as on the dramatic symbiosis of the purest human emotions and violence.

About the director

Agustí Villaronga (1953, Mallorca) shot several shorts, then feature debuted with In a Glass Cage (1985), selected for the Berlin competition in 1986, and he also won Best Film at Barcelona. Moon Child (1988) competed at Cannes 1989 and won three Goyas. The Sea (2000) took the Manfred Salzberg Award (most innovative film) at the Berlinale. Other films: El pasajero clandestino (1995), 99,9 (1997) and the documentary Al Andalus (1992), selected for the competition at Bristol.

Lydia Zimmermann has shot experimental short films and videos, including Wake (1996), a winner of international awards. She has also worked in film as an editor, screenwriter, camerawoman, and assistant director.

Isaac-Pierre Racine has worked in film and video for over 15 years. He has independently produced and directed the following experimental videos and shorts: No Title until the End (1992), Artattack (1994) and Don the Stain (1985). The medium-length film Scuba Drive (1997), produced for Canadian television, revealed his interest in the combination of documentary and drama and the symbiosis of the two genres. Aro Tolbukhin: In the Mind of a Killer is his first feature-length debut.