“THE EXECUTION PROTOCOL” (1992)

A 60- and 90-minute feature documentary on capital punishment procedures in Missouri. Missouri was the first state to carry out an execution by machine-controlled lethal injection. The film follows the inventor of the machine, the Missouri execution team and inmates awaiting execution. Unprecedented access gives a unique, behind-the-scenes look at how capital punishment is administered in the United States.

Produced in association with THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL (USA), BBC2 (UK), SEVEN NETWORK (AUSTRALIA), YLE-TV2 (FINLAND), FRANCE2, NDR INTERNATIONAL-NDR (GERMANY), ORF (AUSTRIA), RAI3 (ITALY), SVT2 (SWEDEN), VPRO (HOLLAND), TV2 (DENMARK), DRS & RTSI (SWITZERLAND) and licensed to BRTN (BELGIUM), SABC (SOUTH AFRICA), TVE (SPAIN), SFINX/NIPPON (JAPAN), SOUTHLIGHT (TAIWAN) and others.

·        The film was released theatrically in the USA, and is distributed by WORLDVIEW PICTURES.

·        Non-theatrical distribution in the USA by FILMAKERS LIBRARY INC.

·        Stephen Trombley's book of the film is published in the USA by CROWN BOOKS and in the UK by RANDOM CENTURY. It has also been translated into German, Dutch, Danish and Czech.

 

Awards & festivals

·      Adolf Grimme Prize, Germany, Best Documentary, 1994

·      Chicago International Film Festival 1992, Silver Hugo Award

·      Festival International du Film Documentaire, Nyon, 1992, Sesterce d'Argent

·      British Film Institute Awards 1992, nominated, Grierson Award for best documentary

·      CableACE Awards 1992, nominated in two categories: Best Documentary, and Editing

·      London Film Festival, 1992

·      Durban International Film Festival, 1993

 

Reviews

The Execution Protocol is not easy to sit through, but it touches nerves that force a rethinking of essential values. It is exceptionally well done.

vincent canby, new york times

 

Stephen Trombley confronts a question few bother to ask, and fewer still really want the answer to. Better yet, he does it with elegance and a cool head. In this unsettling and utterly gripping film, it’s just the facts, ma’am.

frazier moore, associated press

 

The Execution Protocol, an extraordinary new film directed by Stephen Trombley, peels back the layers that normally insulate us from the final reality of capital punishment....Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of Sunday night’s film is the absence of tilt or bias either in favor of or against capital punishment.

erik mink, st louis post-dispatch

 

Reality outstrips nightmare in this rending document of inhumanity.

rolling stone

 

There was no special pleading - either pro or con - in this remarkable documentary. Trombley sustained the disinterested tone throughout.

the guardian (uk)

 

An effective, austere horror film by Stephen Trombley.

the sunday times (uk)

 

Trombley’s cool tone, sharp images and use of a superb modern jazz score make for powerful viewing.

time out (uk)

 

unfolds like a black-and-white, etching-precise explication of how lethal injection executions are carried out....Makes “Dead Man Walking” sound candy-coated.

boston globe (us)

 

(Trombley’s) best and most influential.

boston phoenix (us)

 

The strength of the documentary lies in its simplicity - straightforward, matter-of-fact talk from the people who deal death....The Execution Protocol is well-made and informational, and at some points chilling in its matter-of-fact way of taking the viewer somewhere no one should ever want to go.

the seattle times

 

In frank and often moving conversation, the 90-minute documentary gives us a closeup of capital punishment in America....It takes as detailed - and chilling - a look at capital punishment as I’ve ever seen.

chicago tribune

 

Ninety minutes of celluloid which seem like a century, as six hours must seem like an eternity to the condemned man. Ninety appalling, brilliant minutes, which intentionally never question the legitimacy, the morality or the usefulness of the operation.

le monde (france)

 

Stephen Trombley’s documentary...is more engrossing than many a fictional thriller.

the daily telegraph (uk)

 

It is not the morality but the reality of the situation that Trombley presents. An anti-sensationalist but utterly shocking film.

the times (uk)