(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)May 29, 2014

(MAHWAH, NJ) – Director Pamela Yates and Producer Paco de Onís screened and led a discussion of their film Dictator in the Dock, at Ramapo College of New Jersey on Monday, April 14. The film brings viewers into the courtroom as former dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt stands trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.

This historic case marked the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of state was tried for genocide in a national court, in the country where the crimes were committed.  Also, for the first time in the history of South or North America, the genocide of indigenous peoples was tried in a court of law. It is significant that this occurred in a country of the Americas with a majority indigenous population.

Pamela Yates and Paco deOnis

The filmmakers’ critically-acclaimed documentary, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, screened at Ramapo College in November 2011, wasa film comprised a haunting tale of genocide in Guatemala and returns to the present with a cast of characters joined by the quest to bring a dictator to justice.

Yates is a co-founder of Skylight Pictures, the New York City-based production company. Four of her films were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and one film won the award in 1984.

De Onís grew up in several Latin American countries. Prior to Granito, his most recent production was The Reckoning and he previously produced State of Fear. He has also produced documentaries for PBS (On Our Own Terms with Bill Moyers), National Geographic (Secrets from the Grave), New York Times Television (Police Force, Paramedics), and MSNBC (Edgewise with John Hockenberry).

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