- On 24 July 2010, the Loveparade in Duisburg ends in a catastrophe: 21 people lose their lives and 652 are injured as mass panic breaks out at the festival. More than 7 years later, in December 2017, the court case for legal reappraisal of the catastrophe begins. LOVEPARADE: THE TRIAL follows the case up close with a host of protagonists who are themselves involved in the proceedings. The film documents one of the most complicated criminal trials in post-war German history, from its first day to its very last. The result is a complex contemporary portrait, brought together by Director Dominik Wessely through a variety of questions, voices and materials.—Docdays Productions GmbH
- THE TRIAL is a tale of corporate greed and public negligence at the expense of young people from around the world gathering for a music festival. With unprecedented access, the film unravels one of the worst disasters in counter-culture history.
What began as a street parade in Berlin in 1989 had by the mid-2000s long since grown into a million-strong spectacle garnering international attention. "Love Parades" were celebrated around the world. But the German Love Parade was "the mother of all parades"- born in a Woodstock-like spirit, it was the yearly institution of techno.
July 24, 2010: the "Love Parade" has left Berlin for a tour of the Ruhr valley, German's former industrial stronghold, now a region weak in infrastructure and youth appeal. Hundreds of thousands of electronic music lovers pilgrimage to Duisburg to celebrate the 2010 edition. But the day ended in a fatal stampede. What went wrong?
The location was a former freight yard - no longer a street parade, it would be a fenced-in event for the first time. A tunnel from one side and an underpass from the other side met at a ramp: the only entrance and exit. There, the crowd squeezed. 21 attendees from Germany, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, China and Australia died. 652 more were injured and traumatized. Only in December 2017 did a trial begin. The ten defendants are charged with 21 cases of negligent homicide which carries a sentence of up to 5 years and negligent bodily injury in many more cases.
If the court doesn't deliver a verdict by July 2020, the trial will just end. So, will there be a verdict at all? And will there be closure, even?
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By what name was Loveparade: The Trial (2020) officially released in Canada in English?
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