The Doctor's Prison Cell

Documentary about international human rights abuses that occurred in the Croatian War for Independence (1991-1996). The city of Vukovar was surrounded by approximately 80,000 Serbian soldiers, 1,600 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 980 artillery weapons, 350 anti-aircraft guns with 750 rocket launchers. The defense of the city was mounted by approximately 1,850 lightly armed Croatian volunteers. The hospital became a haven for the sick, the wounded and the living, all of whom saw it as the last ray of hope in the constantly bombarded city, where more than 1,500 shells hit each day. The film focuses on a young Bosnian physician who was head of the surgical recovery unit of the Vukovar hospital during a 3 month siege of the city. She performed her duties as she stood knee deep in blood in the basement of the bombed out hospital. Many of the patients and medical staff at the hospital were slaughtered when the enemy Serbian troops occupied the city after the defenders were crushed. She was captured, imprisoned, tortured, raped and subjected to mock execution before a firing squad by the occupying Serbian military in 1992. Her heroic efforts during the three month siege of the hospital and during imprisonment are depicted. She was eventually released in a prisoner exchange after her 21 day hunger strike. She provides detailed testimony used by the Hague Tribunal. The film includes numerous interviews with eyewitnesses, fellow medical staff, a nun and priest who survived with her.