Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

Verzio FF This moving and tragic story of Aileen Wuornos, America's first woman serial killer, is a powerful indictment against capital punishment and the execution of the mentally insane. In 1992, acclaimed UK filmmaker Nick Broomfield made "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of A Serial Killer,...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Broomfield, Nick
Institution:Open Society Archives at Central European University
Language:English
Published: Jo Human 2003
United Kingdom
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:589bd3ff-c2b3-48e0-bf57-c0f3c3c2f4b4
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author2 Broomfield, Nick
author_facet Broomfield, Nick
collection OSA Film Library
dateSpan 2003
description Verzio FF This moving and tragic story of Aileen Wuornos, America's first woman serial killer, is a powerful indictment against capital punishment and the execution of the mentally insane. In 1992, acclaimed UK filmmaker Nick Broomfield made "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of A Serial Killer," which revealed how Aileen's mother, her lawyer, and the Florida state police tried to sell her sensationalized story to the highest bidder. Amidst the frenzy of greed, Aileen emerges as the most sincere person in the film. Twelve years later, Broomfield was summoned to Aileen's final appeal before execution, and his earlier film was shown as evidence that she had not been given a fair trial. However, during the appeal, Aileen suddenly confesses that she committed the murders in cold blood and is ready to die (she later confides to Broomfield that she said this because she could no longer endure life on death row). Broomfield decides to probe deeper into Aileen's troubled life and reveals how her childhood of extreme abuse and neglect led her to become a runaway and teenage prostitute with severe drug problems. Broomfield's powerful film reveals the flaws in the US criminal justice system and the stark inhumanity of capital punishment, particularly of the mentally ill. Aileen Wuornos was executed by the state of Florida on October 9, 2002.
genre libraryUnit
geographic Great Britain
id bulk_0F0FB70A-3CE2-4D79-9C3A-D6B3CB68D245
institution Open Society Archives at Central European University
language English
publishDate 2003
publisher Jo Human
United Kingdom
spellingShingle Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
[Documentary film]
title Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
topic [Documentary film]
url http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:589bd3ff-c2b3-48e0-bf57-c0f3c3c2f4b4