Filmed in a Sussex forest, the family of a Nuremberg prosecutor who went on draft the ECHR explore the significance of his story under the shadow of pandemic restrictions.

 

The Human's in the Telling follows David Maxwell Fyfe's journey from Nuremberg, where he was a leading British prosecutor at the War Crimes Trials, to Strasbourg, where he was a driving force behind the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

Created and told by a new generation of his family, the story of the ECHR's creation is told in his own words, woven through original musical settings by Sue Casson of poetry that inspired him. Song cycle Dreams of Peace & Freedom is performed in the landscapes of his life, the present is filtered through the prism of the past, showing how the protection of our rights and freedoms were forged after WWII.

 

Set in a time when every day life was put on hold to protect lives, it shines a light on the ECHR as an act of reconciliation after the barbarity of World War II, show how it has led to 70 years of peace, and why our rights and freedoms still need protection today.

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Lily and Robert, great grandchildren of Maxwell Fyfe who perform and present the piece, describe how during the lockdown, they walked the nearby forest every day. 'And our film changed. We became very aware of the freedoms that had been snatched away overnight, and the speed at which doors can be closed on rights. Of course, in the pandemic, the protection of life was paramount, but our great-grandfather’s story was about how to protect living, as well as life.'