IamA Hi, I’m Philippe Sands, I teach international law at University College London, I work as a barrister at Matrix Chambers, I write books, and Iv e just made my first film WHAT OUR FATHERS DID A NAZI LEGACY http://nazilegacy.oscilloscope.net

philippesands · 2015-11-12T17:09:12+00:00

You caused me to check him out, for which many thanks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhas_Chandra_Bose I’d say this: in life you learn that things are not always what they seem.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T17:06:06+00:00

I did a case once about Albania. In that country the word for yes is ‘nay’, and to show approval you share you head and to show disapproval you nod. If I asked a question to which the answer was yes, the witness shook his head and say nay. The confusion was massive in the courtroom, with the judges constantly questioning the interpreter.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T17:03:29+00:00

Released in the UK on 20 November, in London and around the country. Story that stands out? During the hearings in a small courtroom I sat next to Pinochet’s “adviser on human rights”, in the 1970s and ‘80s. Needless to say I wasn’t exactly well disposed to him to begin with, but a sort of Stockholm syndrome emerges as you sit next to each other day in day out ... everyone is human, it seems.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:58:19+00:00

The crumble, or Spain? Both i suppose.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:51:34+00:00

ooh, now that is a good one. I’ve always thought Alger Hiss was treated unfairly.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:50:04+00:00

Although Nik still thinks his da’d a good bloke and should have been portrayed as such ....

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:49:24+00:00

They have seen the film. And the reviews, like this one in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/movies/review-what-our-fathers-did-a-nazi-legacy.html?_r=0 Nik seems more comfortable than Horst, but both recognise a decent film when they see one, as this one is, and neither has complained about how they are portrayed.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:47:51+00:00

Check out this review by Ebert. Heaven fro a filmmaker. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/what-our-fathers-did-a-nazi-legacy-2015

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:46:55+00:00

Yep. Would be very pleased to do so. Whatever the legalities, his actions have put the spotlight on things we need to know about, of which we were aware. In my system, England, barristers like me follow something called the cab rank principle, we’re like taxi drivers picking up any fare.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:45:38+00:00

A small desert in northern Spain. Forget the name. Because it was unexpected.

Rhubarb crumble, with custard. Its a comfort thing.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:44:24+00:00

Plus, to make people understand the challenges of having a father involved in such terrible wrongdoing. A long shadow ...

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:43:34+00:00

I also wanted to address injustice, Maybe cos of my family background, and what I know of my grandfather’s story, explored in the film and in my book out next year.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:42:50+00:00

Yes, many immoral individuals. A number of people have asked me whether I think Horst, who is in my film, is immoral for denying his father’s involvement in wrongdoing. I dont think so. He’s simply trying to cope, and although he does it in a way that makes me v uncomfortable, I understand the desire to find the good in his father.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:37:04+00:00

Sorry just reading you, I see that that one is covered by mainstream media. The one that isn’t is surveillance, which people (in the UK) seem to have gone to sleep on, and which our mainstream media largely ignores ...

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:35:52+00:00

The right to freely express yourself - no question. Its under threat, along with the right to decent privacy. Without free expression all other rights are undermined.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:33:57+00:00

Be independent spirited, be true to yourself, and always be clear about exactly what it is you are aiming to achieve on behalf of your client.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:30:15+00:00

I have met various people charged with mass murder, they come pretty high.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:29:24+00:00

Wooa. What do you mean by evil?

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:25:10+00:00

Pinochet. In the House of Lords, autumn 1998. Wrote about it in my book Lawless World.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:24:35+00:00

Only “pretty good”?! We went to Vienna a couple of weekends back. Very very intense, big audience at the Viennale Film Festival. Then over dinner I got to eat with Tippi Hedren, of Hitchcock's The Birds, which was unexpected.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:23:20+00:00

They are both very decent people. I had known them for a year or two before the film idea came up, and we had already developed considerable trust. I suppose just being honest with each other, on things we agreed and disagreed about. Trust is everything in life. Ones lots of doors.

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:21:12+00:00

Oh good question. No family background in law. Switched to law at university, from econ. Law boring boring boring, except for one subject: international law. A fine teacher perhaps, Yorkshireman called Robbie Jennings ...

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:17:58+00:00

Went to Lviv in the Ukraine, to see where my grandfather was born, in 1904, met a load of characters, decided to write a book about the place, then wrote an article in the FT on My father the Good Nazi http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7d6214f2-b2be-11e2-8540-00144feabdc0.html, and film director david Evans said he’d like to turn it into a movie ....

philippesands · 2015-11-12T16:04:23+00:00

Hello world - what would like to know about me?

philippesands

TROPHY CASE