This is the worst killing spree in the world. Discovery Channel’s Norwegian Holocaust: The Mind of a Killer examines the horrors of that day. In a 90-minute frenzy, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 young people. Hour after hour, the film stitches together Breivik’s horrific days, from the bomb he detonated in Oslo to the cold-blooded shooting of unarmed youths on the remote island of Utoya.
Who is this person and what made him act? The film explores the criminal mind and motivations of one of the world’s most vicious killers, offering a psychological analysis of what unfolded on the day of the massacre. It examines his motivations, analyzes his possible mental journeys during the planning stages and throughout the day, and asks what drove him to plan and carry out the massacre. Is he a terrorist, a lunatic, or both, as he claims?
The film will feature first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses and survivors who have never spoken on camera. Among them: taxi driver Arird Tangen, who was the last person Breivik spoke to before the attack; and survivor Adrian Pracon, who was shot in the shoulder while trying to swim off the island. He begged Breivik to let him go. Bjørn Kasper Ilaug, who dragged the bodies aboard to save some children when the shooting happened; camp owner Brede Joherraaten has been there to collect bodies and rescue swimmers.
The killer’s actions were analyzed by a number of experts, including: renowned criminologist Professor David Wilson; Princeton University’s Katherine Newman, one of the world’s leading experts on Spree shoots; researcher of right-wing terrorist groups in the UK and Europe Matthew Goodman, an authoritative figure at the Washington Post; and Charles Shoebridge, an expert on terror and weapons. First and foremost is the memory of the dead. What are the warning signs? What can a person do? By investigating this horrific crime, it is hoped that such atrocities will never happen again.
