Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

In his 1992 documentary Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, Nick Broomfield captures film producers and publishers fighting like dogs for the rights to the story of an ex-prostitute on death row, who was reputed to be "America’s first female serial killer." At an appeals hearing on Aileen Wournos's execution 10 years later, Broomfield is called as a witness. To his astonishment, Wuornos changes her story and testifies that she killed her seven victims in cold blood—not acting in self-defense, as she had always maintained. Broomfield decides to interview her again and speaks with various friends and people from Wuornos’s childhood. He presents a disconcerting portrait of a life characterized by abuse and violence. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, one of Broomfield’s most personal films, ends in tragedy. Wuornos no longer wanted to live and looked forward to her execution, which took place on October 9, 2002. This is a lucid and poignant indictment of the death penalty.