Devil in a Lawyers Suit - a rapist posthumous logos

‘Devil in a Lawyers Suit - a rapist posthumous logos’ is a documentary film about Refugee Council of Australia President Mr David Lee Bitel who was arrested in Sydney on 4 December 2012 and charged with 21 counts of sexual assault including raping his male clients from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
The film has been catalogued by the US Library of Congress under ‘Rapists - Australia - Biography’.
The film features two of Bitel's victims from Pakistan and Nepal speaking about the ongoing trauma of being sexually abused by Bitel, which started in his law office in Sydney, describing him as ‘evil’ and a ‘monster’.
Background
Shortly before his trial was to commence Bitel died from gastric cancer in Sydney on 20 August 2016.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Bitel was sexually abusing children in Asia.
The film includes footage of a posthumous toast to Bitel on 22 September 2016 at an International Bar Association dinner at The Caucus Room Brasserie in Washington, DC.
For four successive years after his high-profile arrest for sexual assault Bitel was voted by his legal peers in Australia as one of Australia's Best Immigration Lawyers, the list being published annually by the Australian Financial Review.
Screenings
The Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival (promoted by the Human Rights Film Network & supported by the European Commission, UN Migration IOM, International Commission of Jurists and the Canadian government) screened the film on 22 November 2021 in Kathmandu.
The Honorary Consul-General for Nepal, Mr Deepak K Khadka attended a screening of the film at the Golden Age Cinema, Paramount Pictures building, Sydney on 27 July 2022.
Awards
The film won awards at the Sandbar International Film Awards (Northern Ireland), WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, Accolade Global Film Competition, Best Shorts Competition (USA), International Motion Picture Awards, Bridge Fest (Canada), Luleå International Film Festival (Sweden), Royal Society of Television & Motion Picture Awards, Tagore International Film Festival, Gangtok International Film Festival (India), Druk International Film Festival (Bhutan) and World Film Carnival (Singapore).
The film was a finalist at the Dallas Independent Film Festival and the Swedish International Film Festival, a semi-finalist at the FARO Concurso de Cinema Mediterrâneo e Mundial in Portugal and KickOff International Film Festival in Poland and a nominee at the Cannes Shorts and Planet Cinema Film Festivals.
The film was officially selected for the Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Salerno, Berlin Indie Film Festival, International Documentary Film Awards in Amsterdam
and Luminous Frames in Denmark.
Filmed on location in Sydney and Adelaide with interior sequences shot in the historic 1930 Hengrove Hall building.
50 DVD copies of the film were made with extra features including the full version of Mr Bitel's IBA Washington DC memorial toast, newspaper articles and film festival laurels and donated to libraries and institutions worldwide.
The film was released by Tudsbury Films and directed by Mark A. Tarrant and Otto Alexander (Khoo).

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