ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Syria

The Corridors of Power – Upstander or bystander?

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Why is there still genocide? Supposedly the nations of the world have said “Never again.” And yet, it continues in so many places while the world stands by and watches—often wringing our hands nervously. Israeli documentarian Dror Moreh’s The Corridors of Power offers us a compelling look at US foreign policy vis à vis genocide since the end of the Cold War. He does so with compelling interviews with many people within several administrations who were in the rooms where the decisions of action or inaction were being made.

Following the Holocaust, one of the early acts of the United Nations was to adopt The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It creates an obligation on nations to act when genocide is happening. This film focuses on the US since the fall of the Soviet Union because at that point, America was left as the sole global superpower. Yet only occasionally has the US acted to stop genocide.

The film includes genocides in Iraq and Somalia (under the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations), the Balkans, Bosnia, and Rwanda (under the Clinton administration), and Libya and Syria (under the Obama administration) In a Q&A at AFI Fest, Moreh noted that his beginning point for this film was wondering why the US acted in Libya, but not Syria. While he may seem to have a thesis that the US should act to stop genocides when they are discovered, he also shows that the decisions to act or not are complex.

It was educational to watch the evolution of President Clinton on this question. Early in his administration, he would constantly seek consensus on these questions. It was only after a few years that he took it upon himself to make a clear decision to act.

Moreh has interviewed a who’s who of US political power, including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, Hilary Clinton, James Baker, Michael Mullin, Wesley Clark, Leon Panetta, Paul Wolfowitz, Anthony Blinken, John Shattuck and many others who speak about the situations and what went into the decisions that were made.

The real star, however, is Samantha Power. Power won the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. She recounts her early involvement as a reporter during the Balkan civil wars and how that pointed her to focus on genocide and human rights. She went on to serve on President Obama’s National Security Council, and then as Ambassador to the UN. Power was in many ways the moral conscience in the discussion of responding to genocide. She constantly made the case that people and nations need to be “upstanders” rather than “bystanders”. This is seen especially in archival footage of her in the Security Council verbally shaming the Russian and Chinese for vetoing action.

We see in the film that the question to respond is not as simple as we might think. There are questions of morality, of practicality, and of politics, both domestic and geopolitical. The film really focuses on the White House and what happened there. It doesn’t really get into other political questions. For example, he noted that in regard to action in Syria, President Obama felt he needed Congressional authorization. However, we don’t see anything about the resistance he faced in getting that authorization. There were also other nations that were also failing to act in that situation, as well as the power of Russia and China to block action in the UN.

It should be noted that there are brutal scenes in the film. It includes archival footage of horrific scenes from Rwanda and Bosnia. It is not just the dead bodies (of which there are many) but also film of the actual murdering of civilians. It is terrible to watch—but perhaps that is the point: we need to see it; to turn away is a moral failing.

Moreh noted in the Q&A that he felt that those who were interviewed had heavy consciences about the issue and their part in the decisions that were made. It is not so much a matter of guilt as perhaps a feeling of helplessness. There are so many factors involved in the issue that we may feel that the issue is just too hard to deal with. And yet, the words need to continue to be said: Never again! And we need as the people of the world to be upstanders.

Sabaya – Rescued from ISIS

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The mission: go into a camp filled with Daesh (ISIS) supporters and rescue Yazidi girls and women held as sex slaves. Sabaya won the directing award for World Cinema Documentary for Hogir Hirori at the Sundance Film Festival. Billed as a docu-thriller, the film shines a light on the plight of thousands of young women and on people who are trying to aid them.

While fighting in Iraq, Daesh killed thousands of Yazidi men and took the Yazidi young women to serve as sex slaves (Sabaya). Some of the women have been held for five years. Now some of them are part of the 73,000 people held in the Al-Hol camp in Syria. We watch as Mahmud and Ziyad, two men from the Yazidi Home Center, aided by female infiltrators in the camp, make raids (usually at night) to liberate these women. The camp is filled with Daesh supporters (there are more in the surrounding countryside), so this is a hazardous undertaking. The men go in equipped basically with a phone and a handgun.

The film certainly has a thriller aspect with the forays into Al-Hol to find these women. It it also contrasts that tension with the daily life of Mahmud and his family—making meals, being together with children. Mahmud’s wife and mother help the rescued women transition back to the world of freedom before they are reunited with family.

The plight of the Yazidi has become an international cause. (A good film to learn about what has happened to this group is On Her Shoulders.) They are a minority within a minority. They are extremely insular, not accepting outsiders as part of their culture. That comes into play in one part of the film when one of the women rescued has a child who was fathered by a Daesh fighter.

We learn at the end of the film that the group saved 206 enslaved women, 52 with children. But 2000 still remain unfound.

This is an ongoing reminder of the inhumanity that is a part of war in general, and specifically as it is practiced by ISIS. While we may think battles have been won, the aftermath continues to be painful for many. That is clear in this film when at the beginning we hear an announcement on the radio that Daesh has been defeated in Syria, but as we see Mahmud and Ziyad on their raids we know that that defeat is less than final.

Religion (or more precisely, the exploitation of religious ideas) certainly plays a role in all of this. The reason Daesh uses to enslave these women is that because they are not Muslim, such treatment is permissible. That is not a general understanding within Islam. That is one of many examples of the ways that religious people misuse messages of goodwill to create malevolence.

Sabaya is opening in select theaters.

Photos courtesy of MTV Documentary Films.

The Cave – Hope in a Dark Place

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“Is God really watching?”

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, The Cave takes us into the darkest of world to show us the smallest light of hope. Director Feras Fayyad received a previous Oscar nomination for his film Last Men in Aleppo. Again we see the destruction that has been happening in Syria and the bravery of some who seek to save others in spite of the risk to their own lives.

Al Ghouta, Syria – Dr. Amani (center) and Dr Alaa (right) in the operating room. (National Geographic)

Between 2013 and 2018, Al Ghouta, Syria was besieged by government and Russian forces. Gas attacks, frequent bombings, lack of food and supplies, created a city of rubble and despair filled with 400,000 people who now have no way out. A small group of doctors, led by Dr. Amani Ballour and Dr. Salim Namour, seeks to tend to the seriously injured in an underground hospital known as The Cave. Dr. Amani serves as the manager of the hospital, as well as continuing her work as a pediatrician, caring for the many children who have been injured in the bombings, and are suffering malnutrition from the lack of food.

The film immerses us into this subterranean world as we follow Dr. Amani. There are times of chaos and pain. There are quiet times when she and another woman can take part in a bit of girl talk about makeup. There are small celebrations, as for Dr. Amani’s 30th birthday which is feted with popcorn that Dr. Salim imagines as pizza with extra cheese. But throughout we see the suffering of the populace that has been under attack for five years. We see the doctors as they face feelings of helplessness. We see the fear that these doctors live with even as they strive to save others.

Al Ghouta, Syria – Dr Amani covers her ears during nearby bombings. (National Geographic)

There is no commentary to accompany the film. It suffers a bit by not giving viewers any context for the conflict or the geopolitical issues that allows such savagery to take place. But even without such explanations we realize that we are watching people who are acting heroically in a dangerous situation. Fayyad sets them (as he did with the White Helmets in Last Men in Aleppo) as lights of hope in a world that seems hopeless.

By focusing on Dr. Amani, this film also has a bit of a feminist bent. It only comes up once in the film, but Syrian society frowns on women working, especially in authority. But in this film we see not only Dr. Amani, but other women (especially Dr. Alaa and nurse Samaher) doing important work and saving lives of many people.

Al Ghouta, Syria – Children recovering with oxygen after a chemical attack. (National Geographic)

The film opens and closes with brief, poetic voice overs by Dr. Amani. They speak of light and hope. One of the lines the struck me was “I wonder if there is any space for justice.” For me this may be the key question that gnaws at me watching this. The UN has declared the siege of Al Ghouta as a war crime against humanity. But will there ever be justice? The film never asks, but I don’t know how viewers cannot ask how the world allows this to go on. Even when the world knows that the government has broken international law by using chemical weapons against its own people, nothing has been done.

National Geographic, who is the distributor for the film, offers some ways to take action at their website for the film. (The film can be screened on the National Geographic app.) I especially recommend reading Dr. Amani’s own account that is linked to there, and to consider signing the petition calling for the world to acknowledge what is happening and act.

Al Ghouta, Syria – Dr Amani amongst rubble. (National Geographic)

Photos courtesy of National Geographic

For Sama – Oscar-Nominated Love Letter

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Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, For Sama brings a personal perspective to the Syrian conflict. The conflict in Syria has been fertile ground for documentary films. Two years ago The Last Men in Aleppo was among the doc nominees. This year The Cave is also nominated in this category. The war going on in that nation is a story of human suffering that needs to be brought to our comfortable lives. For Sama was shown on PBS Frontline, and is now available to stream on PBS.org, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

Filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab (who shares directing credit with Edward Watts) chronicles five years in her life from the beginning of the revolution against the Assad regime. Hopes were high in those early days, but the regime (with Russian support) soon cracked down. In time the city of Aleppo was under siege, being bombed daily. As the siege gets worse, Al-Kateab films the life people were forced to live, as well as the injury and death that was all around. Much of what she filmed takes place within a hospital trying to do the best it could in such dire circumstances.

But it is not just the story of what was going on in Aleppo, it is also Al-Kateab’s story—including falling in love, getting married, and becoming a mother in the midst of this war. That personal story is highlighted by the fact that she designs the film as a love letter to her baby daughter, Sama. In many ways it is an apologia for the choices she and others have made and for the life that they have subjected Sama to.

As we overhear Al-Kateab explain this war to Sama, it gives us insight into those who have chosen to stay in their home rather that become refugees. The hardships and danger that fill the city are all that Sama has known in her few years. Was it right to have brought a child into this kind of life? That is part of what Al-Kateab ponders as she shares the story with her daughter—and with the world.

But a key part of what she shows us is not only the hardships they deal with, but the human need to which they have dedicated themselves to deal with. This is a film with lots of pain, anguish, death, and destruction. But it is also a film that shows triumphs in the midst of all this. But more than anything else, this is a film about caring—caring for family, caring for neighbors, caring for humanity. The love letter that Al-Kateab creates for her daughter teaches us all about the deep meaning love can have in the midst of suffering.

David Peck: Egil Larsen (69 MINUTES OF 86 DAYS)

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Egil Larsen and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film 69 Minutes of 86 Days, The Refugee crisis, making sense of time, polarization of real issues, childlike wonder and why he still has hope.

Hot Docs Review – calls it “Essential viewing.”

Find out more about the film here.

Synopsis

Every day, about 90 Syrian refugees arrive in Canada.

40,081 have been welcomed since November 4, 2015. (Data as of January 29, 2017)

The war in Syria has now lasted six years.

According to UNICEF, one in three of today’s Syrian children have never experienced anything but war and flight. Every week hundreds of families flee. 69 Minutes of 86 Days is the part of the story that hasn’t been told. Follow three-year-old Lean’s journey from an unfamiliar port in Greece on the edge of a beach, through passport controls, congested trains, tents, and a large field, to the quiet streets of Uppsala, Sweden.

At an unspecified port, we are lead into a crowd of people through a trail of discarded lifejackets. Part of a new wave of documentaries that depict the various elements of the Syrian crisis, 69 Minutes of 86 Days takes a poignantly humanistic approach. In its quiet beauty, it unravels the physical and emotional challenges that refugee families face every day: millions of people on the run, thousands who have lost their lives and a patchwork of political power games. With this serving as the entry point to the story, the camera moves onward. Walking along a Greek highway, a little girl stands out from the crowd. Three-year-old Lean is brimming with curiosity and childlike energy. Her playful nature engages us, in stark contrast to the intimidating backdrop of Europe. Without any background information on the child and her family, one can only guess where they’ve travelled from; we naturally assume they have crossed the ocean and already seen many things. While Lean may not fully understand what she’s experiencing, her strength and optimism shine through, giving hope to those who need it the most.

Filmed from one metre above the ground, the camera captures the story from the viewpoint of the child. We are with her and her little “Frozen” backpack amongst the legs and bags belonging to the adults around her. We realize that she understands the seriousness of the journey and is on her way to a new future, but through the journey she holds onto her childlike ability to normalize her days. She sings, plays, shares a lollipop with her little sister, washes the face of her uncle and sleeps in the arms of her parents when she gets tired. The landscape changes continuously as national borders are crossed. Lean is on her way to her grandfather in Sweden and she dreams of learning to swim.

Biography

Egil Håskjold Larsen has worked as a cinematographer and director since finishing his studies in 2008. Studying fine art photography in Turkey, and finally documentary filmmaking in Norway. In 2016 he released his first documentary film Ad Astra. 69 Minutes of 86 Days is his first feature length documentary film

You can download David Peck on iTunes or stream it here:

Egil Larsen – Episode 290

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Documentaries

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Filmmakers often bring us the things we may read about in the news in a very personal manner. That is the case for all the films nominated for Best Short Documentary. Three of the films cover very similar territory but each has a different perspective. The films, in alphabetical order are:

4.1 Miles (26 minutes, directed by Daphne Matzlaraki). In the last few years, hundreds of thousands of immigrants have attempted the deadly voyage between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos, seeking safety and life. This film focuses on a coast guard boat that goes out each day seeking to rescue many of those. It reflects the chaos of the rescues and the pathos of the dangers and loss.

Extremis (24 minutes, directed by Dan Krauss). Within a hospital ICU this film shows us the angst involved in making decisions about end of life issues. As a doctor tells us, “Here’s the reality: We’re all going to die…. It’s good to have a little bit of say in how.” These can be ethically challenging issues. It can also be a time when faith may play an important role in the decision making for families. This film can currently be streamed on Netflix.

Joe’s Violin (24 minutes, directed by Kahane Cooperman). 91 year old Holocaust survivor Joe Feingold donated his violin to a school music program. It found its way to a seventh grade student, Brianne Perez. Their stories and the history of the violin are a reminder of the hope and joy that can be found in music—and in giving.

Watani: My Homeland (39 minutes, directed by Marcel Mettelsiefen). This film shows us glimpses over a three year period of a family from Aleppo, Syria. The father is a commander in the Free Syrian Army. As the war progresses, the mother takes the four children to Turkey, and eventually Germany looking for a new, safe life. As they are leaving their home, one of the daughters says, “We love you Syria. Forgive us.” Even in the comfort of their new home in Germany, they continue to think of Syria as their homeland.

The White Helmets (41 minutes, directed by Orlando von Einsidel). Also set in Aleppo, this film focuses on a few of the civilian volunteers who rescue people from the rubble after the frequent bombings the city as suffered during the Syrian Civil War. The ones we meet are a former builder, blacksmith, and tailor. Now they spend their days in the humanitarian struggle. As one says, “Any human being, no matter who they are, or which side they are on, if they need our help, it’s our duty to save them. But even as they work to rescue others, they fear for their own families as well. This film is currently streaming of Netflix.

There is power to all these films. Those dealing with the Syrian Civil War and the refugees associated with it are especially timely and provide a way for us to personalize the tragedy that may overwhelm us by the numbers involved. But my favorite among them was Extremis, because it is a very emotional film that shows the difficulty doctors and families face in very trying times. It is a setting that many have found themselves in, and many more will surely confront.

Photos courtesy of Shorts HD

Saints and Strangers: We Must Learn From the Past

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The Pilgrims
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/David Bloomer)

Thanksgiving is finally upon us, which means that we’ll gather with family and friends to enjoy a sumptuous feast involving a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce.  A game of football will be watched on television (or played in the backyard), followed by a slice of pumpkin pie and a nice nap. Hopefully, there will also be time to consider the many things we’re thankful for in life. But for many of us, thoughts of the Mayflower, pilgrims, and the native inhabitants of this country will be far removed from our minds. That’s a real shame—one that the National Geographic Channel is attempting to remedy with a film called Saints and Strangers. It’s a challenging and gritty look at a unique period in American history and is well worth a viewing. Hopefully, the lessons learned from the movie will keep us from repeating their mistakes in today’s society.

The title of the film originates from the fact that there were two groups of individuals on board the Mayflower—saints (those coming to the New World to start a new life and worship free of persecution) and strangers (those from the Merchant Adventure Company looking for fortune and prosperity). Obviously, conditions were less than ideal, and numerous individuals perished along the way. What was an attempt to settle in Virginia soon became an attempt to survive in the cold reaches of Massachusetts. It’s pretty easy to see the numerous and potentially overwhelming difficulties this group of 102 individuals would face–find a place to settle; build houses; develop a system of order; stay healthy; and keep the natives at bay.

Massasoit and Hobbamock
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/David Bloomer)

These Native Americans (known to the Pilgrims as savages) are obviously leery of their new neighbors and begin planning what they need to do—especially in the light of discovering their stored corn has been stolen from the Nauset tribe. The leader of the local Pokanoket sachem (or tribe) is Massasoit (Raulo Trujillo), a wise leader who is flanked by his main warrior Hobbamock (Tatanka Means). He gathers other groups together to discuss the situation and learns that there’s a lot of uncertainty—will they be taken over by the new arrivals from across the sea?  Canonicus from Narragansset (Michael Greyeyes) has a huge tribe and wants to increase his own power and standing and have no problem stating such.  Masaasoit’s response paves the way for the rest of the film—and a particularly interesting character named Squanto.  He’s a Native American but speaks English as well—this proves to be quite beneficial for the Pilgrims, but are his translating skills helping or hurting the cause?

The Pilgrims learn a lot that first year and celebrate Thanksgiving in a pretty grand manner. But as time progresses, tensions begin to develop–tribe against tribe, saint against stranger, tribe against Pilgrim colony, Pilgrim colony against new folks arriving from England, and everyone against Squanto (Kalani Queypo)–except for Governor William Bradford (Vincent Kartheiser). The result of these frictions brings about the true beginnings of America—and it’s not always pleasant to see. We have to be thankful for it, however, because it brought about the country we now know and love.

Thanksgiving
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/David Bloomer)

Saints and Strangers is a two-part film, to be shown this Sunday and Monday (November 22 and 23) at 9 PM (8 PM Central). The first part ends just before the first Thanksgiving, so you’ll have to wait a day to see what that looks and sound like.  As for the film itself, it’s done quite well and director Paul Edwards provides a gritty, earthy view of what life was like in those early days. The acting is, for the most part, top-notch and doesn’t jar one back into the modern day with colloquialisms and such. The Native Americans all speak Algonquin, but are thankfully subtitled.  This is used to nice effect as Squanto tries to translate between the two groups of people (producing some humorous moments).

There’s character development throughout, including some really fascinating changes to Massasoit, Bradford, and Stephen Hopkins (Ray Stevenson).  Oh, and composer Hans Zimmer does the music—a nice touch. The early faith of the Pilgrims is put on display quite noticeably and even includes a few passages from the Bible (including a portion of 1 Corinthians 13). With that said, I think the treatment of Christian faith in Saints and Strangers is impressive and pretty even-handed, making sense in the context of the time and situation.  National Geographic even went so far as to include a study guide for the film (downloadable here in PDF format).

So what does Saints and Strangers have to offer in the form of lessons for today? Well, the main thing to  consider when watching is the attitude of all the groups involved—saints, sinners, and savages. They convey one specific word—fear:

  • The Pilgrims were afraid of the unknown and the natives.
  • The natives were afraid the Pilgrims were going to run them out of town and take over.
  • The saints were afraid the strangers would keep them from worshiping God.
  • The strangers were afraid they would be converted and change them for the worst.

Fear kept them all from making the situation in front of them better.  If this sounds vaguely like the whole situation with the discussion in the US regarding Syrian refugees, it’s because it is.  We have to take a look at the past in order to keep from preventing the same thing from occurring in the present.  Sure, not everyone in the Pilgrim colony was on the same page, but the fear of a few poisoned the whole group to the point where their attitudes gave way to actions that threatened everyone. It’s interesting to note that within fifty years of the Pilgrims reaching Plymouth, there was a major war that turned out to be one of the costliest in US history—all because of fear leading people to not get along with each other.  If God has things in control, then why do so many people ignore the words “Do not be afraid” that are peppered throughout the Bible? It’s something to consider, as life is too short to be a prisoner of fear.

This is the time of year when we sit back and watch Snoopy battle a lawn chair and Charlie Brown serve popcorn to a bunch of confused individuals. Perhaps it would be wise to add Saints and Strangers to your must-see schedule this Thanksgiving. Those Pilgrims and Native Americans have much to teach—and we still have much to learn.

Saints and Strangers airs on the National Geographic Channel this Sunday and Monday, November 22/23, at 9 PM (8 PM Central).