Yesterday I posted a blog about a film which dealt with the Chechnyan-Russian war. I saw this movie, together with fifteen other movies as I was one of the five jurymembers of the Rudolf Vrba Award at the Prague Filmfestival in 2006.
The festival was extremely well organized; in the heart of Prague we went from one ancient movietheater to another and saw the most amazing museums of the Eastern European continent. Prague was of course FABULOUS! I had my daily coffee at the Slavia Grand-cafe, a meeting place of artists and intellectuals; where the most famous writers, poets and politicians (including Vaclav Havel) had their debates and discussions but also where they smoked cigarettes and pipes while reading the newspapers.
It was a very intense week. And after this week I decided for my own that it's nice to be asked to become a jurymember, but seeing sixteen movies about human rights violations in four days; discussing and judging them, is highly INTENSE. One of the movies which disturbed me very much, they even had to stop the film because I couldn't take it anymore, was Beyond Reasonable Doubts
about the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It's humanly unworthy to see young men being deported in trucks while they pee in their pants being shot in the back (These images are really shown in this film, so, don't say I did not warn you!).
As tv-news producer of one of the leading news organizations, 2Vandaag, we had hundreds of stories about this topic; every single day when it all happened in 1995. As we all know, Srebrenica was under the protection of Dutch soldiers; Well, it became a black page in Dutch history. As newspeople we saw the ugliest images of war.
Today, the 31st of March, the Serbian parliament passed a landmark resolution condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, I wanted to tell you about this movie. It's not only a black page in Dutch history, it's a black page in everybody's history.
Here is what the film is about:
Post–war Europe made the promise to never again allow one nation or race or any one group of people to attempt to systematically wipe out another. Yet what happened in Yugoslavia was genocide, executed moreover with the United Nations looking on. The author of this documentary film, Mina Vidakovič, returns to the massacre at Srebrenica and records the testimony of those who survived the ordeal. Direct testimony from those who witnessed the Srebrenica massacre right where it happened, is the best evidence against those who committed the crime. General Ratko Mladič or Slobodan Miloševič, who were behind most the war crimes that took place during the work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are filmed in edited confrontation with the remaining inhabitants of Srebrenica. The director moreover works with video recordings made by members of the military units involved in the massacre. They capture the transport of inhabitants of Srebrenica under the false pretences of fears for their safety, the separation of the men capable of military service from the rest of the inhabitants, and the various methods of the mass murder and concealing the graves. Not all the bodies have been found to date, and that is why it is not even known exactly how many victims there were, which is important in determining the punishment for those convicted. The first minutes of Beyond Reasonable Doubt focuses on the preparation of the Nuremberg laws, followed by the construction of concentration camps, the existence of which some people despite all the evidence continue to doubt. The film by Mina Vidakovič helps refresh Europe's historical memory, so that it does not allow itself to forget any of the genocides of the 20th century.
In remembrance of all that died in this and all other wars..
Sincerely,
Senay Ozdemir
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Coca, the dove from Chechnya
As I told earlier I was jurymember of the Prague Filmfestival in 2006 judging the best film in the category named 'Right to Know'. The documentaries selected for this category refer to human rights violations all over the world.
When you think of Chechnya, what comes to mind? Chechen terrorists, often women, committing suicide bombings? Like the attacks yesterday in the Moscow metro? The actions of the rebels make it difficult for many people to view the Chechen conflict with sympathy for the Chechen side.
I recommend you to see the film Coca: the Dove from Chechnya
The film is about fifty–year–old Zainap (nickname Coca, which means 'dove')belonging to an organisation called 'The War Echo'. She divides her time between documenting the situation in Chechnya and in the refugee camps of Ingussetia, transporting photographs and recordings to Germany and Russia and lobbying for the rights of the Chechen people throughout Europe. Using this documentation, they are trying to help assist Chechen civilians with cases brought before the International Human Rights Court in Strassbourg. She tries to do everything she can for her country and prove to the world that Chechen terrorism is the desperate reaction of a small group of people, not the pastime of an entire nation.
The film is being shown as a part of the traveling Amnesty International Film Festival, aims to show the world a different side of the bloody and violent conflict, through the lens of another kind of weapon - the video cameras of a group of Chechen women.
This is not a slick, well-produced Hollywood film. Much of the footage is grainy, shaky, and difficult to watch.
Chechen activist Zainap Gashaeva is well-known in the international community for her tireless campaign to draw attention to the suffering of the Chechen people at the hands of the Russian government.
About Rudolf Vrba:
Rudolf Vrba, escapee from Auschwitz provided the first eye witness documents about the concentrationcamps. To pay honors to this exceptionally brave man, One World Festival presents annually Rudolf Vrba Award.
When you think of Chechnya, what comes to mind? Chechen terrorists, often women, committing suicide bombings? Like the attacks yesterday in the Moscow metro? The actions of the rebels make it difficult for many people to view the Chechen conflict with sympathy for the Chechen side.
I recommend you to see the film Coca: the Dove from Chechnya
The film is about fifty–year–old Zainap (nickname Coca, which means 'dove')belonging to an organisation called 'The War Echo'. She divides her time between documenting the situation in Chechnya and in the refugee camps of Ingussetia, transporting photographs and recordings to Germany and Russia and lobbying for the rights of the Chechen people throughout Europe. Using this documentation, they are trying to help assist Chechen civilians with cases brought before the International Human Rights Court in Strassbourg. She tries to do everything she can for her country and prove to the world that Chechen terrorism is the desperate reaction of a small group of people, not the pastime of an entire nation.
The film is being shown as a part of the traveling Amnesty International Film Festival, aims to show the world a different side of the bloody and violent conflict, through the lens of another kind of weapon - the video cameras of a group of Chechen women.
This is not a slick, well-produced Hollywood film. Much of the footage is grainy, shaky, and difficult to watch.
Chechen activist Zainap Gashaeva is well-known in the international community for her tireless campaign to draw attention to the suffering of the Chechen people at the hands of the Russian government.
About Rudolf Vrba:
Rudolf Vrba, escapee from Auschwitz provided the first eye witness documents about the concentrationcamps. To pay honors to this exceptionally brave man, One World Festival presents annually Rudolf Vrba Award.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
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