13. Courting Justice

I surely hope my being here will inspire other young women...

This documentary created by Ruth B. Cowan and directed by Jane Lipman focuses on female judges in the judicial system in South Africa.  According to the film in 2008, women comprise 18% of the judiciary. 

The DVD box states that 'Courting Justice profiles indomitable female judges charged with the task of advancing those rights and enacting transitional justice while confronting the challenges of a male dominated institution.  This dynamic film examines the transformation to democracy through the intimate and inspiring stories of women working for change from the bench'. 

The DVD comprises of interviews with a number of female and male members of the judiciary in the Constitutional Court of South Africa, considered to be a leading court in the field of socio-economic rights.  As Justice Nkabine states in the film, the court is admired wherever she goes.

In the past the judiciary acted as a machinery for apartheid, with prosecution of 'inter-racial' couples and courts upholding the regime.  The judges in the film therefore place great importance on the Constitution and recognise the importance of diversity.  Being black, being a woman, being rural are all cited as important things which provide different perspectives.

An interesting glimpse into the South African system and the human stories of the judges.  More information here: http://www.courtingjustice.com/

12. The Bubble (2006)

Ha-Buah

The Bubble is a movie by Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox set in Tel Aviv.  There are many films which have been made about the Israeli/Palestine conflict with a recent film festival at the Barbican Centre in London showcasing some new Palestinian cinema on this topic.  But, since it was world gay pride in London yesterday I thought I would start with a movie which focuses on a number of themes including sexuality and conflict.  

In Habuah, a young Israeli soldier Noam falls for an Arab man, Ashraf.  A modern Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo and Romeo) the film is set against the turbulent backdrop of the conflict.  Fox includes scenes of young people partying, taking drugs, listening to techno, protesting for peace in the beautiful city.  However, the film ultimately concludes in tragedy, showing how there are no winners in the conflict.  

I am a big fan of Eytan Fox's movies and really enjoyed this movie.  There are other great movies on sexuality in Israel including a more recent film called Eyes Wide Open (2009) Einayim Petukhoth (original title).  Worth watching.  

11. The Reader

The International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg is often cited as the birthmark of international criminal justice.  Twenty Nazis were prosecuted by the Nuremberg Tribunal for crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.  The trials for those responsible for crimes perpetrated during the Holocaust remain ongoing.  Eichmann was prosecuted in Israel in the 1960s, Barbie was prosecuted in France and Demjanjuk has most recently been brought to justice in Germany (on trial for the second time).  The Control Council No. 10 trials and trials in different Allied countries form part of the jurisprudence of international criminal justice on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.  

In the Reader (2008) directed by Stephen Daldry, Michael (David Kross and Ralph Fiennes) falls in love with a woman twice his age, Hanna (Kate Winslet).  Michael reads to Hanna and they have a secret and passionate affair until one day Hanna suddenly disappears.  Michael sees her again many years later, this time as a law student, observing trials for crimes committed by Nazis.  Hanna is on trial with many other women for being concentration camp guards.  Hanna confesses to being the ringleader of the group of women on trial since she is illiterate and is more ashamed of this fact than being found guilty for the crimes.  This is also because she has such guilt over the crimes she has perpetrated.  In the end, after her sentence has been served she commits suicide. 

The film left me with mixed feelings. As a Hollywood production is it formally very polished with a clear narrative structure.  The film was nominated for a number of Oscars and Kate Winslet won the  Oscar for best actress.  

I didn't like the film the first time I watched it, but after revisiting it a few times, it did get better.  It is interesting to see women on trial for Nazi crimes.  Feminist scholars have commented that international criminal justice tends to paint women as victims rather than showing the multifaceted roles women play in conflict, including perpetration and resistance.  Both the ICTY and ICTR have convicted women for their role in perpetrating crimes against humanity and genocide. 

Comics! Post 1: The Fixer

A Story From Sarajevo 

By Joe Sacco 

Introduction 

I have just decided today that for every 10 film posts I will post about something else.  Just to mix things up.  This year I attended a workshop at Senate House, London by the Institute of the Study of las Americas entitled "Para leer a América Latina: Comics, Graphic Novels and Collective Memory".  The workshop brought together a number of PhD students from different academic backgrounds who spoke about the importance of the 'visual narratives' in comics for inter alia., nation building, education and collective memory.  Comics are increasingly being theorised and studied in various academic disciplines, however, within legal studies comics remain marginalised.  

Why is this?  Well, it may be because in the West comics are often considered to be for young audiences, not to be taken seriously by serious lawyers.  Yet, those familiar with graphic fiction will be aware that comics often deal with complex subject matters including many issues related to human rights and international law.  In this blog I hope to stimulate debate between those of us who like comics and to introduce new readers to some 'visual narratives' which are highly relevant to the study of popular culture and international law.  If you would like me to review something in particular let me know. 

The Fixer 

To begin with I have chosen Joe Sacco's 'The Fixer'.  The Fixer is an easy place to begin since its short and the story is very accessible... also its sitting on the table in front of me.  Set in Sarajevo, Joe Sacco returns five years after his work Safe Area Gorazde (which will be reviewed in due course).  Sacco tells the story of "Neven" a former soldier who became a 'fixer' hanging out in hotel lobbies in order to arrange things for foreign journalists.  Sometimes he would get paid to bring them to the frontline, at other times he would arrange for a prostitute to sleep with seven journalists, admitting that afterwards she felt suicidal.  Through Neven's story, Sacco tells the story of some of the factions of the Green Berets fighting in Sarajevo under the command of Celo, Juka and Delacic. 

After writing both the Fixer and Safe Area Gorazde Sacco went to the Hague and did a short piece for Details magazine on the ICTY.  Sacco's form of cartoon journalism is easily accessible, informative and provides an interesting 'visual narrative' on the atrocities perpetrated during the Balkans.  Enjoy! 

 

No. 10 Inherit the Wind (196)

Remember the wisdom of Solomon in the book of Proverbs. "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind." 

Why does 'Inherit the wind' make this human rights film diary blog?  What does it have to do with human rights?  Well, the right to freedom of expression for one, the right to education and the right to a fair trial are just three rights which pop into my head.  

Inherit the Wind (1960) is Stanley Kramer's movie about the 1925 Scopes Monkey.  As the movie poster states 'Its all about the fabulous monkey trial that rocked America'.   The film is based on a play by the same name and has been remade a number of times.  Starring Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracey and Frederic March, the film was written as a parable for McCarthyism.  

The movie focuses on the trial of science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.  The trial judge disallows any scientific evidence to be called allowing for reliance solely on the Bible.  The press descend on the town where a 'witch hunt' has begun to take place.  A really excellent film full of great and witty lines.  

Enjoy! 

No. 9 The Milk of Sorrow (2009)

La Teta Asustada (2009)

" To speak about experiences associated with extreme violence, the sexual violence, it is not an easy thing. Suffering and fear, lived silently, with shame, “as if it was a fault of one”. It creates a fingerprint that generates other pains associated with the fact of being a woman in a context of arbitrariness and mistreatment. I share the idea that the task of opening spaces, to think, is the only way of facilitating the dialogue on a topic that brings so much pain, and this film was conceived as a search of healing."  Claudia Llosa interview in Filmmaker http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2010/08/claudia-llosa-the-milk-of-sorrow/  

La Teta Asustada, directed by Claudia Llosa is set in the outskirts of Lima, Peru.  The film infuses magical realism with conventional narrative, to tell the story of Fausta (Magaly Solier), a young woman from Huanta who has lost her mother.  The film begins with her mother singing about the rape and killings in the Quechua language.  After her death Fausta must live with her uncle and his family and earn money so that she can bury her mother. Fausta suffers from a rare disease passed down from the breast milk of her mother.  The disease is passed on by women who have been raped or abused.  A physical manifestation of transgenerational trauma.  


In the film, Fausta goes to work for a wealthy woman.  She is tricked into singing for the woman, who composes and performs the piano.  Music plays an integral part to the film.  

Between 1980 to 200, Peru was in a state of conflict with groups including the Shining Path, state forces and the MRTA committing crimes including forced disappearances, torture, kidnappings and rape.  According to the UNIFEM report on transitional justice by Julissa Mantilla Flacon with regards to sexual violence 'Impunity surrounded these cases and the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission found no evidence of criminal prosecutions against perpetrators of sexual abuses.  Moreover, men rarely allows their wives or daughters to report the sexual violence'.  

The film is therefore an  important tool in  'opening dialogues' on sexual violence in Peru.  A memorable film.

No. 8 The Hurt Locker (2008)

First woman to win best director Oscar

I haven't much to say about this movie but it appears in a number of websites and databases about conflict, war and human rights so I thought that I would add it to the list.  The movie set in Baghdad focuses on an elite squad of the US army trained to diffuse bombs.  A new army leader, arrives and causes havoc by his seemingly carefree attitude to death.  

The film is pretty tense and shows the enormous psychological toll that the war in Iraq has on soldiers.    The soldiers in the movie, with their limited understanding of the people and culture, suspect that everything could be a bomb and that anyone could be the enemy.

According to the Hollywood Reporter the movie became part of a lawsuit with Sgt Jeffery Sarver, an Iraq war veteran claiming that his life had inspired the character of Jeremy Renner in the film.  Sarver was later ordered to pay Kathryn Bigelow and Nicholas Boal's legal fees.  

I watched this movie with high expectations and was disappointed.  My father fell asleep.  I think a similar message on the toll of war on soldiers can be garnered from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 which is an excellent and short read.