43. West Beyrouth (1998) *

Tarek (played by the Director's brother Rami Doueriri) is a young guy attending the French School in Beirut.  After giving the teacher cheek he is sent out of class and witnesses a massacre.  Its 1975 and Beirut is divided into two parts - East for Christians and West for Muslims - as a war begins.  

Ziad Doueiri's movie is a story about growing up, its a love story to the city and to super 8 film.  Its funny, touching and the characters Tarek, Omar and May are very likeable.    This fictionalised account based on Ziad's own experiences of the war illustrates how cinema can be a much more effective way of conveying a message than a documentary.  A movie to watch over and over again.  

I end with this quotation from Doueiri:

“My advice to other filmmakers is if you want to replicate a war, do it in Beirut. The army supplied me with troops and even a helicopter to shoot scenes. Sometimes, I would be risking my life hanging out of the copter with a camera and Beirutis would climb onto their roofs and wave. We would frantically radio to the crew below to ask residents not to be so hospitable and stay inside.” 

Doueiri

42. The Relief of Belsen (2008) *

Elie Wiesel has stated that 'Auschwitz cannot be explained nor can it be visualised' (1978).  Certain philosophers and scholars believe that the Holocaust is unrepresentable and cannot be screened or captured by film (to simplify drastically the idea of ineffability).  According to Libby Saxton in her work Haunted Images scholars have more recently come to discuss representation, not in terms of prohibition, but rather in terms of challenges and obstacles.  Agamben for example argues that to state that the Holocaust is 'unspeakable' may result in victory for the perpetrators, stripping witnesses of credibility and rendering them speechless.  

Whilst the debate about representation of the Holocaust continues numerous movies have been made about the Holocaust and the different concentration camps.  Some of these movies, The Relief of Belsen, uses footage taken by the British when the camp was liberated in April 1945.  The camp was liberated before the war ended due to an outbreak of typhus which threatened to kill the 40,000 or so inmates still alive in the camp.  Roughly three-quarters of the survivors were women and children, dying from starvation and disease.  The movie tells the story of 20 doctors who set out to save the lives of people in the camp.  Through first hand accounts left in diaries and medical reports, the film narrates the struggle of British army doctors, personnel and former camp survivors like Dr Bimko, who set up a make shift hospital in order to contain typhus.  The film therefore highlights the aftermath of the liberation and the continued struggle to ensure survival of those who were not exterminated by the Nazis.  

Perhaps the Holocaust cannot be adequately represented, however, movies like Belsen cast light on some of the experiences of those who witnessed the horrors first hand. Written by Peter Guinness and Justin Hardy, the film emphasises the need for medical care in the field to be humane.  Doctors and nurses must treat their patients with humanity for patients to survive.  The film notes the difference made by adding paprika to Bengal famine mixture at the request of the Rabbi, holding people's hands throughout the night, not using syringes without explanation.  It also alerts us to the many young men and women who volunteered to work as medics and nurses after the liberation of the camps.  A well made docu-drama worth watching.  

41. War on Democracy (2007) *

War on democracy (2007) is a documentary on the relationship between the United States and many countries in Central and South America. John Pilger interviews Venezuela's controversial leader, Hugo Chavez, and travels around countries including, Bolivia and Chile, illustrating how US foreign policy has resulted in oppression and in some cases crimes against humanity.  In Chile, for example, the US supported General Pinochet, who has since been indicted for crimes against humanity.  In other circumstances, the US (in particular Nixon, Reagan, George Bush) have pushed policies solely for their own economic benefit.  Pilger argues that despite US imperialism people power in the region will win.  

The documentary reminded me of some of Noam Chomsky's work.  By covering a whole region in 96 minutes there were nuances that Pilger overlooked.   Chavez may represent an alternative to the US, however, his recent announcement to withdraw Venezuela from the Inter-American system is a reminder that his government are not respecting fundamental rights.  Moreover, those familiar with the region will not find the documentary particularly shocking.  Made for a Western audience, this film is for those who remain ignorant or willfully blind to the roles of US and British empire in subjugating and exploiting people in other countries for the purposes of economic gain and capitalism.  

Directed by Christopher Martin and John Pilger, the documentary can be viewed online here.  It has a good soundtrack including a song by Chilean activist Victor Jara.  

40. The Circle (2000) *

Her only crime was being a woman

Irani movies are popular in the ICC library.  Alongside the movies by the Makhmalbaf family, Marzieh Meshkini and Bahman Ghobadi, the library boasts a number of films by Jafar Panahi (including Offside which I previously posted about).  Panahi is part of the Iranian New Wave Movement which began at the end of the sixties.  This new wave of national cinema offers visually poetic and intellectual movies considered to be a form of neo-realism, focusing in Panahi's own words, on the 'humanitarian aspects of things'.  

The Circle begins with the circle of life.  A woman gives birth to a baby girl in hospital much to the chagrin of the grandmother.  The rest of the film follows the stories of three other women who met in prison and have escaped.  One woman seeks an abortion, another attempts to go back to her home town, a third is re-arrested. In one day we witness the women encounter a multitude of societal practices and barriers which prevent them from having equal status with men.  

When the woman seeks an abortion in the film she is told that it is unavailable without the consent of the father or without the consent of both grandparents.  It interested me to see that in Iran, often demonised in the Western press as one of the most oppressive societies for women (and other fundamental human rights), abortion is available, albeit in limited circumstances.  Women in Ireland, a democratic country and member of the European Union, do not have access to safe and legal abortions having to travel instead to England where an abortion within the first 9 weeks costs around 300 euro with Marie Stopes.  

A thought provoking movie on women's lives in Iran and more generally. 

39. The Peacekeepers (2005) *

This short documentary provides an insight into the internal workings of the UN and its peace keeping missions.  Focusing on the military observers first deployed to the DRC, members of the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations attempt to find the necessary political support from member states and the security council in order to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe.  As the Ituri region nears explosion point, with armed groups swapping gold for arms, the UN desperately needs resolutions allowing the UN to deploy a robust force to fight the war lords and combatants from Uganda and Rwanda seeking to exploit the rich mineral resources in the region and town of Bunai.  

The documentary contains interviews with leading UN personnel and illustrates the importance of principles such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).  Its simply not good enough for the peacekeepers to go in once the atrocities have been committed.  If enough media attention, public opinion and political will exists, these atrocities can be prevented.  

Shot in high definition, the film is easy to watch and informative.  

38. Tokyo Trial (2006) *

What I fear is that neglect of the past will bring future sufferings

Mei, International Military Tribunal for the Far East (2005) 

The Tokyo Trial (2006) is the work of Chinese film maker, Gao Qunshu. The movie focuses on the experience of the Chinese Justice, Dr. Mei Ju-ao. The film was a box office success in China, taking in 1.25 million US dollars only ten days after its debut on September 1, 2006. A number of scenes illustrate the leading role taken by Judge Mei. 

The first of these scenes sees Dr Mei fight against the colonial seating arrangements first proposed by the Australian President of the Tribunal, Sir William Web. The Chinese Judge refuses to have the Australian, US and British judges take prime position in the trial when the Chinese fought and suffered the longest and hardest against the Japanese. In another scene, the Judge Mei takes a prominent role in asking the other justices to allow for the death penalty for the defendants. Article 16 of the Tokyo Charter provides that ‘The Tribunal shall have the power to impose upon an accused, on conviction, death or such other punishment as shall be determined by it to be just’. In the movie, the Judges agree to the death penalty by 6 votes to 5, with the film declaring that these deliberations remain a secret to this day. 

Alongside these judicial deliberations, the movie recreates the trial, including the examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the accused individuals. It also has a parallel story line of a love story, drama and murder linked to the aftermath of the Second World War (This part reminded me of a Korean dorama, very dramatic!).  

In Bing Bing Jia's chapter on the 'Legacy of the Tokyo Trial in China' in Beyond Victor's Justice? The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Revisited eds. Yuki Tanaka, Tim McCormack and Gerry Simpson, he comments that the perception of the Tokyo Trial has been predominately positive.  However 'Things unsaid, deeds unadjudicated, persons unindicted, and damages unrepaired in the trials all combine to leave a sour taste for many Chinese survivors of the war'.   This description accurately reflects the mood of the film which illustrates that Tokyo Saiban was more than victor's justice, it was also necessary and important for the Chinese people.  

37. Bamako (2006) *

Mele is a woman in a failing marriage.  In her courtyard, which she shares with her neighbours, a court has been set up.  This court in Bamako, the capital of Mali, sets out to denounce the IMF and the World Bank for the 'pauperisation' of Africa. Abderrahmane Sissak, the filmmaker and director gave IMF and World Bank documents to real life lawyers and judges, who make statements on the unequal effects of globalisation and the current capitalist system for African States. 

In an interview with Offscreen.com available here he states that he wanted to raise consciousness on these issues, choosing a trial form to make visible the issues:

Moreover when one is brought to speak about the crisis of a continent in the form of a trial, it means quite simply that the word of the other is not heard. A true trial against institutions is improbable, not for saying that they are wrong, since a trial basically seeks the truth, but because nothing was set up to say that the policy imposed by these institutions for 25 years have failed. They agree themselves to say that they are a failure because Africa is increasingly poor and more and more ill. The fact that one cannot dispute these policies, shows already a certain form of injustice and that an artist must invent this trial.

An intellectual movie interweaving the realities of every day life in Mali.