Reconciliation as a Universal Concept: Reflections on Joshua Oppenheimer’s ‘The Look of Silence’ (Part II)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s companion films The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence cinematically explore the enduring consequences of large-scale violence. Last year, both films were screened as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Dealing with the Past project. Read Part I of ‘Reflections’ here. While Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing interrogates the role of …
The Humanity of Perpetrators: Reflections on Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” (Part I)
How do we heal when the past is wrought with violence while the present offers perpetrators impunity and survivors little to nothing? Joshua Oppenheimer’s two films, "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence", each offer some insight into helping answer not only this question but the many questions that linger after incidents of genocide.
Recounting the Batajnica Mass Graves through the Art of Film
“How does one archive or record the details of the massacres of a state that wants to hide its massacres?” Serbian director Ognjen Glavonić attempted to do just that with his latest film.
‘Confronting Histories’: A Jean-Gabriel Périot Retrospective
Balkan Diskurs correspondent Struan Kennedy provides a review of three films that were recently shown at Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art in Sarajevo as part of a retrospective of the work of French filmmaker Jean-Gabriel Périot.
Syria’s Disappeared: The Case Against Assad – A Film by Sara Afshar
In 2011, peaceful protests started in Daraa, Syria following a wave of large-scale protests across the Arab world. Bashar al-Assad's regime brutally cracked down on all opposition to his rule and met protests with violent repression.
Uspomene 677: the Transgenerational Trauma of Victims and Perpetrators (Part IV)
Two generations, seven different stories: Uspomene 677 is a powerful investigation into the effects and scope of PTSD and transgenerational trauma.