Of Beeps and Bears

When a powerful political figure who features in LUMUMBA (France) filed a case against the producers to get his name changed in the film, director Raoul Peck settled for a compromise. He substituted the name with a beep, sparking even greater press interest and curiosity. Such tactics of taking on the "system" were discussed at the panel “Whose side is it anyway?” which dealt with the intersection between the political and the personal in contemporary cinema.

The question of politics in films has been discussed, as Peck said at the beginning of the discussion, “for ever.” Yet the panel offered some fresh insights through the experiences of the three filmmakers.

Jasmila Zbanic’s GRBAVICA (Bosnia) is one of the rare instances of celluloid powering real change in society. The success of the film, which won a Golden Bear at last year’s Berlinale, helped Zbanic spearhead a successful campaign to change the status of raped women in Bosnia. But there were darker fallouts of the media attention. Distributors backed out of showing the film in Belgrade and screenings were disrupted following the extreme media hype around the film’s alleged anti-Serbia stance.

For Gregory Nava, iconic director of EL NORTE (USA) and the more recent BORDERTOWN (USA), which is playing in competition at the Berlinale, the challenge is to show politics as it unfolds. Naturally, this comes with its own set of problems. AMERICAN FAMILY, a television series directed by Nava was pulled off the air after it showed criticism of the Iraq war. “But I am proud of it and happy to have shown it to you today,” he said after screening a brief clip, prompting applause from the audience.

The uncertainly and constant heartburn that goes with being a politically committed director often includes long waits before a project materializes. Nava had to wait eight years to make BORDERTOWN, “and this is after it had Jennifer Lopez committed to acting in it”. So what makes these directors pick the difficult option of doing consciously political films time and again? For Peck, it has to do with the desire to give a visual shape to the history of African nations, which “we all know but do not have any images to relate with.” Often this sensibility intrudes even while creating narratives that may seem apolitical on the surface. Zbanic, for instance, is currently writing a story that ostensibly has nothing to do with the war, but “it will be there somewhere in the background,” she said. “It is part of my body now.”

Perhaps the decision is related to the role these filmmakers see themselves as playing in the global context of hegemony and violence. “We are trying to cope with the collateral damage of this system,” said Peck, “the parts that do not make it to the news anymore.”

Taran Khan

© Berlinale Talent Campus 2007