To the Heart of the Chechen War The Chechen Lullaby, a documentary by Georgian film director Nino Kirtadze, sums up the decade of bloody clashes between Chechens and the Russian federal army, unveiling the tragedy of the whole North Caucasus. Interviewing five of her colleagues, Mrs. Kirtadze gives a tragic picture of today’s Chechnya as well as the consequences the journalists feel when they bring horrible reports on atrocities committed there. The film was awarded the Rudolf Vrba Prize in the One World film festival, which took place in Prague on April 10-17, 2002. The following is an interview with Nino Kirtadze, who arrived in Prague take part in the festival.
How did you get the idea of making a documentary on Chechnya?
I was quite spontaneous. It dates back to 1999 when I and my friends in Moscow began to think of capturing the ten-year tragedy in Chechnya. At that time there was relative peace there, though the situation was getting worse every week. In September 1999 a new conflict erupted there, so I started thinking of how to describe and convey all the events.
You have chosen the form of interviewing five foreign journalists. Why?
I had little to choose from. When you dive into the events in Chechnya, you find out that there are too many dark places. I have been observing the situation in Chechnya for more than ten years but still many issues remain mysterious to me, namely the role of Russian secret services, some key decisions made by the Kremlin, some Chechen field commanders etc.
Moreover, a typical documentary form, a chronological sequence of events with witnesses' reports, could not bring desirable results. People are fed up with violence and shocking reports. It seemed just adequate to choose a couple of distinguished foreign journalists, who have been traveling to Chechnya regularly for a long time, and let them speak about their experiences and situation there. These people have been in the grips of the tragedy, though preserving certain distance from it at the same time.
Was there any key determining the choice of the protagonists?
They are my colleagues, journalists and friends. Raising the idea of such a documentary, their names just automatically came to my mind. Then it went smoothly: fates, shots and views of these people on the problem are the basis of the film.
In the course of the interviews a vast majority of the protagonists express increasing doubts concerning their profession and ability to convey the suffering.
Yes, but that was little surprising. In the end of the 90’s I was among those many journalists who got tired of monotonous and for-hundred-times repeated reports on appalling crimes in Chechnya and rather half-hearted response of the West. That is why I gave up journalism for some time. And this film is a kind of return to the subject.
Right from the beginning of the shooting, the confrontation with their profession smouldered in the protagonists. The film captures how each of them reacted: Petra Procházková gave up her job and set up an orphanage in Grozny, Andrey Babitski had to leave Russia and photographer Stanley Green admitted publicly that journalism leads to deadlocks and he actually doesn’t know what else he should do.
Most of the interviews have been made outside Chechnya. Why?
We didn’t need them to take place “in the action”. On the contrary, calm surroundings contributed to their intensity. Moreover, there is almost no access to Chechnya: Russia is very keen on keeping a close eye on journalists and containing the spread of true news. I was able to get to Chechnya with a film camera only once. That was for doing an interview with Petra Procházková in Grozny in 2000. The other shots in the film are those of my colleagues mentioned in the film or their crews.
The film is a sharp accusation of the Russian policy in the North Caucasus. Will the film be shown in the Russian Federation?
Unfortunately not, for the time being. I offered it to Russian private television NTV. They agreed provided that they cut out a BBC journalist’s report on a possible role of Russian secret services in bomb explosions of Moscow houses in 1999. So I refused. There have been no more offers yet.
Don’t you feel sad about the fact the events in Chechnya have fallen behind many other conflicts, such as one in Afghanistan?
The attention of people and politicians cannot be drawn to one direction only. If my film commemorates the dragging problem in Chechnya, I feel glad. Nothing more can be done.
But in the view of linking Chechen terrorists with ones in Afghanistan, the reception of the world leading politicians seem pretty lukewarm.
Yes, but may be this film will remind them that the conflict in Chechnya is not about terrorism and that it should be solved politically. Besides, the fact that my film was shown to the US President George Bush before his visit in Russia made me feel that things are not so hopeless.
What are your plans for the future?
Now I’m preparing a documentary about Georgian burial rituals, which we should shoot in summer, but later I would like to return to the issue of the conflict in Chechnya.
Source: Infoservis |
