documentary | Tim Høiland

Archives For documentary

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

July 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

I’ve blogged before about Rios Montt, the former dictator of Guatemala who is facing two genocide charges for the role he played during the country’s long and ugly civil war. Guatemala’s justice system doesn’t have a particularly great track record, and these days it’s known more for impunity than for maintaining order and defending the victims of crime. So it has been a big, somewhat unexpected step forward to see a former head of state standing trial for war crimes.

Interestingly, key evidence leading to Montt’s indictment was provided in a 1983 documentary called When the Mountains Tremble, directed by Pamela Yates and featuring narration by Rigoberta Menchu, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize nearly a decade later (though she later became embroiled in controversy).

Yates has now released a new documentary called Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, “The extraordinary story of how a film, aiding a new generation of human rights activists, became a granito — a tiny grain of sand — that helped tip the scales of justice.” Here’s the trailer:

The film aired on PBS in late June, and is available for viewing online in its entirety through the end of this week. I assume this goes without saying, but it’s probably not fit for family viewing.

I’d also add that while I think it’s clear the Guatemalan government was responsible for the vast majority of the atrocities committed during the war, that doesn’t mean the guerrillas were particularly good guys either. My take is that a great many poor Guatemalans found themselves caught between the two sides of the conflict, and both sides terrorized them. The distinction is that one of those sides had the resources and the inclination to sow far more terror than the other. I’m not sure the filmmakers of Granito would agree with that assessment, but it’s the conclusion I’ve reached and I think it’s an important point to make.

For those interested in learning more about the latest developments in human rights work in Guatemala, the Washington Office on Latin America is hosting an event this Thursday called Obstacles to Justice: Accountability for Human Rights Violations in Guatemala. The event will be live streamed at WOLA’s site and will feature, among others, Fredy Peccerelli (the forensic anthropologist featured in Granito) and Óscar Ramírez (who I blogged about here).

[Image credit: Skylight Pictures]

In Justice dictator, documentary, genocide, Granito, Guatemala, human rights, justice, Pamela Yates, Rigoberta Menchu, Rios Montt

Repaso: El Salvador’s gang truce; Brazil’s Jesus march; Mission trips revisited (again); Chris Wright on missional churches; introducing Deidox

July 20, 2012 — 1 Comment

1. El Salvador’s gang truce
Earlier this year, imprisoned leaders of El Salvador’s two main gangs declared a truce, mediated in part by the head chaplain for the military and police. For the story of another person of faith who has been serving among gang members in El Salvador, see this. While the country’s murder rate has dropped dramatically (52%) and the truce has held longer than virtually anyone anticipated, it’s still a volatile situation. The Washington Office on Latin America’s commentary on the truce seems spot on (emphasis mine):

The current truce opens a tremendous opportunity: Salvadoran society, the Salvadoran government, the Salvadoran private sector, and international donors should move quickly to use the pause in violence to help install social service and job programs in some of the poorest and most gang-ridden communities, in a way that responds to the real needs of those communities most affected by violence. The Funes administration must take advantage of this moment to work with Salvadoran society in developing a solid, long-term, comprehensive anti-gang strategy that emphasizes violence prevention, reintegration, and rehabilitation. Quick movement, even of small amounts of money, for outreach centers, job training and placement programs, and other activities could send an important and positive message that might help transform the short-term violence reduction that has accompanied the truce into a long-term lowering of crime and violence rates. You don’t have to trust the truce to see the opportunity it presents.

2. Brazil’s “March for Jesus”
Last Saturday in Sao Paolo, more than a million Christians participated in the city’s annual “March for Jesus.” Brazil has long been traditionally Catholic, but evangelicals and Pentecostals are quickly gaining ground, as the size of this march demonstrates. But not all evangelicals in Brazil think this march is completely a good thing. Some are concerned about the event’s sponsoring church, saying, “The march has turned into the brand name for a patented pseudo-Pentecostalism.”

3. A different kind of mission trip
Those who’ve read my recent posts on short-term mission trips and on the Association for a more Just Society will be interested in this recent Huffington Post piece by Jo Kadlecek, journalist-in-residence at Gordon College, about Nicholas Wolterstorff’s recent seminar in Honduras and about questions to ask about mission trips:

The hundreds of young people and adults who travel for short-term missions here, [AJS co-director Kurt] Ver Beek said, don’t always understand what they’re walking into. He believes they genuinely want to be “agents of change,” but too often overlook the reasons behind a country’s systemic problems in the first place. “Justice: Theory Meets Practice,” a seminar he’d dreamt of for several years, was designed specifically to address the larger questions behind such troubles, those that triggered unjust and dangerous situations.

4. Friendship trips
While we’re on the topic of short-term mission trips, the good folks at Alter Video Magazine have a new short film featuring Brazilian pastor Claudio Oliver, who has been on the receiving end of a lot of teams, but proposes a new model he calls “friendship trips,” involving a building project of a very different kind. (HT Katie Jo Ramsey)

5. Chris Wright on missional churches
Chris Wright, head of Langham Partnership International, was the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana this year. The EPC shared this brief interview in which he speaks about missional churches.

6. Introducing Deidox
Somewhere recently (through Jake Belder, perhaps?) I stumbled upon Deidox, “a new series of short documentary films exploring the faith of everyday people.” I’m really looking forward to following along.

Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!

[Photo credit: "Mara Salvatrucha gang leaders participate in a press conference at the end of a visit by Jose Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General, at La Esperanza prison, in San Salvador, on July 12, 2012. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/GettyImages)" via theepochtimes.com]

Weekend Video: LCD Soundsystem

June 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Two summers ago, my friend Shannon introduced me to the band LCD Soundsystem. Their song “Dance Yrself Clean” is what won me over. A group of us went to see them live at a free outdoor music festival in Maryland, and though my failure to drink an adequate amount of water while out in the hot sun all day began to catch up with me during the band’s closing set, they opened with that same song.

The band called it quits last spring with a final sell-out show at Madison Square Garden in April. Now it seems there’s a documentary about the band’s final days opening in theatres for one night only on July 18. Here’s a teaser, featuring part of “Dance Yrself Clean” live at the Madison Square Garden.

In Culture Dance Yrself Clean, documentary, LCD Soundsystem, Madison Square Garden, Shut Up and Play the Hits

Documentary teaser for Becoming Fools

June 5, 2012 — 1 Comment

Late last summer I did what I could to spread the word about a documentary film in the works from Scott Moore and Athentikos called Becoming Fools. While the Kickstarter campaign didn’t quite reach its goal, they’ve managed to move forward with the film, which is very good news. In fact, they’ve just released the film’s teaser, and it looks really good.

I hope you’ll follow Scott and Athentikos on Twitter, like the Becoming Fools Facebook page, and stay tuned for updates as the film moves closer to completion.

In the meantime, you might enjoy my interview with Scott from last August — the first part about Reparando, an earlier film he did about Guatemala, and the second part about Becoming Fools.

In Culture Athentikos, Becoming Fools, clown, clowning, documentary, Guatemala, interview, Scott Moore

Repaso: Chris Wright interview; refugees in Lancaster; science in a fallen world; most read books; Jeppe on a Friday

May 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

1. Chris Wright interview
Chris Wright, Old Testament scholar and head of the Langham Partnership (a ministry started by John Stott), was interviewed on the UK-based Nomad Podcast about mission in the Old Testament and gives his perspective on what appear to be ethical conundrums in the Bible. Here also are my notes from a talk Wright gave when he was in town earlier this year.

2. 25 years of refugee resettlement
My former boss, Sheila McGeehan, is profiled by Church World Service for her decades of work resettling refugees in Lancaster. I love the way refugees and immigrants have turned Lancaster City into such a unique, vibrant place, and though she’s too modest to take credit, Sheila has played a big part in that:

Not many people can claim to have resettled thousands upon thousands of refugees to their hometown – but Sheila McGeehan can. Since she began her work with the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP) 25 years ago, she has introduced refugees from all around the world to Lancaster, Pa. – the “tranquil, prosperous, safe, pretty” city she loves. In turn, newcomers from Russia, Vietnam, Sudan, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Burma, Bosnia, Iraq and numerous other countries have transformed this small city in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country into what McGeehan calls a “very cosmopolitan” community, population 55,000-plus.

3. Science in a fallen world
Jason Summers, a real-life scientist, has written a new essay for Q Ideas, calling Christians to faithful engagement in science:

Taking seriously our uniquely human role as practitioners of science, Christians must approach science with a deep grounding in theology and proper understanding of its practice in society. The most significant questions about how science is to be practiced in a fallen world will be settled on the field that spans the two poles of antithesis and common grace. But, if we are to have meaningful input in answering these questions we must heed Pope’s admonition to “check yourself before you wreck yourself” (as a more recent poet has phrased it). Overemphasis of common grace in the practice of science diminishes the unique epistemic perspective of Christians to the extent that faith is made private. In contrast, an overemphasis of antithesis magnifies issues of “ultimate explanation” to the extent that artificial barriers are created to use of valid theoretical constructs. Both distortions are barriers to creating a God honoring culture of science within a society that is pluralistic and fallen, but redeemed and image-bearing.

4. The most read books in the world
A guy by the name of Jared Fanning created an infographic featuring the ten most read books over the past fifty years. Some would be expected, but some are a bit more puzzling. (HT Jesus Creed)

5. Jeppe on a Friday
Here’s the trailer for a “collaborative neighborhood documentary,” set in Johannesburg, South Africa and showing “a day in the lives of eight residents of this area on the brink of massive change.” It looks really fascinating. (HT polis)

[Photo credit: eattheblinds.com]