HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 16:58:40 +0200
Subject: E9 Kosovo: a new film breaks the silence
From: "Michel COLLON" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
What's Happening in Kosovo today?
A film that breaks the silence.
Interview:
Michel Collon and Vanessa Stojilkovic on their new
film
The Damned of Kosovo
(Interview: Antoine Renard. Translation: Mick Collins)
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chased from her apartment in Pristina, Maria would not
have had a lifeexcept that she looked Albanian. Her
nephew, an interpretor for the UN, was
savagely murdered. Silvana's husband was kidnapped,
and she hasn't had any news about him for two years.
Stanimir's home was burned down. What do they have in
common? They are Serbs and live, or rather survive,
in
Kosovo.
Why don't the media talk more about this region
occupied by NATO? The
new
film by Michel Collon and Vanessa Stojilkovic breaks
the silence. And
sounds
an alarm to all people now threatened by these wars of
globalization. .
. .
+++++++++++++++++++++
How did this film come to be?
Michel Collon. I did this report on Kosovo to get a
first hand look at
the
current situation of the Serbs and other national
minorities. I
remembered
what Bill Clinton said just as he began the bombing of
Yugoslavia: "Our
resolve is the only hope for the people of Kosovo to
be able to live in
their own country. Imagine if we closed our eyes and
if these people
were
massacred, right on NATO's doorstep. It would be
discredited."
Clinton spoke of the Albanians. But today, what
about the Serbs and
the
other national minorities, the Roma [Gypsies], Gorans,
Turks,
Egyptians,
Muslims . . . who have lived in Kosovo for centuries?
Are they secure
with
45,000 NATO troops in their country?
And what did you see?
Michel Collon. An accumulation of suffering that no
one could imagine
here.
But the media don't speak to us about Kosovo anymore.
Isn't the
situation
there under control?
Michel Collon. Quite the contrary! What I saw was:
bombing attacks,
assassinations, expulsions and the destruction of
homes, kidnappings
and
families in anguish, constant threats . . . The
situation is
overwhelming:
A veritable ethnic cleansing that has run off a large
part of the
non-Albanian population and has terrorized those
who've stayed.
What were you able to show concretely?
Michel Collon. About twenty interviews give the
victims a chance to
speak
out. Their testimonies, dignified but full of
emotion, brought tears
to my
eyes. It was absolutely necessary to pass on their
tragic message.
To break the media silence that currently surrounds
Kosovo.
Their fate is a terrible warning to all people: an
occupation by the
US,
or by the NATO powers, is in no way a solution. On
the contrary,
it guarantees terrible suffering for all the people of
these occupied
regions.
The presence of NATO troops has not put a stop to the
violence?
Michel Collon. Not only has it not stopped the
violence, but the film
shows
several exclusive documents that reveal NATO's
complicity with the
authors
of this violence: the militias of the KLA
separatists.
Did you have any problems in making the film?
Michel Collon. Of course, in such a climate of
terror, a Serb
cameraman
is risking his life if he films in a 'non-Albanian'
zone. But I had
the good fortune to work with a very motivated crew.
Some
very courageous people to whom I owe a great deal.
Vanessa, how did you get involved in the project?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. At 25, I had already tried
several different jobs
in
the photographic media, including being an editor.
After a contact through the internet, Michel Collon
offered me the opportunity to re-start thewriting and
editing of his film, which had broken down because of
some
health problems his previous director had. I accepted
immediately.
Because you're French but from Yugoslavia?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. Yes and no. Yes, because in fact
I had several members of my family who died or
suffered terribly in this war. I was very distressed
by it. Then, this film allowed me to fulfill the
promise I had made to them down there: To bring the
truth to the West. Unfortunately, many of them are
already dead and others soon will be.
The stress of the war and the bombing provoked
enormous problems of hypertension that they didn't
have the means to treat. And cancer is growing at an
alarming rate. People are dying in misery. The toll
of the war for all of Yugoslavia is not just reflected
by the number of dead, but also by the physical and
psychological conditions of those who
survived.
And their lack of any future.
Michel Collon truly gave me a gift when he offered
me the primary
material of the interviews he put together. And his
cogent analyses
that
tie this war, in such a clear fashion, to the movement
for
globalization. In
assembling and shaping this material, I was able to
give voice to my
pain,
to keep my promise, and to grieve.
Michel Collon. In fact it's Vanessa who gave me a
marvelous gift. I
worked
four days on the filming. She worked four months on
the editing. Not
at
all easy, as I am not a professional filmmaker, and
what I brought to
the
film was in itself not really very significant.
Thanks to her, thanks
to
her remarkable commitment, many people in the world
will be able to
discover
a very important reality.
Does this film address itself only to the Serbs?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. Not at all! My principal
motivation was above all
to
open the eyes of all the 'native1 French or all the
people of
Western Europe who have been misinformed. To make
them aware, for
example,
that we have been depriving the non-Albanians of
decent health care:
People
are dying because they don't have anything to treat
them with, because
they
don't have the necessary medical equipment. That Serb
children don't
have
schools to go to. That a hundred churches have been
destroyed. And
that
all this is still going on.
Is this a 'pro-Serb' film?
Michel Collon. No. First, it also states the case
for other national
minorities, those who have also been persecuted,
'cleansed'. The Roma
(Gypsies), for example, chased off all over Europe,
these days. And
murdered in Kosovo. And also the Jews, Gorans,
Muslims, Turks,
Egyptians...
Minorities about whom silence is dominating.
And then, many Albanians find themselves equally
victimized by a
mafia
system based on terror. One of them was able to
testify in front of
our
camera. He was persecuted because he married a Serb!
In fact, I am neither pro-Serb, nor pro-Albanian.
I think that all
these people find themselves victims of hidden
strategies: The US
wanted,
just like their allies, to destroy Yugoslavia which
they saw as too
Leftist.
They wanted to control the oil routes that pass
precisely through
there.
They wanted to install their super-base, Camp
Bondsteel. And they have
succeeded, by utilizing --no, by themselves inciting--
this conflict
between
the Serbs and the Albanians.
Do you know that presently Washington has signed
99 year leases for
all
the runways used by its bombers? Could someone explain
to us how these
bombers will help resolve the problems of the people
of Kosovo?
A much wider strategic objective, then?
Michel Collon. Exactly. This military base brings
the US bombers very
close to Moscow and to the Caucauses. It is part of a
larger plan of
encirclement, because Washington doesn't think Putin
and his current
positions will necessarily last forever. And
moreover, by breaking up
Yugoslavia as part of a global plan they sent out this
message to the
people
of the world: If you resist globalization, you will
be destroyed.
An editorial in the New York Times on the eve
of the war had
already
clearly stated this: "For globalization to work,
America must not
demure
from acting like the omnipotent super-power that it
is. The invisible
hand
of the market never functions without the hidden fist.
McDonalds
cannot
prosper without McDonnel Douglas, the builder of the
F-15 fighter. And
the
hidden fist that guarantees a secure world for the
technologies of the
Silicon Valley is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy
and Marines."
You have written several books on these themes. Why a
film?
Michel Collon. I realized that this medium allows one
to touch those
who
don't read. And it is ideal for stimulating debate.
Each person can
easily
give a cassette to a friend, a relative. Or organize
at his home a
little
screening and discussion.
And this is urgent because Mr Bush has announced
that he will
attack a
number of other countries. A great reason for
progressives to resume
the
discussion of what happened in Yugoslavia. Did the
results of the NATO
intervention correspond to its promises? Are there
other hidden
interests
here? Was public opinion manipulated by the media
lies?
Yugoslavia, is this a preview of what will happen to
Iraq, Palestine
and
others?
Michel Collon. Yes. Globalization, that's the war,
essentially. The
policies of the multinationals only widen the gap
between the rich and
poor
on this planet. War became the number one method to
break their
resistance.
The war against the Palestinians and the Iraqis, 'Plan
Columbia', the
interventionist agression against the Congo, threats
against Iran,
Syria,
North Korea, all that is part of the same global war.
Vanessa Stojilkovic. The young people organized
against globalization
must
inform themselves more seriously on these wars. A
country that has
used
chemical weapons like Agent Orange, depleted uranium
bombs and other
such
filth can not be allowed to manipulate us and to make
us believe that
it
waged this war for the liberties and the rights of
Man. We can't let
them
rule the world and organize these wars in the
financial interests of
the
multinationals. And I'm also angry at the European
nations that were
complicit and profited from this war.
This film is a testiment, a warning, a call for
help. For the
people of
Kosovo and for all the people who are threatened. The
next time NATO
or the
Euro Army prepare to bomb another country, the people
of the NATO
countries
must rise up and intervene on a mass scale to stop
their governments.
A previous film, 3Under NATO Bombs2, was translated
into many
languages.
What about this one?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. I have just finished the
Serbo-Croat version.
And other translations are in the works. With the new
technologies for
editing on computer, you can easily replace one track
on the editing,
for
example, the voice-over track or the subtitles, with
another. We have
already started for translations in Spanish, Russian,
Dutch.
And we think that the English and Arabic versions,
maybe German and
Italian,
will also be very useful. For all that, and for a
maximun
distribution,
we're looking for help.
Because the fate inflicted on Yugoslavia threatens
other countries?
Michel Collon. Exactly. This film speaks to all the
people of the
world.
Kosovo was a warning to the whole planet. All people
who do not want
to
live on their knees, all countries who want to
determine their own
destinies, risk being hit by this global war that Mr
Bush and his pals
are
planning. The only issue is to create a huge
international front of
resistence to this war.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To order:
Full Name: ..............................
Street number: : ...............................
City, Zip code : ...............................
Country : ..........................................
E-mail : .....................................
I want to order :
O ....... Copies in French of 31The Damned of Kosovo2
O ....... copies in Serbo-Croat
Wants information on other versions
O English O Spanish O Italian O Russian O Dutch O
Arabic O German
Wants to help make this film known :
Suggestion :
......................................................
Send this back to :
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
For Spanish version (in Spanish, please!) :
To : Manuel Espinar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
__________________________________________________
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