Reviews

I thought this documentary did a very good job achieving its purpose: to appeal to rich countries such as the US who can provide aid to refugee camps such as Za'atari. It focused on many likable Jordanian refugees such as little children and nurses, so that it would evoke pity and sympathy in the viewer. I think the filmmakers did exactly what they had to do by getting close to these few families. A story about a small amount of likable refugees where you get to know them and their struggles is a much more effective way of getting the sympathy you need from viewers than just making a documentary about the problem as a whole. The filmmakers got close to these families and, although overstepping a few boundaries, they did a good job making these people comfortable enough with them to get welcomed into their homes and learn about the deeper topics. That being said, I think the historical accuracy of this representation of a camp was a good general overview however maybe a slight glorification of these camps. The film ignored some problems within the camp such as the thugs they mentioned briefly, the gender role issues and the people who never really adjusted to the camp and as a result suffered psychologically. It focused a lot on education, which was probably a main goal of making the film, in order to inform countries who can provide aid of how important it is to get these kids in school so there's not an entire generation lacking education. The focus on this resulted in leaving out some other issues, but that was most likely intentional on the side of the filmmakers.

Bem-Vindo depicts a seventeen year old refugee named Bilal who has walked from Iraq to Calais. The movie is a somewhat accurate depiction of the plights of refugees in Europe, however there are some aspects of the film that can be improved. For example, Bilal's luck of finding a man such as Calmat to take him in and protect him was not a common occurrence. Though it did happen, most refugees were left to fend for themselves and were more like those who were begging to get into the swimming pool to shower because they had nowhere else to go. The struggle of this majority was not depicted, which was one flaw in the film. There were some noteworthy parts of this story that reflected the life of an unwanted refugee both before departing their country and after. Bilal mentioned being tortured by the Turkish army when describing his struggle to keep the plastic bag over his head. Additionally, the lack of trust towards him was a very important aspect. Even this nice man, Calmat, giving him swim lessons and taking him into his home had several moments of mistrust in which he accused Bilal of stealing from his home. No matter what he did to prove himself as a good, trustworthy man, he was still a strange refugee before anything else and that was the main part of his identity no matter what. The inability to trust neighbors is also an interesting aspect to include because it did happen in reality. Mr. Calmat ended up being reported by his neighbor and ended up in prison because he was hiding this refugee. Another accurate part of the film is the idea of how many refugees spend months upon months in this place so-called "the jungle" with dreams of escaping to a better place like England. The dream of escaping this place and often this delusion of being able to get out is what keeps them going. For example, Bilal put all of his time and effort into learning how to swim in order to be able to swim across the English Channel and get to England to see his girlfriend. This is what kept him hopeful and moving forward rather than giving up. The depiction of the French's attitude towards refugee was noteworthy as well. Due to the governmental policies and general opinions about refugees, French in general were pretty apathetic towards refugees and how they were treated. This was depicted in Calmat's reaction to two refugees being refused service at the grocery store at the beginning of the film.

The first part of this film is the more important and historically accurate section. The film begins by depicting the torment of informing against a loved one. This not only destroyed families but often left each member feeling either extreme betrayal or guilt. Throughout the entire movie the man whose wife informed against him wanted to return to her so that she could stop living this life of guilt and torment. This is important because part of the torture of being inside a camp is being separated from loved ones or having loved ones turned against you. The film then moves to life inside the Gulag, which though a short depiction, highlights many important aspects of the Gulag. The divide between the criminals and politicals is clearly demonstrated, as well as the economy of the camp. We see who has the power and how this power can truly determine whether one lives or dies in the camp. The huge divide in beliefs within the camp was demonstrated clearly through Valka, who has tattoos on his body clearly showing his support for communism. We also see the dangers the prisoners faced, from the cold siberian weather to the deathly mines to the threat of other prisoners right alongside them. The film does a good job depicting these factors as a threat to the prisoners, however in real life there were far greater deaths from these cold winters than the movie depicts. The movie then moves on to the main portion which is the trek from Siberia to India. Throughout this walk, we do see deaths along the way which makes it somewhat realistic, however 4 men surviving such a journey was a rare occurrence that in real life only happened once, at the most. Overall, I thought this movie was interesting, especially for a movie significantly focusing on a walk. It was pretty historically accurate, especially the portion on the camps, however I wish there was a little more focus on camp life.

This film, though not as historical and educational as it could have been on the topic of Japanese internment camps during World War II, was not meant to be a historical documentary. The film depicts the lives of Japanese American citizens as their lives undergo immense changes with the beginning of internment camps. The main focus of this movie is the love story between Jack and Lily, however there are some historically accurate parts of the film worth paying attention to. The depiction of life right before entering the camp and then later in the camp is worth noting. Leading up to the camp we are able to see the racism these Japanese Americans had to face, with vandalism and assault towards anyone resembling a Japanese person. The movie then spends a short amount of time depicting life inside the camp, however we get glimpses of the struggles facing those encamped. For example, there is the struggle each person faces of which country to pledge their allegiance to. First off, they don't know who is going to win the war and pledging either way could present dangers to them later. Second, pledging to America may be hard since Americans are the ones interning them, however, they are American citizens and so pledging to a country some of them have never even been to may seem weird and hard to do. In addition, the film does depict the struggle to maintain identity in the camp, demonstrated by Lily's father. Overall the camp experience is historically accurate even if it only takes up a small portion of the film. This movie could have been improved in many ways to make it more historical, however I completely understand why it was made this way. It is a hollywood film made for a large audience, and this audience doesn't want a documentary on Japanese internment camps. The love story between jack and Lily was 100% necessary to attract a large audience because that is the type of thing Americans look for in a film. For the average American not watching this movie through a historical lens, I would say it's a decent movie. It's better to have a movie with some historical facts and other faults that a large audience will watch than a completely historically accurate film which will only attract those already interested in history. At least a good portion of people are now gaining a broad knowledge on Japanese internment camps.

This film, although extremely emotionally tolling and difficult to watch, is an important film depicting a women's internment camp during the Bosnian war. The main character, Samira, provides an accurate insight into the struggles facing women in these camps. These insights reach beyond our knowledge of the already terrible rapes and assaults that were so prominent, and give a look at the internal struggles facing these women and the effects of this treatment. The beginning of the film depicts the men being separated from the women, brought outside, and all shot to death. This is such a small, short scene in the film which demonstrated the normalcy of these murderous acts. It was't something the movie had to focus in on, it was clear what was happening and no questions had to be asked. The film then moves on to the main focus: Samira's experience in this dehumanizing camp. The film contains little dialogue, however dialogue is unneeded. Samira's facial expressions, body language and actions are enough to depict the pain and suffering she experiences throughout her time in the camp. In fact, the lack of dialogue is a smart choice on the part of Juanita Wilson because it allows the viewers to feel what Samira must have felt and allows them to throw themselves into her character more than if Samira had just described her feelings in words. It also demonstrates how women in these camps really were forced into silence following the things they had to endure. After the first rape, Samira could barely speak. She struggled to recover from this haunting experience and hid away in silence for a while until she realized that she was a human, not an animal as they saw her, and swore to grasp back onto her "womanhood" by putting on makeup and trying to look nice, something the other women disapproved of. This film also depicts the blurred line of morality in these camps. When Samira starts sleeping with the captain, there is a debate among the other women that she overhears. One says they would do the same thing while the other says it's a disgrace. Samira is doing what she thinks she has to do to survive, no matter how wrong it may be. The dynamic between Samira and the captain is obviously one where the captain has the upper hand. This is clearly still a case of rape because consent cannot exist in a camp such as this. Samira is aware of her lack of power in this situation and the captain is aware that Samira will do anything he tells her to do. The captain is portrayed in a way that could be seen as not completely evil, however the fact that he takes advantage of his power in this way makes him just as bad as any other rapist in that camp. The ending to the movie is another smart choice by Juanita Wilson because it shows that the suffering goes beyond liberation from the camp. Samira will forever see the pain she went through when she looks at her child, and will forever be reminded of who the father was. There is no end to suffering no matter how physically free these survivors are.