The Weight of Chains: Difference between revisions
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==Critical response== |
==Critical response== |
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[[Serbs|Serbian]] historian and scientific adviser at the Institute for |
[[Serbs|Serbian]] historian and scientific adviser at the Institute for Modern History in [[Belgrade]], professor Predrag J. Marković described the film as "very important" and that "the film talks with a language understandable to young Westerners", as well as that "the author, with a fine irony, distances himself in regards to the local figures and presents a very complex problem, evading self-justification that many domestic directors are prone to."<ref>[http://dnevnenovine.rs/2012_/saopstenja/2012/02/tezina-lanaca/ Težina lanaca na Fakultetu za medije i komunikacije] Dnevne Novine</ref> |
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Konstantin Kilibarda, of [[McMaster University]], described the movie as a "misguided attempt to give an alternative account of the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s", and that the author "attempts to minimize, deflect and distort the well established role of Serbian leaders in the former Yugoslavia in pursuing a militant nationalist program since the late 1980s, that sought to reclaim Kosovo through the imposition of martial law, as well as create 'ethnically compact' territories that would link Serbs in Serbia with Serbian minorities in Bosnia and Croatia".<ref name="Kilibarda">{{cite web | url=http://politicsrespun.org/2012/02/undermining-solidarity-in-the-balkans-reviewing-boris-malagurskis-the-weight-of-chains/ | title=Reviewing The Weight of Chains - Konstantin Kilibarda | accessdate=3 September 2014}}</ref> |
Konstantin Kilibarda, of [[McMaster University]], described the movie as a "misguided attempt to give an alternative account of the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s", and that the author "attempts to minimize, deflect and distort the well established role of Serbian leaders in the former Yugoslavia in pursuing a militant nationalist program since the late 1980s, that sought to reclaim Kosovo through the imposition of martial law, as well as create 'ethnically compact' territories that would link Serbs in Serbia with Serbian minorities in Bosnia and Croatia".<ref name="Kilibarda">{{cite web | url=http://politicsrespun.org/2012/02/undermining-solidarity-in-the-balkans-reviewing-boris-malagurskis-the-weight-of-chains/ | title=Reviewing The Weight of Chains - Konstantin Kilibarda | accessdate=3 September 2014}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 11:20, 3 October 2014
| The Weight of Chains | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Directed by | Boris Malagurski |
| Screenplay by | Boris Malagurski |
| Produced by | Boris Malagurski |
| Starring | Michel Chossudovsky Lewis MacKenzie Vlade Divac John Perkins Michael Parenti Scott Taylor Jože Mencinger James Bissett John Bosnitch Branislav Lečić Škabo Srđa Trifković Slobodan Samardžić |
| Edited by | Boris Malagurski Marko Janković Anastasia Trofimova |
| Music by | Novo Sekulović Jasna Đuran Kevin Macleod |
Production company | Malagurski Cinema |
| Distributed by | Journeyman Pictures (Worldwide) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 124 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Languages | English, Serbian |
| Budget | $21,850 |
The Weight of Chains is a 2010 Canadian[1] documentary film directed by Boris Malagurski.[2] The film discusses the role that the United States, NATO, and the European Union played in the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was released on December 17, 2010. Since 2012, the film has been distributed by Journeyman Pictures.[3]
Production
The film was sponsored by Serbian diaspora community organizations, the Centre for Research on Globalization, and private individuals amongst others.[2][4][5]
The film uses re-compiled archival footage extensively,[6] which was provided at no cost by Radio Television Serbia.[7]
Synopsis
The film provides a background history of Yugoslavia, from the medieval Battle of Kosovo to the 1912 incorporation of Kosovo into the Kingdom of Serbia and then to the formation of Josip Broz Tito's Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after World War II. It discusses the persecution of Kosovo Serbs after World War II, as well as alleged plans by Nationalists to create an ethnically pure Greater Albania.
The film claims that U.S. interests in Yugoslavia promoted "a market-oriented Yugoslav economic structure" through the National Endowment for Democracy, and the G17 Plus as part of a policy of "privatization through liquidation" which increased ethnic tensions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Western nations, both openly diplomatically and covertly militarily, supported separatist groups and encouraged conflict so that NATO could be installed as peacekeepers for their own interests. A cigarette factory that was bombed by NATO was later bought by Philip Morris, which the film presents as an example, that the purpose of the war was economic colonization of the country.
The film claims Yugoslavian leaders such as Slobodan Milošević, Franjo Tuđman and Alija Izetbegović were focused only on power, and not on the well being of their people and they, along with the local media, mobilized public opinion in favor of conflict. These tensions led to the 1990s Yugoslav Wars, culminating in the Kosovo war. The film includes interviews with the widows of Josip Reihl-Kir (former police chief of Osijek, Croatia), and the widow of Milan Levar along with the story of Srđan Aleksić, who saved a Muslim man from an attack by soldiers of the VRS. Footage that has never been released before is also presented in the film, most notably that of a village in Bosnia where Serbs and Bosniaks lived together up to the end of the Bosnian war, but were then separated – with Serbs saying goodbye to their Muslim neighbours, who decided to collectively leave to their own entity, in tears.
In the aftermath, the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank further evidenced that Eastern European states were never meant to be colleagues and equals with the European Union and the West, but rather were only markets for Western industrial goods and sources of cheap labor. The increase in the debt of the former Yugoslav countries is covered to reveal how much tax money each citizen of the former Yugoslavia would have to pay in order for their countries to be debt free.
Interviewees
The interviewees in the film include:[5][8][9]
- Rade Aleksić — Whose son Srđan Aleksić, lost his life while defending a Muslim friend - an ethnic Bosniak[10] - who was being attacked by a group of soldiers of the VRS.
- James Bissett — Former Canadian diplomat who served as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria. Defence witness for Slobodan Milošević.[11]
- John Bosnitch — Canadian journalist of Serbian descent, consultant and political activist.
- Michel Chossudovsky — Canadian economist and professor of economics at the University of Ottawa.
- Vlade Divac — Retired Yugoslav as well as United States' NBA professional basketball player, humanitarian worker
- Blasko Gabric — Founder and 'President' of 'Fourth Yugoslavia', park located in Subotica, Serbia [12][13]
- Branislav Lečić — Former Serbian minister of culture in the government of the late Zoran Đinđić.
- Lewis MacKenzie — UE, CM, CMM, MSC, O.Ont, CD, retired Canadian general, author and media commentator, established and commanded Sector Sarajevo as part of UNPROFOR in Yugoslavia in 1992.[9]
- Veran Matić — chief executive officer of B92.
- Jože Mencinger — Slovenian lawyer, economist, and politician who served as Minister of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian vice president of government for economic coordination from 1990 to 1991.
- Michael Parenti — Award winning American political scientist, historian, and cultural critic.
- John Perkins – Author, best known for his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
- Slobodan Samardžić — Serbian academic and politician, and the former minister for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia.
- Škabo (Bosko Cirkovic) — Rapper, beatmaker and producer from Belgrade, Serbia, who is also the founder of Beogradski Sindikat.
- Scott Taylor – Canadian journalist who specializes in military and war reporting.
- Zvonimir Trajkovic — Described on the film's website as:- Serbian political advisor to Slobodan Milošević (1990 – '93) and Radovan Karadžić ('94 – '97).[9]
- Srđa Trifković — Serbian-American writer, foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles 1998–2009, and former unofficial spokesperson for the Republika Srpska government in 1995.[14] Defence witness for a number of convicted Serbian war criminals.[15][16]
- Visar Ymeri — Kosovo activist and politician.
Festival screenings and selections
- BELDOCS International Documentary Film Festival 2011, Belgrade, Serbia[17]
- Raindance Film Festival 2011, London, England[22][23][24]
- Moving Image Film Festival 2011, Toronto, Canada[25]
- International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, Havana, Cuba[26]
- Ann Arbor Docu Fest 2012, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA[27]
The film was due to be shown in the 2011 programme of Serbian film director Emir Kusturica at the Küstendorf Film and Music Festival. However two days before the festival began, the film was removed from the schedule without explanation.[28]
Critical response
Serbian historian and scientific adviser at the Institute for Modern History in Belgrade, professor Predrag J. Marković described the film as "very important" and that "the film talks with a language understandable to young Westerners", as well as that "the author, with a fine irony, distances himself in regards to the local figures and presents a very complex problem, evading self-justification that many domestic directors are prone to."[29]
Konstantin Kilibarda, of McMaster University, described the movie as a "misguided attempt to give an alternative account of the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s", and that the author "attempts to minimize, deflect and distort the well established role of Serbian leaders in the former Yugoslavia in pursuing a militant nationalist program since the late 1980s, that sought to reclaim Kosovo through the imposition of martial law, as well as create 'ethnically compact' territories that would link Serbs in Serbia with Serbian minorities in Bosnia and Croatia".[30]
Vladislav Panov of Pečat magazine, wrote that the film is "very convincing" and that "Malagurski covered the facts and scenes in the film just as Michael Moore does in his documentaries. And just like that film maker, obviously Boris' main role model, Malagurski located the source of evil in Washington and big American corporations which had come to buy us out after instructing and preparing 'irrational slaughters of primitive Balkan peoples' ", but added that "Boris bravely detected the main domestic culprits in collecting the cream for foreigners as well".[31]
Montenegrin artist Milica Kankaraš, noted that "Malagurski created one of the best documentaries on the Yugoslav civil war", and that "even though the film is disputed, it should be a part of the obligatory curriculum for high school students, as it's pointless to read fiction without being aware of their country's most recent past."[32]
The Weight of Chains 2
A trailer was made for a sequel, The Weight of Chains 2, but, as of June 2014, that film has not yet been released.[33]
References
- ^ Official Web Site: "The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film",
- ^ a b Culture: "Good people in evil times" Politika Newspaper | August 28, 2010
- ^ Journeyman Pictures : Documentaries Serbia – The Weight of Chains – 124 min 30 sec
- ^ "Weight of Chains – Sponsors". Malagurski Cinema. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije Vesti, April 1, 2011
- ^ "Boris Malagurski među nama". NSPM. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ^ "Entangled in Neocolonialism". Interview with Gregory Elich (interviewee in the film). Monthly Review. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ New documentary by the Serbian Michael Moore Press
- ^ a b c "The Interviewees". Retrieved August 29, 2014.
- ^ "Epilogue about Srdjan Aleksic". E-novine. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ "Milošević calls ex-Canadian Ambassador". IWPR.
- ^ "Like the old Yugoslavia it recreates, theme park could go under". Boston Globe.
- ^ "In ex-Yugoslavia, Tito-era nostalgia". NY Times.
- ^ "Popović et al. CIS" (PDF). ICTY.
- ^ "Popovic et al.-"Srebrenica"". SENSE Tribunal.
- ^ "Stakic-"Prijedor"". SENSE Tribunal.
- ^ Težina lanaca: Kritika uloge NATO, EU i SAD i raspadu SFRJ BELDOCS 2011
- ^ Festival of documentary film at Novi Sad Cultural Centre 021.rs
- ^ Best films of "Beldocs" Dnevnik newspaper [dead link]
- ^ The Weight of Chains in Novi Sad Radio Television Vojvodina
- ^ "BELDOCS" on a tour throughout Serbia B92.net
- ^ [1] Raindance Film Festival 2011
- ^ Radio Television Serbia | The Weight of Chains in London[dead link]
- ^ [2] Raindance Balkan Cinema Strand 2011
- ^ [3] MIFF Schedule, End of World Showcase
- ^ "El peso de las cadenas" Festival Internacional Del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano
- ^ Ann Arbor Docu Fest: The Weight of Chains at Cafe Ambrosia accessed Aug 23, 2014
- ^ "Okovi raspada bivše Jugoslavije" (in Serbian; "Shackles of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia", by Gorana Gligorević, Vesti Online, 1 April 2011, accessed May 25, 2011
- ^ Težina lanaca na Fakultetu za medije i komunikacije Dnevne Novine
- ^ "Reviewing The Weight of Chains - Konstantin Kilibarda". Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ Film o demokratskom ropstvu Pecat Magazine online
- ^ Čisto ponižavanje Zrcalo.me
- ^ Nema povlačenja, nema predaje Politika