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National Post , Canada
October 17, 2014 Friday
Don't try genocide, and other lessons from the 20th century's brutal struggles
by David Berry, National Post
"Watchers of the Sky"
This brief history of genocide centres itself around the story of
Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term over the course of trying
to convince the world to finally address the issue. While Lemkin was
first drawn to the issue after the Armenian genocide, and had it
driven home when the Nazis forced him to flee Poland in 1940, his
story is woven into a survey of the genocides that keep happening
across the 20th century, delving particularly into Srebrenica, Rwanda
and Darfur. Though it takes a high-minded approach - the emphasis here
is on the necessity of collective action - its wide scope keeps the
documentary overly academic, surprisingly drained of humanity
considering its subject. As the movie itself says, no one is on the
side of genocide, but few people actually seem to do anything about
it; for all its smart rhetoric, Watchers has little tangible insight
into why we shrug until its too late, but a lot of time for sober
disappointment about the fact.
"Watchers of the Sky" opens Oct. 17 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto.
From: A. Papazian
October 17, 2014 Friday
Don't try genocide, and other lessons from the 20th century's brutal struggles
by David Berry, National Post
"Watchers of the Sky"
This brief history of genocide centres itself around the story of
Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term over the course of trying
to convince the world to finally address the issue. While Lemkin was
first drawn to the issue after the Armenian genocide, and had it
driven home when the Nazis forced him to flee Poland in 1940, his
story is woven into a survey of the genocides that keep happening
across the 20th century, delving particularly into Srebrenica, Rwanda
and Darfur. Though it takes a high-minded approach - the emphasis here
is on the necessity of collective action - its wide scope keeps the
documentary overly academic, surprisingly drained of humanity
considering its subject. As the movie itself says, no one is on the
side of genocide, but few people actually seem to do anything about
it; for all its smart rhetoric, Watchers has little tangible insight
into why we shrug until its too late, but a lot of time for sober
disappointment about the fact.
"Watchers of the Sky" opens Oct. 17 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto.
From: A. Papazian