Jeremy Schwartz
University of Southern California—Dornsife College
Department of International Relations, B.A. 2012
Recipient of undergraduate research award, 2011
Research Summary of the Documentary Project Resilience
The Film
My documentary, entitled Resilience (19 min), explores the post-conflict resistance and activism of organizations who help rehabilitate survivors of mass violence (this includes war, mass conflict and torture), as well as individuals who have survived this violence. The first portion of the film uses interviews with staff of organizations such as Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), Program for Torture Victims (PTV), Survivors of Torture International (SOTI), Falling Whistles and Medical Teams International in Uganda. I examine questions such as do you believe your work is resistance and why and how does someone resist mass violence?
Through my interviews with these organizations, I came to believe their work is actually a form of post-conflict resistance. Essentially, by saving the lives of survivors, these organizations are also fighting back against the harmful intentions of the perpetrator whose original goal was to hurt these individuals. Furthermore, these organizations challenge harmful ideologies by preventing survivors from being permanently incapacitated by them.
The second portion of the documentary contains interviews of three survivors from different conflicts. Henok Teshome is a survivor of torture from Ethiopia, Hamse Warfa is a survivor of war from the Somalian conflict in 1991 and Hector Aristizabal is a survivor of torture from Colombia.
This segment explores that certain survivors engage in post-conflict activism and/or resistance while others do not because, as stated by interviewee Tricia Hilliard, “it is essential to who they are.” I found that even despite their traumatic experiences, they still hold a deep-rooted sense of commitment to social justice. Indeed, they live and work for something that transcends far beyond themselves and their own existence. In the film, Hector states that “Yes it (torture) scared the hell out of me, yes it left big scars on my psyche, but it further threw me into the desire to change society and make sure that it did not happen to anyone, anywhere, for any reason.”
Furthermore, their past suffering does not dictate who they are, but allows them to create meaning. (Aristizabal,Hector. Personal Interview. Aug. 28. 2011) For example, although Hamse’s experience living in a Kenyan refugee camp from the ages of 10-13 was difficult, it only further inspired him “to be a voice for the voiceless.” He now runs his own non-profit, Institute for Horn of Africa Studies and Affairs (IHASA) which engages in conflict prevention and resolution in the horn of Africa.
The other survivors are also motivated by their past experiences. Hector protests outside the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation which trains South and Central American soldiers, many of whom have been linked to violence in South America. He has also written and performed plays about his experiences in Colombia to audiences all over the world. Although Henok now works as a taxi driver, he is now in the process of writing a book and hopes to one day return to his work in social change.
The Process
Originally, the film was going to document the resistance of survivors from the second Sudanese civil war as well as Darfur. However my first interview with author Judy Bernstein, who co-wrote They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky with the Lost Boys of Sudan, completely altered this path. She recommended I broaden my topic and explore resistance through survivors from many different conflicts and the organizations who are involved in survivor healing, like Program for Torture Victims and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
I was very fortunate to do this because I was then able to interview many more interesting individuals. However, securing these interviews was a very extensive and dynamic process. I began the project with only a few contacts that I had known or met previously, but was then very fortunate because they referred me to numerous individuals that now constitute for more than half of the documentary’s interviews.
While conducting my research, I developed interview strategies that were especially helpful in making the participants more talkative. Specifically, I established the interview as more of a conversation rather than a session of formal questioning. I believe this strategy helped me gain more insight into their lives, thoughts, and opinions. Nonetheless, I still had a set list of questions that would guide our conversation and ensure we stayed on topic.
I chose film as the format for my research because it was a medium that I had never explored. I also felt film would more profoundly convey my research rather than an essay and I wanted viewers to visually connect with the face of the survivors and staff.
Finally, after I completed filming I underwent the long editing process. I watched each interview 3 times, which would range from 20 minutes to an hour, and then collected important segments from each interview. I then assembled these clips into a 19 minute film that answers the questions posed above.
Overall, this documentary has proved to be more fulfilling than I ever anticipated and the 2020 Genocide Research Cluster was the catalyst for the project. It encouraged me to research genocide from the unique angle of resistance and come up with my own independent research concept. And although my first idea transformed into something far different than I expected, the 2020 Genocide Research Cluster pushed me to keep learning and exploring. Furthermore, it was a life-changing experience that helped me realize the true resilience of the human spirit and that even despite war, torture, and immense suffering people can still move forward with a desire to change the world.