Today I spent a good one hour and forty minutes crying my eyes out, watching a film called, As If I Am Not There (2011). It is an independent film, directed by Juanita Wilson, based on the true stories and testimonies, revealed during the International Criminal Tribunal, of rape victims during the war in The film relates to the experiences of women in war, and documents the crude realism of rape and clearly the deep psychological implications of this gruesome, violent, and dehumanizing act.
As If I Am Not There is a unique film because, for the first time, we experience the Bosnian war through women’s eyes. We never see what happens to the men as they are separated and lead away from their wives, daughters, and mothers on-screen, though we clearly hear the shots being fired in the background. Implicitly, we understand their fate. Yet the fate of the women is much more implicit, and in your face. One rape scene is especially brutal.
Samira (Natasa Petrovic), the lead character is beaten, gang raped and urinated on, and in the end forced to live with the consequences of this traumatic experience – not just psychologically, but physically too. She was pregnant.
Her story is not at all rare, and is a testimony to many women who were forced into sexual slavery, and forced to bare their rapists’ children during this war.
Rape is a strategic weapon of war, and it was used systemically and premeditatedly in the Bosnian war for the first time. Today, the same is happening everywhere around the world, including
At one point in the film, when the group of women are about to be ‘exchanged’ and ‘set free’ from the camp, Samira is told by the Serb General that "her part in the war was over." However, what the audience ends up taking away from this film is that the war never ended for these women. The physical scars may have healed, but the psychological scars are vivid in Samira’s deep, green, sorrowful eyes – when she gives birth to the trauma, and sexual abuse she underwent, in a physical child.
The film is truly arresting, deeply philosophical and morally complex. It is a film definitely worth your time.
10 comments:
I may not have the guts to watch this sis. Just reading your synopsis is a horrific experience.
Selam alaikum sister Nida. I was quite curious about this film, I did not hear of this film before. So I checked it out! Seriously it was one of the most confronting films I have seen so far. It was really intense and like you said really shows the effects of a rape on the lives of individuals. Even though this was a film, how this in reality happened must be a 1000 times worse. This film made me think how far people can go in dehumanizing other human beings, even animals show mercy towards each other. Experiments like the Stanford prison experiment demonstrate how persons can become evil if they receive some authority, but everyone also knows innate what is right and wrong. Even your worst enemy doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.
This again shows the greatness of Islam, the way Muslims should treat war prisoners, woman, or children during a war is completely the opposite of what happened in Bosnia for example.
Another striking point is why any country in the (Muslim) world did nothing to help these fellow Muslims, especially these raped woman. By providing “abortion” or other medical support. One of the last scene was symbolizing this behavior in my opinion. When the nurse stood by the door watching Samira, she just turned around and walked away when she was feeding the child.
I know that the issue of abortion is quite controversial but in this context it is not in the hands of the woman. It is just a matter of power. Scholars should maybe issue a fatwa with regard to these happenings. One way or the other the woman is always the victim, and has to bear the consequences a lifetime. How can you even love a child like that? Also the scene where the child was raped and mutilated by having a cross carved in her back was shocking. It was simply done because of hate against the Muslims.
Almost in every army all over the world, it is also notable that 99% of soldiers are under the influence of drugs, this makes them even more out of control. Unfortunately rapes by soldiers also happen in Afghanistan and Iraq by American soldiers, and many other countries like you said.
What people can criticize is the fact whether a woman should use their body in order to survive. On the other hand if you have never been in a situation like that it is easier to condemn. May Allah help all those victims and families of those people, and give them patience and relief during this life. May we as Muslims stand up against all forms of oppression and exploitation. I want to thank you because you have given a sound to these unheard woman by posting this film, in this way providing for us more awareness for the woman victims in wars. Definitely a movie which I will recommend to others, but not everyone will have the courage to watch it I think. Wassalaam. Badr
Aasalaamu Alaykum Nida,
the movie sounds intense, I'm scared but I think I'll watch it this weekend inshaAllah.
I read a book called the Zanzibar Chest, written by a war journalist. He witnessed the Rwandan genocide and he said he was more shocked by the Bosnian conflict. Not because it was more brutal but because in his mind it was shocking for him to see white people committing the same atrocities. When he could relate to the faces and people, the reality of what happened in other wars also hit him.
I think maybe everyone should watch this so they can fully understand the situation in places like Sudan.
@Badr – thank you for taking the time to watch it. Indeed it is very gruesome, and most people won’t have the stomach to watch it, although I believe it is imperative for us to see the suffering through their eyes, so that we can truly empathize with them and understand their trauma.
Rape was always part of war; however, if we study past wars and genocides, it was never utilized in a systematic fashion. True, soldiers have committed acts of rape ever since there were wars, but in Bosnia it was used as a strategic weapon to completely dehumanize and ‘ethnically cleanse’ a particular group of people. Rape was the weapon of mass humiliation, as I call it. An instrument of pure terror.
And it was during the Hague tribunals, concerning the Bosnian case, that mass rape was, for the first time, recognized as a crime against humanity.
With regards to the movie; the hospital scene you are referring to is actually when Samira and her family moved to Sweden (I think). So I don’t think the nurse had any idea what Samira went through and why she was avoiding the baby.
In these extreme cases I support a woman’s right to have the abortion. Many women did abort, forcefully, and many died in the process, because when they finally found out they were pregnant it was too late to perform the procedure. Also, I remember many women abandoning these babies in the hospitals. My mother was once approached to take care of them, but she was going through some trauma of her own and refused.
But, I think the film really captures the psychological underpinnings of her entire experience. There was not a lot of dialogue, but the expressions and feelings really came through. Again, I appreciate you watching it.
I don't like these types of films. How does re-enacting a crime make it better? At the same time, you are glorifying the crime. What is exhibitionism? Many people with sick minds will actually feed on these images, but it takes a refined soul to get the moral out of it. If you really wanted to get into the emotions of a mass rape victim, I think words are enough. Pictures are going too far in this case I think. I hope I am wrong and this helps some women process their pain. As for myself, I would only watch it with my Bosnian wife.
I see your point Matthew, but I don't think that is the intention here. And I certainly don't believe anyone here is trying to glorify rape - neither Ms. Wilson, nor I.
Visual perspectives are important, in my opinion. They usually have a profound impact on the audience, and most people will remember visual messages, however subliminal they are, then remember something they read or heard. That is simply the way our brain works.
We can tell people that rape is dehumanizing, yet giving them this visual perspective of what happened to these women will generate greater empathy and understanding towards the victim.
Although I have not been a victim of rape, I can relate to their pain, having gone through the same war and knowing what it was like for women who did go through this traumatic experience. However, most people, in the West especially, will not be able to relate to their stories - not unless they see it humanized in the form of film.
Take Abu Graib, for instance. Do you think people would have been as outraged about it if they hadn't seen the images of what was happening? We hear about violence everyday in the news, but as long as we are sheltered from the images of war and rape and death, we will never feel the need to respond to it.
Take another example. The Vietnam War. Why did it create so much opposition in the US? Because it was the very first televised war in American History. Americans could see what was happening there, and they stood up en mass to protest it. Why do you think Bush baned images of dead soldier's coffins being televised during the Iraq war?
The reality is that Images are extremely powerful conveyors of truth. They move people in a very personal way - and having people see this film, will make them realize the human pain and trauma that results from rape. And this films shows absolutely no glorification of such an abhorrent act.
Salam
I just finshed watching the movie, but I'm going to admitt that I am confused at some parts.
How did the main character get in contact with the capitain, and why did she prostitute herself to him? Why was the benefit? That she got some extra food?
And the burning of the bodies that she saw on her way out, were they the bodeis of the eldery womans?
And when the capitan was called down, who did he shoot and why would he say that he is only trying to survive when he is the captain of a camp meant to kill and torture??
And lastly why would they free them in the end if they wanted to wipe out the Muslim?
I'm sorry with all these question. there isn't a lot of dialogue and with my computer working really slow, it was hard for me to watch it.
Wa salaam Jasmine.
I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge and ability. In the end, some things were left to individual interpretation. The film deliberately confronts some of these morally complex and philosophical questions, so that the viewer makes an effort to really think about the consequences of sexual slavery and the effects of psychological trauma.
Q. 1: Did Samira prostitute herself? Personally, I don’t think she did. If you look at sexual slavery in general, there are great potentials for the victim to develop ‘Stockholm syndrome’ – a psychological disorder where the victim starts to acquire feelings for her abuser. Not sure if that is the case with Samira, though it is one probable explanation. In all honesty though, I believe she was trying to hold onto her ‘humanity’. In the deplorable condition she was in (in the scene following the little girl’s death) she said to the women that this ‘victim’ was not who she really was – she was not an animal, even though she was treated like one. It was very much apparent to me that she was struggling. And she didn’t have much choice with reg. to the Captain. He called for her, she didn’t choose to go to him. So no, I don’t believe she was prostituting herself; she was expressing an extremely desperate plea for her humanity.
Q 2: The Captain is an interesting character. I think what Wilson attempted to do with him is show the ‘human face’ of the Serb Soldier who was only ‘following orders’ in this war. He seems to have a family waiting for him, and compared to the other soldiers he was less physically abusive to Samira. He had a little more depth to him, not that he was any less culpable for his crimes. The man he shot was most likely a Muslim, and that scene was added as an exclamation to the above point. The Captain had to follow higher orders too. If you read some of the stories from the Serb perspective, you will find many soldiers admitting guilt by saying they only ‘followed orders’. They had to kill or be killed themselves. But from the vast evidence on this subject, we can conclude that these types of Serbs were the exception rather then the norm.
Q 3: The burning bodies. Remember in the film when the women were talking about the ‘men’s camp’ near by? I believe those were the executed Muslim men from the other camp.
Q 4: Why would they free them in the end if they wanted to wipe out the Muslims?
The word ‘cleansing’ in the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ refers to many things. Among them is killing, but also rape and forceful deportation. As I’ve mentioned, rape was a systematic weapon in this war. The Serbs wanted to destroy in whole or in part a particular group of people, and they did so mostly by killing all the men and raping the women in order to ‘contaminate’ the bloodline. So if you remember, in the beginning, they did separate all the men and kill them, later we see the men from the camp killed and set on fire, while the women were tortured and raped in these ‘rape camps’.
“Exchanges of prisoners” were only performed in the later parts of the war; when the Bosnian Muslims began organizing and fighting back. So these women were ‘contraband’, so to speak. People were treated as property, and often traded for Soldiers that were captured on their side. But in all reality, they knew that these women would never be ‘free’ after their horrific experience. And that is the core message of this film, I think. The war never ended for them.
I hope this cleared things up for you. And once more, thanks for watching and commenting,and I am glad you asked for clarifications.
you're so awesome Nida! salam alaykum :)
Thanks for answering all my question. inshallah, I'll try watching it again, with a faster computer. Again, thanks for sharing this movie. it's important to remember these atrocities so we can later on try to avoid them again. Salam
Post a Comment