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What's Happening in Kosovo today?
A film that breaks the silence.
Interview:
Michel Collon and Vanessa Stojilkovic on their new
film The Damned of Kosovo
(Interview: Antoine Renard. Translation: Mick Collins)
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chased from her apartment in Pristina, Maria would not
have had a life except that she looked Albanian. Her
nephew, an interpretor for the UN, was savagely
murdered. Silvana's husband was kidnapped, and she
hasn't had any news about him for two years.
Stanimir's home was burned down. What do they have in
common? They are Serbs and live, or rather survive,
in Kosovo. Why don't the media talk more about this
region occupied by NATO? The new film by Michel
Collon and Vanessa Stojilkovic breaks the silence. And
sounds an alarm to all people now threatened by these
wars of globalization. .
. .
+++++++++++++++++++++
How did this film come to be?
Michel Collon. I did this report on Kosovo to get a
first hand look at the current situation of the Serbs
and other national minorities. I remembered what Bill
Clinton said just as he began the bombing of
Yugoslavia: "Our resolve is the only hope for the
people of Kosovo to be able to live in their own
country. Imagine if we closed our eyes and if these
people were massacred, right on NATO's doorstep. It
would be discredited." Clinton spoke of the Albanians.
But today, what about the Serbs and the other national
minorities, the Roma [Gypsies], Gorans, Turks,
Egyptians,
Muslims . . . who have lived in Kosovo for centuries?
Are they secure with 45,000 NATO troops in their
country?
And what did you see?
Michel Collon. An accumulation of suffering that no
one could imagine here.
But the media don't speak to us about Kosovo anymore.
Isn't the situation there under control? Michel
Collon. Quite the contrary! What I saw was: bombing
attacks, assassinations, expulsions and the
destruction of homes, kidnappings and
families in anguish, constant threats . . . The
situation is overwhelming:
A veritable ethnic cleansing that has run off a large
part of the non-Albanian population and has terrorized
those who've stayed.
What were you able to show concretely?
Michel Collon. About twenty interviews give the
victims a chance to speak out. Their testimonies,
dignified but full of emotion, brought tears to my
eyes. It was absolutely necessary to pass on their
tragic message. To break the media silence that
currently surrounds Kosovo. Their fate is a terrible
warning to all people: an occupation by the US, or by
the NATO powers, is in no way a solution. On the
contrary, it guarantees terrible suffering for all the
people of these occupied regions.
The presence of NATO troops has not put a stop to the
violence? Michel Collon. Not only has it not stopped
the violence, but the film shows several exclusive
documents that reveal NATO's complicity with the
authors of this violence: the militias of the KLA
separatists.
Did you have any problems in making the film?
Michel Collon. Of course, in such a climate of
terror, a Serb cameraman is risking his life if he
films in a 'non-Albanian' zone. But I had the good
fortune to work with a very motivated crew. Some very
courageous people to whom I owe a great deal.
Vanessa, how did you get involved in the project?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. At 25, I had already tried
several different jobs in the photographic media,
including being an editor. After a contact through
the internet, Michel Collon offered me the opportunity
to re-start the writing and editing of his film, which
had broken down because of some health problems his
previous director had. I accepted immediately.
Because you're French but from Yugoslavia?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. Yes and no. Yes, because in fact
I had several members of my family who died or
suffered terribly in this war. I was very distressed
by it. Then, this film allowed me to fulfill the
promise I had made to them down there: To bring the
truth to the West. Unfortunately, many of them are
already dead and others soon will be.
The stress of the war and the bombing provoked
enormous problems of hypertension that they didn't
have the means to treat. And cancer is growing at an
alarming rate. People are dying in misery. The toll
of the war for all of Yugoslavia is not just reflected
by the number of dead, but also by the physical and
psychological conditions of those who survived. And
their lack of any future.
Michel Collon truly gave me a gift when he offered
me the primary material of the interviews he put
together. And his cogent analyses that tie this war,
in such a clear fashion, to the movement for
globalization. In assembling and shaping this
material, I was able to give voice to my pain, to keep
my promise, and to grieve.
Michel Collon. In fact it's Vanessa who gave me a
marvelous gift. I worked four days on the filming.
She worked four months on the editing. Not at all
easy, as I am not a professional filmmaker, and what I
brought to the film was in itself not really very
significant. Thanks to her, thanks to her remarkable
commitment, many people in the world will be able to
discover a very important reality.
Does this film address itself only to the Serbs?
Vanessa Stojilkovic. Not at all! My principal
motivation was above all to open the eyes of all the
'native¹ French or all the people of Western Europe
who have been misinformed. To make them aware, for
example, that we have been depriving the non-Albanians
of decent health care: People are dying because they
don't have anything to treat them with, because they
don't have the necessary medical equipment. That Serb
children don't have schools to go to. That a hundred
churches have been destroyed. And that all this is
still going on.
Is this a 'pro-Serb' film?
Michel Collon. No. First, it also states the case
for other national minorities, those who have also
been persecuted, 'cleansed'. The Roma (Gypsies), for
example, chased off all over Europe, these days. And
murdered in Kosovo. And also the Jews, Gorans,
Muslims, Turks, Egyptians... Minorities about whom
silence is dominating. And then, many Albanians find
themselves equally victimized by a mafia
system based on terror. One of them was able to
testify in front of our camera. He was persecuted
because he married a Serb!
In fact, I am neither pro-Serb, nor pro-Albanian.
I think that all these people find themselves victims
of hidden strategies: The US wanted, just like their
allies, to destroy Yugoslavia which they saw as too
Leftist. They wanted to control the oil routes that
pass precisely through there. They wanted to install
their super-base, Camp Bondsteel. And they have
succeeded, by utilizing --no, by themselves inciting--
this conflict between the Serbs and the Albanians.
Do you know that presently Washington has signed
99 year leases for all the runways used by its
bombers? Could someone explain to us how these bombers
will help resolve the problems of the people of
Kosovo?
A much wider strategic objective, then?
Michel Collon. Exactly. This military base brings
the US bombers very close to Moscow and to the
Caucauses. It is part of a larger plan of
encirclement, because Washington doesn't think Putin
and his current positions will necessarily last
forever. And moreover, by breaking up Yugoslavia as
part of a global plan they sent out this message to
the people of the world: If you resist globalization,
you will be destroyed. An editorial in the New York
Times on the eve of the war had already clearly stated
this: "For globalization to work, America must not
demure from acting like the omnipotent super-power
that it is. The invisible hand of the market never
functions without the hidden fist. McDonalds cannot
prosper without McDonnel Douglas, the builder of the
F-15 fighter. And the hidden fist that guarantees a
secure world for the technologies of the Silicon
Valley is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy and
Marines."
You have written several books on these themes. Why a
film? Michel Collon. I realized that this medium
allows one to touch those who don't read. And it is
ideal for stimulating debate. Each person can easily
give a cassette to a friend, a relative. Or organize
at his home a little screening and discussion.
And this is urgent because Mr Bush has announced
that he will attack a number of other countries. A
great reason for progressives to resume the discussion
of what happened in Yugoslavia. Did the results of
the NATO intervention correspond to its promises? Are
there other hidden interests here? Was public opinion
manipulated by the media lies?
Yugoslavia, is this a preview of what will happen to
Iraq, Palestine and others?
Michel Collon. Yes. Globalization, that's the war,
essentially. The policies of the multinationals only
widen the gap between the rich and poor on this
planet. War became the number one method to break
their resistance. The war against the Palestinians and
the Iraqis, 'Plan Columbia', the interventionist
agression against the Congo, threats against Iran,
Syria, North Korea, all that is part of the same
global war.
Vanessa Stojilkovic. The young people organized
against globalization must inform themselves more
seriously on these wars. A country that has used
chemical weapons like Agent Orange, depleted uranium
bombs and other such filth can not be allowed to
manipulate us and to make us believe that it waged
this war for the liberties and the rights of Man. We
can't let them rule the world and organize these wars
in the financial interests of the multinationals. And
I'm also angry at the European nations that were
complicit and profited from this war.
This film is a testiment, a warning, a call for
help. For the people of Kosovo and for all the people
who are threatened. The next time NATO or the Euro
Army prepare to bomb another country, the people of
the NATO countries must rise up and intervene on a
mass scale to stop their governments.
A previous film, ³Under NATO Bombs², was translated
into many languages. What about this one? Vanessa
Stojilkovic. I have just finished the Serbo-Croat
version. And other translations are in the works.
With the new technologies for editing on computer, you
can easily replace one track on the editing, for
example, the voice-over track or the subtitles, with
another. We have already started for translations in
Spanish, Russian, Dutch. And we think that the English
and Arabic versions, maybe German and Italian, will
also be very useful. For all that, and for a maximun
distribution, we're looking for help.
Because the fate inflicted on Yugoslavia threatens
other countries? Michel Collon. Exactly. This film
speaks to all the people of the world. Kosovo was a
warning to the whole planet. All people who do not
want to live on their knees, all countries who want to
determine their own destinies, risk being hit by this
global war that Mr Bush and his pals are planning.
The only issue is to create a huge international front
of resistence to this war.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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