VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: Part III
What do you expect to accomplish with View from the Bridge?
JE: At the very least we hope the film provokes people to think very critically, about their media, about their politicians, and about their own role in peacemaking, even on the smallest scale. Kosovo had totally fallen off the media radar because it was no longer "breaking news," yet there are still 20,000 troops there. It seems more than a little short-sighted to go to war in Iraq and not critically examine the post-war period where we last intervened. Also, I hope the film makes people think about how profoundly damaging the politics of division — the politics of hate — are. We have a choice, to see ourselves as one people with diverse ideas, or as many peoples each with a single idea. I hope the film makes people think hard about that choice.
LB: Our log line for View from the Bridge is "Peace is for the brave," and I think that really sums up what we hope people get from the film. People associate courage with picking up a gun and killing someone, but it takes just as much — or more — courage to put that gun down and move on, move forward, to recognize and forgive the past and forge something new and better.
View from the Bridge was shot in 2005. Has much changed since then?
JE: We actually shot the film in the summer of 2005. Things have improved a bit there, especially outside of the northern part of Kosovo. There's a little more freedom of movement for minorities. But the situation in Mitrovica, since it's the focal point for all the ethnic tension, hasn't changed that much. Nationalist politicians from Serbia still come to North Mitrovica to hold rallies to help them win elections in Serbia. Politically, things are still at an impasse. There have been years of talks and discussions, but no hint of a compromise. Albanians won't back away from their insistence on full independence, and Serbs won't back away from their insistence that Kosovo remain part of Serbia. Right now it looks very much like Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence in the very near future. Everyone's hoping that there isn't a new outbreak of violence, but people are definitely on edge.
LB: The situation with the Roma (Gypsies) of Mitrovica is very interesting, and really shows how they are very much stuck in the middle. Many of their homes have now been rebuilt, but very few, if any, have moved back. Not only are they afraid of more violence if they go back, they're also under pressure from expat Roma who fled abroad — often with amnesty from their host governments. The fear of the Roma expat community that lives outside Kosovo is that if Roma move back to their neighborhood, then Roma who fled elsewhere in Europe will lose their amnesty because they are no longer being "persecuted." It's a very complicated dynamic.
There are many who claim that movies don't influence policy and that they can't change the world. What do you think?
LB: I don't think that's true. I've spent my whole career making films about people who spoke up and made a difference, whether it be Holocaust survivor turned civil-rights activist Judy Meisel in Tak for Alt or the grassroots Soviet Jewry activists in Refusenik. And I think View from the Bridge is a great example of how even a small independent film can actually influence and change people and policy.
This year, the European Union (EU) is taking over the administration of Kosovo from the UN. The European Union Planning Team for Kosovo (EUPT), the group responsible for planning and implementing the takeover, has made our film a primary part of its training for all staff in its 27 member states. Helping the EU staff understand and constructively engage with the fractious ethnicities in the province — instead of insulating themselves by just going "from their hotel to their office to the bar and back to their hotel" — has been one of the most rewarding chapters of our careers.
We've also screened the film for US troops at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, and helping them understand the province and the people as they try to "keep the peace" has been very fulfilling. One US soldier — rifle in hand — actually told us that we were doing as much for Kosovo with our film as they were with their guns.
So do I think films can make a difference? You bet I do.