French theorist André Bazin says that the power of cinema lies in its ability to capture reality as it occurs. Not only can this relationship be applied to documentary films, but to the new documentary Discordia, which records the political tensions that stretched to the breaking point at Concordia University in 2002.
The film begins with footage from the violent protest at former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s on-campus appearance, and the political ramifications that resonate for students throughout the school year. Sensing the significance of the unfolding situation, filmmakers (and Concordia grads) Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal turned the camera on the terse campus atmosphere, and the resulting footage became the basis for a feature-length documentary that was produced by the National Film Board and scored by East Coast hip-hop hero Buck 65.
Squeezing in a Saturday afternoon interview amidst a wave of press prior to the film’s release this week, Addelman elaborates on how the directors’ first-hand knowledge of the school and its political undertone made it possible to predict that there was a documentary just waiting to be recorded.
“Things had really blown up after the whole Netanyahu thing,” he notes. “As we started to meet the people, we realized that all these different camps were really involved in this kind of political game-one against the other, which you can see playing out in the film. So it was easy to predict that something like that would happen. I shouldn’t say that we were lucky that these negative things happened, but we were just around when all these things were happening and it worked quite well for the film, I think.”
The film follows three student politicians: Aaron Maté, vice-president of the student union, and a Jewish defender of free speech; Samer Elatrash, a self-professed Palestinian exile and radical activist; and Noah Sarna, vice-president of the campus Jewish organization Hillel. And by putting a human face on the turbulent issues, the film manages to sidestep the political and emotional quagmires that surround the Middle East question. By focusing on character first, and placing the politics in the background, the film is extremely successful in rendering the issues from all sides, and conveys the emotional struggles of idealistic youths trying to make a difference in their world in their own distinct ways.
For Addelman, this was the most important aspect of the filmmaking process. After “hanging out” with the central figures for endless hours, the film allows the viewer to empathize with each of the characters, and the skillful editing allows the subjects to express themselves in “their own words,” rather than through voiceover narration.
“When you can see that these are people and not just walking ideologues, I think people really appreciate that,” Addelman says. “People from both sides. Basically only the most radical, uncompromising elements of these debates are the people who have the major problems with the film. And that’s what we wanted anyways. We definitely weren’t working for the Palestinian cause or the Israelis or lobby groups. It’s meant to say something to people. It’s meant to alienate the extremists who can’t see the humanity in the people who they see as their enemies.”
In this respect, Discordia not only captures a sense of history unfolding, but offers hope that a resolution can be reached through healthy debate and by putting a human face on the people who can eloquently speak their way through the emotionally supercharged weight of the current Mideast conflict.
There is a free screening of Discordia tomorrow (Feb. 3) at 9 p.m. at OISE (252 Bloor W.), with the filmmakers in attendance. You can also catch the film on CBC Newsworld’s documentary program Rough Cuts on Wed., Feb. 4 at 10 pm.
