Breaking down barriers through film
Journalists from Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh filming short documentaries about life in their societies.
View the photo gallery for more images from these films or watch them on YouTube.
In the early 1990s Armenians and Azerbaijanis fought a bitter war over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh. More than 25,000 people were killed and up to a million displaced from their homes.
Since the war ended in 1994, ordinary people on both sides have had virtually no contact. A whole new generation has grown up knowing almost nothing about each other. Many have never actually seen a person from ‘the other side’.
In 2006 Conciliation Resources launched a unique initiative called Dialogue Through Film to try to build some bridges across the conflict divide. The idea was to give young people in Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh a chance to talk directly to each other by helping them make short films about their lives.
Achievements
The result is a series of films charting the hopes, fears, sadness and humour of people living with the day-to-day consequences of conflict.
As well as learning about film-making, the 20 young people involved so far have also been learning crucial lessons about each other. For many, meeting for the first time was daunting. But by attending joint training courses and watching their films together, they were able to talk through emotions and difficult issues, and start to build professional relationships and sometimes friendships.
“When you start to talk normally to one person,” said one participant, “you start to think differently about his whole nation too.”
In September 2007 the team visited London for a screening of their films at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The audience included many Azerbaijani and Armenian expatriates, for whom the chance to glimpse life on the other side proved unsettling and prompted some tough, thought-provoking questions.
More showings took place in 2008 at a regional media conference in France, in community centres in Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh, and on two regional satellite television channels.
During 2008 the project moved into a second phase of joint film production. Two meetings took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, in April and December discuss and review materials for six joint films.
In 2009 the team plan to invite another 10 young film-makers to take part in the project. Four more films will be made and work is underway to produce a second DVD featuring some new output.
The challenge for the year ahead is to organize the first round of local community screenings in Azerbaijan, to hold further screenings across Armenia and Karabakh, and to continue negotiations to get some films shown on television in the region.
Awards
In July 2009 one of the team's films won an award at the Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Armenia. Caucasian Niece tells the story of an Azeri woman from Nagorny Karabakh who remained after the war and hasn't see her family for over a decade. It follows her journey from Karabakh to a small Ukrainian town for an emotional reunion with her much-loved uncle and cousins.
Films now on YouTube
You can watch these films online, take a look at our Dialogue Through Film photo gallery or read a BBC website feature on the project: in English and Russian.
Reflections from the Dialogue Through Film team
“We wanted to make good films but we also wanted to help ourselves and others to think differently … these films show that we might have different aspirations but war is not the way to solve our conflict.” Participant
"When we started the project we were five Azeris and five Karabakhis, now at the end we are ten journalists.” Participant
“Before, I thought Azerbaijanis were our enemies, I never thought I'd be able to sit down with them, have a cup of tea and a chat, but during this project I met Azerbaijanis for the first time and they've become my friends. I didn’t feel any barriers between us.” Suzanna Seyranyan, 20
"Our first meeting was very tense but it was a good way for us all to pour out all our emotions. And when we'd worked through all those emotions we were able to start talking to one another like normal people. We didn't really need to meet up again in Tbilisi because we were able to keep in touch with each other via the internet, to discuss things about the project. On a purely human level I can tell you that when you able to talk normally to one person, then through that contact you start to think differently about his whole nation too." Naira Arumyan, Karabakh project coordinator, speaking on the BBC World Service *
"Yes, there's a feeling of hopelessness in our films, but it's very important that it's there. It's a feeling that's going to stay with us all until people begin to understand the reality of our situation. If we continue to live the way we do now, then for centuries to come we're going to be existing side by side as enemies, hating each other and with no diplomatic relations. And when at long last we begin to understand that, then perhaps we'll be able to say that this sense of hopelessness has actually in some way helped us." Ayaz Salayev, Internews Azerbaijan, speaking on the BBC World Service *
"I think that while politicians obviously have a big role to play, society also has to take responsibility. Our project is important because we have 10 young journalists - five each from Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh. The fact that they're prepared to take part in this project, to work together, to try to understand each other better, to me shows that there are young people in society who are ready to take on that responsibility, who want to try to understand each other, to respect each other and through their films to show what their societies are like. Our film makers are trying to speak to their colleagues on the other side, to say to them this is who we are, this is what we want, these are our aspirations, and then to ask each other how can all our aspirations co-exist peacefully." Jonathan Cohen, CR, speaking on the BBC World Service *
*BBC World Service quotes are from the transcript of interviews by Keti Bochorishvili with coordinators of the Dialogue through Film project in April 2007.
