Salome Jashi shows and talks about young generation raised in patriotic camps
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Salome Jashi is a documentary filmmaker based in Georgia. She was born in 1981 in the Soviet Union and grew up during the struggle for the country’s independence and a period of civil wars. After earning her first degree in journalism she went on to study documentary filmmaking at Royal Holloway University in London.
Salome’s films have been screened at the National Portrait Gallery in London, 2006, the Leipzig International Film Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, 2007, the George Pompidu Center as part of Cinйma du Rйel in Paris, 2007 and One World Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Prague, 2009.
Her last film “Leader is Always Right” was welcomed by Georgian audiences. The film documents the government established “patriotic camps.” Young people from all over Georgia spend summer time there. Jashi showed the situation within camps, with teachers and leaders teaching patriotism in a straightforward way. For example, one of the teachers urged a boy to stay in a camp: “You are good material for a man.”
However, others criticized Jashi for exaggerating the reality of the camps, choosing to pick only one camp to represent all of the camps.
Q: How and when did you come up with the idea to shoot “Leader is Always Right?”
A: The idea that patriotic camps would be interesting to observe and film came to my mind when the camps were first established in 2005. What attracted me was the name ‘patriotic’ and that they were initiated by some major political party activists. It was the ideology that could possibly be preached there that intrigued me.
Q: You chose one particular camp to represent the whole system of patriotic camps. How did you pick that particular one, according to what criteria and did it show the full picture?
A: Vartshikhe camp was a random choice. I did not have much time for research as camps opened late last year. Vartsikhe was close to Tbilisi, where we were located, and I selected the characters only after actually going to Vartsikhe.
Some might claim that these two characters do not actually show the camps, but in fact the story is not about these people, the story is about standard things in the camps – like slogans, the understanding of patriotism. In another camp, in Ganmukhuri, I saw people shouting out: ‘Glory to Misha’ (President of Georgia?), which I consider to be brainwashing. Some leaders are even members of the National Movement Party (President’s party), which is also worse than the case of Beso, the film character.
There were certain oddities that I did not show in the film, such as that the camp director, who is deputy governor of one of the regions and a member of the National Movement Party, and who eventually owned the only shop in the camp selling products at twice the regular price.
Therefore, my aim, as a film director, was not to show negative sides of particular persons. No way. My aim was to show the system, ideas preached to young people born after the Soviet Union and the new generation that is coming up. I wanted to know what their values were and what were the values and ideas that were talked about in patriotic camps.
Q: For you, what was the most unacceptable thing in that camp and how did it affect telling your documentary?
A: There are some bad and some good sides to these camps. It’s really great for some young people from different regions - villages and towns to meet each other and have an opportunity to spend some 10 days independently. I’m sure this is very important for them. But as the camps are funded from the state budget, we, the taxpayers, don’t pay just for this. We happen to pay for the minds of these kids being transformed into some other kind of minds and this is what matters. And, this is not only about a certain understanding of patriotism, but also a certain understanding of obedience and unity.
Q: The film’s title is “Leader is Always Right.” Why did you focus so much on this idea?
A: Some critics consider that this phrase is just mentioned by the leader of the group to establish discipline in the camp and not for further intentions. In other words, does the content of your film fully comply with the title?
Of course the rule that The Leader Is Always Right is for discipline and it’s also a partly funny rule. However, it can be easily perceived seriously, as it is with the young boy in the film. And generally, I think, this slogan is, in a way, an idea behind the camps. Even without this written rule, the idea of hierarchy and obedience is very important here. Possibly, it’s even more important than the idea of patriotism. Patriotism is a tool, an idea to unite around. When an ideal exists, it’s easy to control. Maybe, what I’m considering is too far-out, but at least that was the impression I gradually understood while being in the camp.
Q: Did “patriots” watch your film and what did they say about the film?
A: Some patriots were present at the screening at the Goethe Institute in Tbilisi. Since the reaction from the audience was rather harsh, they (the patriots) were rather unpleased. I’m not sure about the reactions of others.
Q: Some opponents blame you for bias. Should a documentary just describe reality or give the possibility of its interpretation? In other words, how does documentary differs from other mediums, such as, TV or print?
A: Documentary filmmaking is not about journalism. And, no reality can be expressed as an actual reality through any means. Of course my mind was not sterile when I went to film the camps. Usually before filming I try to think as little as possible about my attitude towards the place and the people being filmed. There is a Russian filmmaker Viktor Kossakovsky, who I fancy a lot. He says something like, ‘don’t film when you either love or hate.’ I think this is very important. A straightforward attitude can be a disaster. I am for controversies.
Q: How do you think your film serves its final aim? Would you change anything if you had a chance to reshoot it?
A: Honestly, I don’t think that films serve final aims. Maybe the camps serve a final aim, but hopefully not my film. But, if I had a chance I would film more. First of all, I’d film the school of leaders, which was coincidentally cancelled last year but should be resumed this year.
Q: What film are you working on now and when will it be finished?
A: Right now, I’m working on a completely different type of documentary. The style is more close to me. It is more mine. It’s a one-hour observational film with the working title “Restaurant Bakhmaro” and “Those Who Work There.” Hopefully, it’s complete within several months.
Interview by Eka Chitanava, Photo by Temo Bardzimashvili
12.02.2010 |
