EVENTS- New Chechnya Documentary Screenings, Washington and New York, Apr 17/23
Posted by: Almut Rochowanski <almut@chechnyaadvocacy.org>
"Berkat and Marsho" – Happiness and Freedom
A documentary about the formative years and experiences of Chechen
children growing up in refugee camps and post-war Chechnya, followed
by a discussion with Jana Hradilkova, co-founder and program director
of the Czech civic association "Berkat" working with the Chechen children.
April 17, 2008 – Washington, DC:
Goethe Institute
812 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC
6-8 pm
An American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus (ACPC) at Freedom
House event. (Please send your RSVPs to intern-acpc@freedomhouse.org.)
April 23, 2006 - New York:
Room 1219
International Affairs Building
Columbia University
420 West 118th Street
New York
12pm
A Chechnya Advocacy Network/Harriman Institute Event
About Marsho and Berkat (David Ealek / Czech Republic / 2007 / 52 min)
The children's dance group Marsho came into being in the Sputnik
refugee camp on the Chechen-Ingush border. Over 9,000 Chechen refugees
have been living here for more than five years. Following the massacre
of civilians in Chechnya, an organisation called Berkat was set up in
the Czech Republic with the aim of helping victims, in particular
women. In 2003 Berkat set up a tour by the Marsho children's dance
group in the Czech Republic. The aim was both to allow the children to
experience something other than the horrors of war, and to draw the
attention of Czechs to the desperate situation in a country with a
media blackout. In 2006 Berkat decided to invite the children again.
In the meantime the Sputnik camp had been broken up and the children
had been scattered around Chechnya. Many things had changed in their
lives. They themselves had also changed and their reception in the
Czech Republic was different too. They were no longer pitiful war
children grateful for cuddly toys. Suddenly they had become demanding
young people with an uncertain future seen by some as young terrorists.
Berkat has worked with Marsho since 2001. The film was produced from
footage shot over three years and includes an introduction to the
conflict in Chechnya. It screened at the Czech film festival "One
World", where it was voted an audience favorite. In addition to
interviews with journalist and Berkat founder Petra Prochazkova and
Berkat program director Jana Hradilkova, there are interviews with
young Chechens with whom Berkat has been working since they were
children. The film is fundamentally about the importance of building
lasting relationships between an isolated Chechnya and the open
societies of the outside world.
More events at www.chechnyaadvocacy.org/events.html.
Almut Rochowanski
Coordinator, Programs and Advocacy
Chechnya Advocacy Network
almut@chechnyaadvocacy.org
www.chechnyaadvocacy.org
(1) 212 459 9363
(1) 646 467 0637 (mobile)
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