DOXA program | sat may 25

The greatest challenge to human resilience may lie in the often solitary struggle to embrace life after one has faced death or witnessed the horror of "evil done by one human being to another" (Facing Death ... Facing Life). At the heart of that struggle is the effort to find meaning in the past, reconcile with the present, and face the future with hope. The films in this program explore the creative and courageous paths to healing taken by individuals who have survived the assaults of political oppression, wartime occupation, unjust imprisonment, and deep personal loss. From South Africa under apartheid to France under Nazi control, their eloquent stories illuminate both the best and the worst that human beings are capable of.

Community Sponsor: Common Ground Magazine

Rigor Mortis
Director: Lauren Mainland (Canada, 2001, 3 min, super 8 & scratch animation)

Blending altered "home-video" family images and animated text scratched on film, Mainland creates a poetic, whimsical look at grief, in response to her father's sudden death.

Facing Death, Facing Life
Director: Ingrid Gavshon (South Africa, 2000, 52 min,video)

In May 1984, a rent increase arbitrarily imposed by the apartheid regime on the townspeople of Sharpeville triggered an uprising that would change the lives of six people and the course of South Africa's future. Known around the world as the Sharpeville Six, these five men and one woman were sentenced to death simply for being present at a protest where an official was killed.

Produced not long after South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission had gained notice around the world, this film tells the story, through the eyes of Duma Kumalo, of the three years endured by the Six on death row, and Kumalo's reprieve only 15 hours before his scheduled hanging. Though freed as a result of the turning political tide in South Africa, Kumalo's journey to a new life came slowly as he met others who endured similar experiences and began to reconcile with the past. Powerful and quietly moving, this film reaches beyond the specifics of South African apartheid to the struggles of people everywhere who have survived the violence of oppressive regimes.

Sisters in Resistance
Director: Maia Weschsler (USA / France, 2000, 60 min, video)

"Indignation is something that can move a mountain. It is the strongest emotion." Germaine Tillion, Sisters in Resistance When the Nazis marched into Paris in May of 1940, four young French women were among those who refused to accept defeat. Destined to become lifelong friends, these women risked their lives to begin the activities that would develop into the French Resistance. Now past eighty, they recount their wartime efforts, their imprisonment in the women's concentration camp at Ravensbruck and the daily acts of courage and tenderness that contributed to their survival. They talk of what compelled them to resist, the struggle to rebuild their lives after the war, and their enduring efforts to defend human rights and justice. Enriching their stories with archival footage, Wechsler has created not just a compelling document about women's role during World War II, but a testament to the power of intense friendship to sustain four remarkable women through adversity and throughout their subsequent lives.

Running time: 115 minutes

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