Assesses the success of UN efforts in rebuilding Kosovo.
Blind Trust
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
BLIND TRUST delves into the life and work of psychiatrist Dr. Vamik Volkan, a five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee who has spent over four decades bringing enemy groups together in areas of conflict all over the world.
BLIND TRUST traces Dr. Volkan's life journey from his birthplace on the ethnically divided island of Cyprus to his development of a model of diplomacy based on the emotional life of nations.
This look into his pioneering fieldwork and peace-building missions in Europe, the Middle East, and the US sheds light on how large-group identity and shared trauma can both unite us and divide us for generations.
'An amazing, moving, accessible film about the unconscious dynamics, large group identities, and shared trauma that lie behind political movements.' Ed Shapiro, Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical Professor, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University
'An excellent, haunting, and profound film. Dr. Volkan's direct experiences with violent, deeply divided societies and psychiatric training has provided him with unique insights into the historical trauma and primitive tribalism that perpetuates misery in so many of these godforsaken lands. He provides a language for understanding their more hidden dynamics and a sense of hope and possibility in places where they are rare commodities. A must see for all students of conflict and human nature.' Peter T. Coleman, Professor of Psychology and Education, Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia University, Author, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization
'Blind Trust examines Dr. Vamik Volkan's key insight that collective trauma underlies many of today's most intractable civil wars and international conflicts. The activation of collective grievances by populist and authoritarian political leaders can undermine democracy and promote violence. Understanding the collective psychology of communal conflict and its political effects is a key prerequisite for diplomacy and peacemaking. Blind Trust illustrates these ideas through real world examples, including Volkan's own on-the-ground work in Estonia and Georgia. An important resource for instructors and students of international relations.' David Skidmore, Professor of Politics, Drake University, Author, The Unilateralist Temptation in American Foreign Policy
'Every diplomat and diplomat-in-training should see this film.' Howard Stein, Professor Emeritus of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma, Poet Laureate, High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology
'An enthralling portrait of a remarkable humanitarian who deploys a cosmopolitan psychoanalysis to give new language and cure to the quintessential ailment of our time - the alchemical role of individual, ethnic, and national narcissism in fostering hatred and sectarian violence.' Robert Stam, University Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University
'A truly beautiful piece of film art...A cinematic triumph.' Joseph Montville, former diplomat, Director of Healing Historical Memory, The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
'One can see in this film a special aura around this man who has managed to witness the worst of humanity yet bring faith and love to the saddest situation.' Ann Bennett Mix, Founder, American WWII Orphans Network
'Both beginners in the field of trauma psychology and conflict resolution and experienced professionals will get much from watching this film...An excellent presentation as part of trauma psychology education.' Renate Gronvold Bugge, psychologist and consultant, The Red Cross and Norwegian Peoples' Aid
'A film that suggests there is no conflict on earth that cannot be unlocked and calmed down, if combatants and victims can learn to mourn.' Blaine Harden, The Washington Post's former bureau chief in Europe, Asia and Africa
'A film about the roaming and charismatic Vamik Volkan, the Anthony Quinn of psychoanalysis.' Herbert Weiner, Social Worker and Scholar
'Drawing on a mix of historical footage and interviews with Professor Vamik Volkan and trauma survivors, this documentary introduces viewers to the roles played by chosen traumas and large group identities in processes of conflict resolution, reconciliation, and healing. Using examples from conflicts in places including Serbia, Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine and the former Soviet Union, Blind Trust helps identify the importance of psychology.' Maia Hallward, Professor of Middle East Politics, Kennesaw State University, Editor, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development
'Invaluable documentary...Moving...A living and painful story, intimate and at the same time universal, which delves into the history of this man and his people but which, metaphorically, concerns each and every human being.' Rossella Valdre, Free Associations: Psychoanalysis and Culture, Media, Groups, Politics
'Timely...The documentary walks the viewer through many of its subject's central theoretical ideas and ethnographic observations, which are certainly worthy of engaging and reexamining during this period of global unrest, regression toward ahistorical pseudo-nativism, and a frightening trend in which authoritarian forms of governance are making gains in countries around the globe.' Matthew Steinfeld, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
'Thought-provoking...In these polarized times we would all do well to spend more time thinking ourselves out of our own bubbles; we would all profit from understanding the personal histories and slow-burn grievances that shape our own sense of Us and Them.' Elizabeth Pisani, The Lancet
'An artistically rich and arresting documentary...Castelloe's documentary highlights Vamik Volkan's emphasis on continued dialogue and outreach to connect, to listen, and to understand...Castelloe has done a masterful job metabolizing, synthesizing and integrating an enormous body of complex work into an artistic expression. Both in language and in her artistic choices she has made Vamik Volkan's formulations accessible to all who are interested in humanity, loss and conflict. Accessibility is an essential gift of art. 'Anne Brantley Segall, Psychoanalytic Social Work
'Sensitive and informative...An important contribution to the understanding of conflict and crisis on different levels of society...The message is the importance of understanding and bilateral recognition when looking for conflict solutions, as well as focusing on the impact of large-group identity on many different levels, especially when working with diplomacy in conflict areas. Both beginners in the field of trauma psychology and conflict solution and experienced professionals will get much from watching this movie and it would make an excellent presentation as part of trauma psychology education.' Renate Gronvold Bugge, Organisational and Social Dynamics
'The creation of this film...could not come at a more propitious moment...By applying psychodynamic principles to the broader realm of large groups, Volkan is pointing the way toward a possible survival. And the filmmaker Molly Castelloe has enhanced that work.' Carl Jacobs, News and Reviews, The National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis
'Vamik Volkan is truly un homme extraordinaire!...The documentary...carries an inspirational admonition for psychoanalysts to give thought to what we might do to help relieve human suffering and promote human well-being beyond the confines of our consulting rooms. As such, it is a very welcome contribution to our profession.' Martin A. Silverman, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly
'With many existing local, national, and international group and societal conflicts, there is a current need for a broader audience to learn about and consider Volkan's work in an effort for peace...All peacemakers, particularly those with backgrounds in psychology, can learn from and benefit from Volkan's ideas that are clearly portrayed in this film in a compelling manner.' Stephanie Miodus, The Peace Psychologist
Citation
Main credits
Castelloe, Molly (film director)
Castelloe, Molly (film producer)
Volkan, Vamik D. (interviewee)
Other credits
Cinematography, Felix Andrews, Kurt Ossenfort; David Bartner & Molly Castelloe, editors; Giovanni Spinelli, original music.
Distributor subjects
Human Rights; Migration and Refugees; Psychology; Social Psychology; War and PeaceKeywords
00:00:01.836 --> 00:00:04.706
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:09.244
VAMIK: HISTORY AFFECTS US
WHETHER WE KNOW IT OR NOT.
00:00:20.689 --> 00:00:23.058
I WAS BORN IN CYPRUS,
00:00:23.191 --> 00:00:26.428
AN ISLAND
IN MEDITERRANEAN SEA.
00:00:28.029 --> 00:00:31.566
THERE WERE GREEKS
AND TURKS.
00:00:31.700 --> 00:00:36.171
EARLIER, THE ISLAND
WAS AN OTTOMAN ISLAND.
00:00:41.576 --> 00:00:45.280
WHEN I WAS BORN,
CYPRUS WAS A BRITISH COLONY.
00:00:45.413 --> 00:00:49.017
[GUNSHOTS
AND INDISTINCT VOICES]
00:00:51.886 --> 00:00:56.257
AND THEN WHEN BRITISH LEFT
IN EARLY 1960's,
00:00:56.391 --> 00:00:59.527
PEOPLE IN CYPRUS START FIGHTING,
GREEKS AND TURKS...
00:00:59.661 --> 00:01:01.196
[MACHINE GUN FIRING]
00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:05.266
AND TURKS GOT SEPARATED
FROM GREEKS.
00:01:07.502 --> 00:01:09.371
MY PEOPLE--
I'M A CYPRIOT TURK--
00:01:09.504 --> 00:01:11.673
THEY WERE PUT
IN ENCLAVES
00:01:11.806 --> 00:01:14.509
IN CERTAIN PARTS
OF THE CITIES
00:01:14.642 --> 00:01:17.712
IN ABSOLUTELY
SUBHUMAN CONDITIONS.
00:01:17.846 --> 00:01:20.982
AROUND THAT TIME,
I'M NOW A NEW ASSISTANT
00:01:21.116 --> 00:01:24.052
AT UNIVERSITY
OF NORTH CAROLINA.
00:01:24.185 --> 00:01:26.054
[BELLS TOLLING]
00:01:26.187 --> 00:01:29.591
AND ONE DAY, I TURNED
TELEVISION ON.
00:01:29.724 --> 00:01:31.226
NEWSMAN: THE FIGHTING
BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY
00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.894
ESCALATED TODAY
ON THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
00:01:33.027 --> 00:01:34.529
NEWSWOMAN: ...THE FIGHTING
ON CYPRUS IS FIERCE
00:01:34.662 --> 00:01:37.866
AND THE CITY
OF NICOSIA IS SURROUNDED.
00:01:37.999 --> 00:01:40.435
I SAW MY MOTHER
AND MY SISTER RUNNING.
00:01:40.568 --> 00:01:42.437
GREEKS HAD COME,
SHOOTING OR SOMETHING,
00:01:42.570 --> 00:01:46.241
AND MY SISTER AND MY MOTHER
WERE ESCAPING
00:01:46.374 --> 00:01:49.310
WITH FACES FULL OF FEAR.
00:01:52.714 --> 00:01:56.418
A FEW MINUTES LATER,
I THOUGHT THAT I HALLUCINATED,
00:01:56.551 --> 00:01:59.087
BECAUSE OF MY GUILT--
I WAS LIVING IN AMERICA,
00:01:59.220 --> 00:02:03.691
AND THEY WERE HAVING
SUCH A HARD TIME.
00:02:03.825 --> 00:02:05.860
SO, THE NEXT MORNING...
00:02:05.994 --> 00:02:09.564
NBC SHOWED
THE SAME PICTURE.
00:02:09.697 --> 00:02:12.867
NEWSMAN: SMALL-ARMS FIRE COULD
BE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
00:02:13.001 --> 00:02:16.070
VAMIK: BUT THIS TIME,
I HAD MY WIFE NEXT TO ME,
00:02:16.204 --> 00:02:19.707
AND SO I KNOW
THAT THEY WERE REAL.
00:02:19.841 --> 00:02:22.710
NARRATOR: A TURK
FROM THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS,
00:02:22.844 --> 00:02:25.880
VAMIK VOLKAN GREW UP IN A NATION
RIDDEN WITH VIOLENCE
00:02:26.014 --> 00:02:28.383
DUE TO IMPERIALISM,
ENFORCED BORDERS,
00:02:28.516 --> 00:02:31.886
AND CLASHING ETHNIC
AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS.
00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:33.521
THE LESSONS
OF HIS HOMELAND
00:02:33.655 --> 00:02:37.058
INFORMED HIS
REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS.
00:02:37.192 --> 00:02:39.894
VAMIK HAS CREATED
A NEW VOCABULARY
00:02:40.028 --> 00:02:42.730
FOR UNDERSTANDING
THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT
00:02:42.864 --> 00:02:46.167
OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
00:02:54.075 --> 00:03:00.181
DIPLOMACY IS RELATED TO WHAT
IS KNOWN AS "REALPOLITIK,"
00:03:00.315 --> 00:03:04.652
USE YOUR LOGIC
AND YOU PROTECT YOUR NATION,
00:03:04.786 --> 00:03:07.522
AND I GIVE YOU SOME,
YOU GIVE ME SOME, AND SO ON.
00:03:07.655 --> 00:03:11.526
IT WORKS VERY WELL
WHEN THINGS ARE KIND OF ROUTINE,
00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:14.162
BUT IN A WORLD NOW...
00:03:14.295 --> 00:03:17.232
WE ARE IN A HUGE
TRANSITION PERIOD
00:03:17.365 --> 00:03:21.102
TOWARDS THIS NEW
CIVILIZATION.
00:03:24.072 --> 00:03:25.807
AFTER SOVIET UNION
COLLAPSED,
00:03:25.940 --> 00:03:28.042
AFTER COLONIALISTS
LEFT AFRICA,
00:03:28.176 --> 00:03:31.646
AFTER WHAT HAPPENED
IN INDIA, SOUTH AMERICA,
00:03:31.779 --> 00:03:35.583
TERRORISM, GLOBALIZATION,
00:03:35.717 --> 00:03:42.156
MIGRATION BECAME SO GREAT
AROUND THE GLOBE.
00:03:42.290 --> 00:03:45.260
THIS IS WHY WE HAVE FEELINGS
00:03:45.393 --> 00:03:48.229
THAT PEOPLE WILL COME
FROM MEXICO.
00:03:48.363 --> 00:03:51.232
WITHIN 10 YEARS,
THE POPULATION IN VIENNA--
00:03:51.366 --> 00:03:54.235
VIENNA, THE CAPITAL
OF CHRISTIAN WORLD--
00:03:54.369 --> 00:03:58.740
IN 10 YEARS, 40% OF VIENNA
WILL BE MUSLIMS.
00:03:58.873 --> 00:04:00.775
WORLD CHANGING.
00:04:00.909 --> 00:04:04.512
THERE'S ANXIETY.
THERE'S FEELINGS ABOUT IT.
00:04:04.646 --> 00:04:06.514
DIPLOMACY HAS TO CHANGE.
00:04:06.648 --> 00:04:09.851
WE HAVE NOT YET
CAUGHT UP WITH IT.
00:04:09.852 --> 00:04:12.555
BECAUSE OF THE NUCLEAR AGE,
WE FOUND ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY,
00:04:12.688 --> 00:04:14.557
BUT THE PSYCHOLOGY
OF HUMAN BEINGS
00:04:14.690 --> 00:04:18.861
HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED.
WE DID NOT PAY ATTENTION TO IT.
00:04:18.995 --> 00:04:22.265
[APPLAUSE]
00:04:26.369 --> 00:04:29.138
[PRESIDENT SADAT
SPEAKING ARABIC]
00:04:42.051 --> 00:04:44.253
JERRY: A TURNING POINT
IN HIS CAREER
00:04:44.387 --> 00:04:48.758
WAS WHEN ANWAR SADAT SAID
THAT 70% OF THE TROUBLE
00:04:48.891 --> 00:04:52.128
BETWEEN THE ARAB WORLD
AND ISRAEL WAS PSYCHOLOGICAL.
00:05:05.676 --> 00:05:07.044
VAMIK TOOK THAT TO HEART.
00:05:07.178 --> 00:05:09.614
HE WAS A STRAIGHTFORWARD
PSYCHOANALYST,
00:05:09.747 --> 00:05:11.616
HE SAW PATIENTS FOR
A LONG TIME.
00:05:11.749 --> 00:05:13.618
HE HAD A FULL
CLINICAL PRACTICE.
00:05:13.751 --> 00:05:17.121
HIS OWN IDIOSYNCRATIC TURN
WAS IN THE DIRECTION
00:05:17.255 --> 00:05:20.124
OF TRYING TO APPLY
PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTS
00:05:20.258 --> 00:05:23.127
TO SOCIAL CONFLICTS,
MEANING LOOKING AT THEM
00:05:23.261 --> 00:05:27.365
THROUGH THE LENS OF CONCEPTS
LIKE THE UNCONSCIOUS
00:05:27.498 --> 00:05:29.634
AND PROJECTION
AND GROUP REGRESSION
00:05:29.767 --> 00:05:32.169
AND IDENTITY.
00:05:33.771 --> 00:05:36.807
HE'S THE FIRST PSYCHOANALYST
TO HAVE DONE THAT,
00:05:36.941 --> 00:05:39.977
AND HE'S CERTAINLY DEDICATED
A LOT OF TIME, OVER 30 YEARS,
00:05:40.111 --> 00:05:42.113
IN TRYING TO COME
TO AN UNDERSTANDING
00:05:42.246 --> 00:05:46.817
OF THOSE THINGS AND ACTUALLY
TRIED TO REALLY CONTRIBUTE
00:05:46.951 --> 00:05:48.486
TO SOLVING SOME PROBLEMS.
00:05:50.788 --> 00:05:53.324
NARRATOR: THE FOUNDATION
OF VAMIK'S RADICAL APPROACH
00:05:53.457 --> 00:05:56.093
TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
IS LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY,
00:05:56.227 --> 00:05:57.495
SOMETHING HE DISCOVERED
00:05:57.628 --> 00:06:00.431
DURING HIS EARLY EXPERIENCES
IN THE FIELD.
00:06:00.564 --> 00:06:02.433
VAMIK: I GOT INVOLVED
00:06:02.566 --> 00:06:05.569
IN BRINGING ARABS
AND ISRAELIS TOGETHER.
00:06:05.703 --> 00:06:10.341
WE BROUGHT IN PALESTINIANS,
AND ONE DAY, DR. EYAD AL-SARRAJ,
00:06:10.474 --> 00:06:12.343
WHO IS A PSYCHIATRIST,
PALESTINIAN PSYCHIATRIST,
00:06:12.476 --> 00:06:15.947
WAS SITTING NEXT TO GENERAL
SHLOMO GAZIT, ISRAELI GENERAL.
00:06:16.080 --> 00:06:19.283
GENERAL GAZIT WAS THE HERO
OF SIX DAY WAR,
00:06:19.417 --> 00:06:22.753
WHERE HE WAS IN CHARGE
OF ALL THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES.
00:06:22.887 --> 00:06:26.123
HERE'S THE GENERAL SITTING,
AND NEXT TO HIM,
00:06:26.257 --> 00:06:30.127
A YOUNGER PALESTINIAN
PSYCHIATRIST SITTING,
00:06:30.261 --> 00:06:32.697
AND EYAD PUTS HIS HAND
IN HIS POCKET AND SAID,
00:06:32.830 --> 00:06:36.300
"AS LONG AS I HAVE THIS,
00:06:36.434 --> 00:06:40.972
I CAN SURVIVE,
AND I CAN BE SOMEBODY."
00:06:41.105 --> 00:06:43.140
AND WE WONDERED
ABOUT THIS.
00:06:43.274 --> 00:06:45.376
IT TURNED OUT TO BE
A SMALL STONE.
00:06:47.445 --> 00:06:51.315
PALESTINIAN COLORS
WERE PAINTED ON IT.
00:06:51.449 --> 00:06:55.453
HE TOLD US OF MANY PALESTINIANS
IN GAZA IN THOSE DAYS,
00:06:55.586 --> 00:06:57.121
THAT WAS THEIR
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY,
00:06:57.254 --> 00:06:58.723
AND THEY HAD
TO PROTECT IT.
00:06:58.856 --> 00:07:01.826
[CHANTING]
00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.662
[SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]
00:07:09.900 --> 00:07:12.103
VAMIK: HUMAN BEINGS
LIVE IN GROUPS,
00:07:12.236 --> 00:07:14.105
LARGE GROUPS,
ETHNIC GROUPS,
00:07:14.238 --> 00:07:16.941
NATIONAL GROUPS,
POLITICAL GROUPS, AND SO ON.
00:07:19.377 --> 00:07:23.981
"LARGE GROUP" MEANS
A GROUP OF PEOPLE
00:07:24.115 --> 00:07:27.618
WHO SHARE
CERTAIN SENTIMENTS,
00:07:27.752 --> 00:07:29.387
CULTURE,
00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:31.589
FOODS, DANCES,
00:07:31.722 --> 00:07:33.958
NURSERY RHYMES,
00:07:34.091 --> 00:07:36.427
AND HISTORY.
00:07:38.095 --> 00:07:41.132
GROUPS, SOME
OF THEM 10,000,
00:07:41.265 --> 00:07:42.800
SOME OF THEM
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS,
00:07:42.933 --> 00:07:44.802
SOME OF THEM MILLIONS,
00:07:44.935 --> 00:07:48.406
PEOPLE WHO WILL NEVER SEE EACH
OTHER DURING THEIR LIFETIMES.
00:07:48.539 --> 00:07:51.308
THEY SHARE
THE SAME SENTIMENTS,
00:07:51.442 --> 00:07:54.445
SAME SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS,
00:07:54.578 --> 00:08:00.317
AS IF THEY PUT THEMSELF
UNDER A GIGANTIC TENT,
00:08:00.451 --> 00:08:06.090
AND THE CLOTH OF THIS TENT
BELONGS TO EVERYBODY.
00:08:06.223 --> 00:08:08.125
THAT'S CALLED
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY.
00:08:08.259 --> 00:08:12.763
WHEN I GOT INTO
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
00:08:12.897 --> 00:08:15.766
I SOON REALIZED
THAT THIS ABSTRACT CONCEPT,
00:08:15.900 --> 00:08:23.441
IDENTITY, IS THE KEY CONCEPT
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
00:08:24.909 --> 00:08:26.977
WHEN I WAS GOING
TO MEDICAL SCHOOL,
00:08:27.111 --> 00:08:29.447
I HAD A ROOMMATE
IN ANKARA.
00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:32.116
HE WAS A COUPLE OF YEARS
YOUNGER THAN I,
00:08:32.249 --> 00:08:34.151
ALSO GOING
TO MEDICAL SCHOOL,
00:08:34.285 --> 00:08:37.455
AND HE GOES TO CYPRUS
TO VISIT HIS AILING MOTHER.
00:08:37.588 --> 00:08:39.457
HE GOES TO THE PHARMACY,
00:08:39.590 --> 00:08:45.629
AND GREEK TERRORISTS SHOOT HIM
SEVEN TIMES AND KILL HIM.
00:08:45.763 --> 00:08:49.300
I DID NOT KNOW IT THEN,
BUT NOW I KNOW MORE ABOUT IT.
00:08:49.433 --> 00:08:54.605
HE WAS KILLED
IN THE NAME OF IDENTITY.
00:08:54.738 --> 00:08:57.475
THEY KILLED HIM
BECAUSE HE REPRESENTED
00:08:57.608 --> 00:09:02.746
A FUTURE BRIGHT MAN...
00:09:02.880 --> 00:09:05.416
COULD BE BRIGHT MAN
IN THE SOCIETY.
00:09:05.549 --> 00:09:07.418
THEY WANTED TO HURT
THE PEOPLE
00:09:07.551 --> 00:09:10.588
WHO BELONG TO ANOTHER IDENTITY
BY KILLING HIM.
00:09:10.721 --> 00:09:13.224
HUMANS, WE ARE KILLERS.
00:09:13.357 --> 00:09:15.292
PSYCHOANALYST
ERIK ERIKSON
00:09:15.426 --> 00:09:18.262
WONDERED WHY HUMANS
KILL EACH OTHER.
00:09:18.395 --> 00:09:21.932
WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT
OR LIONS FIGHT,
00:09:22.066 --> 00:09:24.135
THEY DON'T
KILL EACH OTHER.
00:09:24.268 --> 00:09:30.941
A MAMMAL ANIMAL KILLS
THE ANIMALS IN OTHER SPECIES.
00:09:34.745 --> 00:09:39.783
BUT HUMAN ANIMAL,
WE...WE KILL EACH OTHER.
00:09:39.917 --> 00:09:42.353
WE ARE THE KILLERS.
00:09:45.756 --> 00:09:50.461
ERIKSON SAID THAT ONE
LARGE GROUP OF HUMANS
00:09:50.594 --> 00:09:56.467
SEE OTHER LARGE GROUP OF HUMANS
AS PSEUDOSPECIES...
00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.937
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10:00.070 --> 00:10:03.307
AS IF THEY ARE NOT
REALLY HUMAN
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:08.479
OR THEY ARE NOT HUMAN
AT THE LEVEL OF THE FIRST GROUP.
00:10:08.612 --> 00:10:11.815
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10:11.949 --> 00:10:16.520
THIS IS A NORMAL THING
IN HUMAN BEINGS,
00:10:16.654 --> 00:10:23.494
THAT IF YOU STINK,
YOU SAY, "NO, NO. I SMELL NICE.
00:10:23.627 --> 00:10:26.497
IT IS THE OTHER
WHO STINKS."
00:10:26.630 --> 00:10:30.935
WE CALL IT PROJECTION.
00:10:31.068 --> 00:10:35.005
LARGE GROUPS, BECAUSE THEY DON'T
HAVE ONE BRAIN OR TWO EYES,
00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:39.610
LARGE-GROUP INTERACTIONS
ARE VERY PRIMITIVE.
00:10:39.743 --> 00:10:41.512
YOU ARE THE GREATEST.
OTHERS STINK.
00:10:41.645 --> 00:10:43.314
I MEAN, YOU KNOW...
00:10:43.447 --> 00:10:46.250
EITHER YOU LOVE FREEDOM,
OR YOU'RE WITH THE ENEMY.
00:10:46.383 --> 00:10:49.520
I BELIEVE IN AMERICAN
EXCEPTIONALISM,
00:10:49.653 --> 00:10:52.022
JUST AS I SUSPECT
THAT THE BRITS
00:10:52.156 --> 00:10:53.691
BELIEVE IN BRITISH
EXCEPTIONALISM
00:10:53.824 --> 00:10:56.760
AND THE GREEKS BELIEVE
IN GREEK EXCEPTIONALISM.
00:10:56.894 --> 00:10:59.096
BELIEVE ME, OUR PEOPLE
ARE THE SMARTEST
00:10:59.230 --> 00:11:00.631
AND THE HARDEST-WORKING,
00:11:00.764 --> 00:11:03.901
SMARTER THAN ANYBODY
AND THE HARDEST-WORKING.
00:11:04.034 --> 00:11:07.304
WELL, I COME FROM
A TURKISH BACKGROUND,
00:11:07.438 --> 00:11:10.641
AND ONCE UPON A TIME,
TURKS HAD THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE,
00:11:10.774 --> 00:11:12.142
AND YOU READ
HISTORY BOOKS.
00:11:12.276 --> 00:11:15.980
WE WERE LIKE AMERICA.
WE WERE THE GREATEST.
00:11:17.113 --> 00:11:19.816
I WAS IN MOSCOW,
00:11:19.949 --> 00:11:25.021
AND THEY SELL SOVIET
PROPAGANDA POSTERS,
00:11:25.154 --> 00:11:29.158
AND IN ALL OF THEM, AMERICANS
ARE DEPICTED LESS THAN HUMAN.
00:11:29.292 --> 00:11:31.794
WE ARE LIKE ANIMALS.
00:11:31.928 --> 00:11:34.831
WE ARE THE MOST GREEDY
PEOPLE ON EARTH.
00:11:34.964 --> 00:11:37.500
WE ARE EATING UP
EVERYTHING.
00:11:37.634 --> 00:11:41.004
SO THESE KINDS OF THINGS
ARE NORMAL
00:11:41.137 --> 00:11:44.340
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
00:11:44.474 --> 00:11:47.176
WHEN LARGE GROUPS
GO TO KILL EACH OTHER
00:11:47.310 --> 00:11:48.845
AND THEY ARE IN CONFLICT
00:11:48.978 --> 00:11:51.147
AND THE CONFLICT
GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER,
00:11:51.281 --> 00:11:53.016
THE MAIN IDENTITY
OF THESE PEOPLE
00:11:53.149 --> 00:11:55.151
IS LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY.
00:11:55.285 --> 00:11:57.353
YOU WILL DO EVERYTHING,
EVERYTHING
00:11:57.487 --> 00:12:00.189
TO PROTECT YOUR
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY.
00:12:00.323 --> 00:12:06.629
SO, ALL THE THINGS
THAT WE CALL...BORDERS,
00:12:06.763 --> 00:12:09.465
YOU KNOW, MY BENEFITS
VERSUS YOUR BENEFIT,
00:12:09.599 --> 00:12:11.467
AND THEY'RE REAL...
THEY'RE REAL-WORLD ISSUES,
00:12:11.601 --> 00:12:14.304
LEGAL ISSUES,
ECONOMIC ISSUES.
00:12:14.437 --> 00:12:16.806
OH, MY GOD.
SO MANY REAL ISSUES.
00:12:16.939 --> 00:12:19.809
YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM
REALISTICALLY, OF COURSE,
00:12:19.942 --> 00:12:23.313
AS LONG AS THEY ARE OK,
BUT UNDERNEATH,
00:12:23.446 --> 00:12:26.816
THERE ARE THESE LARGE-GROUP
IDENTITY ISSUES,
00:12:26.949 --> 00:12:32.155
AND WHEN THINGS ARE NOT
GOING LOGICALLY,
00:12:32.288 --> 00:12:34.991
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY
ISSUES GET INTO IT.
00:12:35.124 --> 00:12:41.331
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE PEACE
UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THIS.
00:12:41.464 --> 00:12:44.334
NARRATOR: PEOPLE OFTEN THINK
GROUP IDENTITY IS DEFINED
00:12:44.467 --> 00:12:47.437
BY THE FOOD WE EAT,
THE STORIES WE SHARE,
00:12:47.570 --> 00:12:50.073
OR THE COLOR
OF OUR SKIN.
00:12:50.206 --> 00:12:51.841
VAMIK SEES
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY
00:12:51.974 --> 00:12:54.310
DEFINED BY A DIFFERENT
CHARACTERISTIC--
00:12:54.444 --> 00:12:58.114
HOW AND WHAT
A GROUP MOURNS.
00:13:00.252 --> 00:13:02.455
VAMIK: SOMEBODY
YOU LOVE DIES,
00:13:02.588 --> 00:13:04.890
BUT YOU HAVE AN IMAGE
OF THIS PERSON,
00:13:05.024 --> 00:13:06.792
THAT PERSON IN YOUR MIND.
00:13:07.426 --> 00:13:11.630
YOU LOSE SOMEBODY PHYSICALLY,
BUT YOU NEVER LOSE
00:13:11.763 --> 00:13:15.567
THE MENTAL REPRESENTATION,
MENTAL DOUBLE OF THAT PERSON
00:13:15.701 --> 00:13:17.369
UNTIL YOU DIE.
00:13:17.502 --> 00:13:21.773
MOURNING MEANS PREOCCUPATION
WITH THIS MENTAL DOUBLE.
00:13:21.907 --> 00:13:24.142
YOUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE MENTAL DOUBLE
00:13:24.276 --> 00:13:28.380
OF THE DEAD PERSON
CAN BE VERY CREATIVE.
00:13:28.513 --> 00:13:30.249
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:13:30.382 --> 00:13:33.085
NARRATOR: AN INDIAN EMPEROR
BUILT THE TAJ MAHAL
00:13:33.218 --> 00:13:36.355
FOR HIS DECEASED WIFE,
WHO DIED DURING CHILDBIRTH.
00:13:36.488 --> 00:13:39.258
SOME OF MOZART'S WORK
WAS INSPIRED
00:13:39.391 --> 00:13:43.262
BY THE LOSS OF HIS CHILDREN
AND FAMILY.
00:13:43.395 --> 00:13:48.901
EACH INDIVIDUAL FINDS
HIS OR HER OWN WAY TO MOURN.
00:13:49.034 --> 00:13:51.937
VAMIK SAYS MOURNING
IS AS INDIVIDUALIZED
00:13:52.070 --> 00:13:54.106
AS A FINGERPRINT.
00:13:54.239 --> 00:13:58.110
VAMIK: MOURNING CAN BE, ON THE
OTHER HAND, VERY TROUBLESOME.
00:13:58.243 --> 00:14:00.279
YOUR FATHER DIES.
00:14:00.412 --> 00:14:04.049
SIX YEARS LATER,
EVERY NIGHT YOU HAVE DREAMS,
00:14:04.182 --> 00:14:06.718
YOU STRUGGLE.
YOU FIGHT.
00:14:06.852 --> 00:14:09.288
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:14:29.041 --> 00:14:32.744
NARRATOR: WHEN A TRAUMA OCCURS
ON A MASSIVE SCALE,
00:14:32.878 --> 00:14:36.915
LARGE GROUPS HAVE
A SHARED MOURNING PROCESS.
00:14:40.252 --> 00:14:45.157
THERE'S A MENTAL DOUBLE...
SHARED MENTAL DOUBLE...
00:14:46.725 --> 00:14:48.427
OF A TRAUMA.
00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:50.095
A THOUSAND PEOPLE
GOT KILLED,
00:14:50.228 --> 00:14:51.964
A THOUSAND PEOPLE LOST
THEIR HOMES.
00:14:52.097 --> 00:14:56.101
IT'S CONNECTED WITH
HUMILIATION, DEHUMANIZATION,
00:14:56.234 --> 00:14:58.337
MURDER, MUTILATION,
00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:00.772
HORRIBLE THINGS
THAT YOU CANNOT WORK
00:15:00.906 --> 00:15:03.442
THROUGH THE FEELINGS
WITH THAT.
00:15:05.844 --> 00:15:11.216
SO "MOURNING" MEANS
WHAT SOCIETY DOES
00:15:11.350 --> 00:15:16.421
TO DEAL WITH THE MENTAL DOUBLE
OF LOST THINGS.
00:15:18.857 --> 00:15:21.126
WE BUILD MONUMENTS.
00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:39.411
IN THE UNITED STATES,
DURING THE LAST 19 YEARS,
00:15:39.544 --> 00:15:44.916
I HAVE BEEN EXAMINING
THE WORLD WAR II ORPHANS
00:15:45.050 --> 00:15:47.919
WHEN, IN DAILY LIFE,
WE DON'T EVEN THINK
00:15:48.053 --> 00:15:50.288
ABOUT WORLD WAR II ORPHANS.
00:15:50.422 --> 00:15:55.594
THERE WAS 180,000 CHILDREN
AFTER WORLD WAR II
00:15:55.727 --> 00:15:57.763
WHO WERE LEFT
WITHOUT THEIR FATHERS.
00:15:57.896 --> 00:16:00.265
SOME OF THEM NEVER SAW
THEIR FATHERS.
00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:04.870
THEY WERE BORN
AFTER THEIR FATHER DIED.
00:16:05.003 --> 00:16:08.206
IT TOOK AMERICANS TO BUILD
WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL
00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:10.042
A VERY LONG TIME.
00:16:10.175 --> 00:16:12.377
I WAS THERE
AT ITS OPENING
00:16:12.511 --> 00:16:16.548
WITH PROBABLY 400
WORLD WAR II ORPHANS,
00:16:16.681 --> 00:16:21.386
AND IT WAS A TREMENDOUSLY
BIG DAY FOR THEM,
00:16:21.520 --> 00:16:23.488
A TURNING POINT.
00:16:23.622 --> 00:16:26.558
AT LAST, THEY HAD A MONUMENT
THAT THEY COULD PUT
00:16:26.691 --> 00:16:30.228
UNFINISHED PARTS OF THEIR
MOURNING INTO THAT MONUMENT.
00:16:30.362 --> 00:16:34.733
VIETNAM MEMORIAL IS THE BEST...
IS THE BEST MONUMENT
00:16:34.866 --> 00:16:37.803
FOR HELPING AMERICANS
TO MOURN.
00:16:37.936 --> 00:16:40.906
YOU GO THERE,
THE NAMES AND LOSSES ARE THERE.
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.077
IT IS BLACK MARBLE,
SO YOUR PICTURE GETS REFLECTED.
00:16:45.210 --> 00:16:48.246
YOU CAN NOW TOUCH
THE IMAGES OF THE LOST.
00:16:48.380 --> 00:16:52.984
WHEN YOU CRY,
YOU LEAVE SOMETHING THERE.
00:16:53.118 --> 00:16:56.121
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:17:04.162 --> 00:17:09.000
SOME MONUMENTS,
THEY REMAIN VERY HOT,
00:17:09.134 --> 00:17:12.270
BECAUSE MOURNING
HAS NOT TAKEN PLACE.
00:17:16.842 --> 00:17:20.045
EXAMPLE--REPUBLIC
OF GEORGIAN PEOPLE
00:17:20.178 --> 00:17:22.047
AND SOUTH OSSETIAN PEOPLE
FOUGHT.
00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:26.218
SOUTH OSSETIA IS
IN THE LEGAL BOUNDARY
00:17:26.351 --> 00:17:28.186
OF THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA.
00:17:28.320 --> 00:17:31.223
GEORGIANS COME, AND THEY
CONQUER THE CEMETERY.
00:17:31.356 --> 00:17:34.693
SOUTH OSSETIANS
CONTINUE DYING.
00:17:37.395 --> 00:17:40.465
WHERE ARE THEY GOING
TO BURY THEM?
00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:43.068
SO, THERE'S
A BIG SCHOOLYARD.
00:17:43.201 --> 00:17:45.937
SO THEY BURY
YOUNG PEOPLE WHO DIED
00:17:46.071 --> 00:17:48.740
DURING THIS WARLIKE SITUATION
IN THE SCHOOLYARD,
00:17:48.874 --> 00:17:51.409
AND THEY PUT
A MONUMENT ON IT
00:17:51.543 --> 00:17:54.246
CALLED "THE CRYING FATHER."
00:17:54.379 --> 00:17:57.082
ACCORDING TO SOUTH OSSETIAN
TRADITION,
00:17:57.215 --> 00:17:59.584
FATHERS ARE NOT
SUPPOSED TO CRY.
00:17:59.718 --> 00:18:04.356
SO IF YOU MAKE A MONUMENT
AND CALL IT "CRYING FATHER,"
00:18:04.489 --> 00:18:09.528
THAT MEANS
HORRIBLE MOURNING,
00:18:09.661 --> 00:18:12.531
AND IT BECAME
A SACRED PLACE,
00:18:12.664 --> 00:18:17.035
AND PEOPLE LIKE ME,
WITHOUT PREPARATION, STUPIDLY,
00:18:17.169 --> 00:18:19.371
WHEN WE WENT
TO VISIT THIS PLACE,
00:18:19.504 --> 00:18:22.207
IT WAS LIKE CONTAMINATING
THIS SACRED PLACE.
00:18:22.340 --> 00:18:25.377
AS SOON AS WE ARRIVED THERE,
IT TOOK ABOUT THREE MINUTES,
00:18:25.510 --> 00:18:27.712
THEY HAD THE KALASHNIKOV
ON MY HEAD.
00:18:27.846 --> 00:18:29.714
I ALMOST DIED.
00:18:29.848 --> 00:18:32.784
HOW DARE THAT I WENT TO...
00:18:34.853 --> 00:18:39.224
CONTAMINATE, DO SOMETHING
AT THE SACRED PLACE LIKE THAT.
00:18:39.357 --> 00:18:43.728
IT ALL HAS TO DO
WITH LARGE-GROUP MOURNING.
00:18:43.862 --> 00:18:47.532
WE ARE NOW ON OUR WAY
TO A HOT SPOT.
00:18:47.666 --> 00:18:50.902
IN MY PROFESSION, WHEN I GO
TO A CONFLICTED AREA,
00:18:51.036 --> 00:18:53.238
I NEED TO KNOW
WHAT'S GOING ON,
00:18:53.371 --> 00:18:55.073
NOT ONLY BY READING
NEWSPAPERS
00:18:55.207 --> 00:18:59.077
OR TALKING TO LEADERS
OR TAXI DRIVERS OR CHILDREN,
00:18:59.211 --> 00:19:02.347
YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT ELSE
IN THIS SOCIETY.
00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:04.849
WE FIRST FOUND
THESE THINGS
00:19:04.983 --> 00:19:09.421
WHEN WE WERE WORKING
IN THE BALTIC REPUBLICS.
00:19:11.323 --> 00:19:14.025
A PLACE LIKE PALDISKI,
00:19:14.159 --> 00:19:18.096
WHERE THEY HAD A SOVIET
NUCLEAR FACTORY,
00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:21.366
AND NOW SOVIETS ARE GONE.
00:19:24.169 --> 00:19:29.207
ESTONIANS WERE NOT ALLOWED
TO ENTER THIS AREA.
00:19:29.341 --> 00:19:33.044
IT WAS FORBIDDEN TO THEM.
00:19:33.178 --> 00:19:34.980
NOW IT'S THEIRS.
00:19:35.113 --> 00:19:38.617
THAT AREA BECOMES
SYMBOLIC.
00:19:44.855 --> 00:19:48.491
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.695
HOT PLACES BECAME
A VERY IMPORTANT AREA
00:20:24.829 --> 00:20:26.264
FOR US TO VISIT.
00:20:26.397 --> 00:20:29.367
IT'S JUST LIKE HAVING
A PATIENT ON THE COUCH,
00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:32.370
AND THE PATIENT TELLS YOU
A VERY IMPORTANT DREAM,
00:20:32.503 --> 00:20:35.606
AND SUDDENLY YOU UNDERSTAND
PATIENT'S INTERNAL WORLD.
00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:39.610
SO, HOT PLACES BECAME
LIKE DREAMS FOR US
00:20:39.744 --> 00:20:43.614
TO UNDERSTAND
SOCIETAL PROCESSES.
00:20:43.748 --> 00:20:46.951
IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME
TO FIGURE OUT
00:20:47.084 --> 00:20:52.356
HOW THIS MEMORIAL IS GOING
TO BE HELPFUL TO US.
00:20:54.258 --> 00:20:56.460
NARRATOR: VAMIK SEES MOURNING
AS A PROCESS
00:20:56.594 --> 00:21:00.731
THAT CAN HEAL AN INDIVIDUAL
OR A GROUP.
00:21:00.865 --> 00:21:05.236
AMERICA HAS BUILT A MONUMENT
AND BEGUN TO MOURN HER DEAD,
00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:07.738
BUT THE INITIAL TRAUMA OF 9/11
00:21:07.872 --> 00:21:10.741
IS NOW EMBEDDED
IN OUR GROUP IDENTITY,
00:21:10.875 --> 00:21:14.245
INDELIBLE TO OUR SENSE
OF WHO WE ARE.
00:21:14.378 --> 00:21:18.249
JERRY: 9/11 WAS NOT ONLY
00:21:18.382 --> 00:21:21.586
AN ENORMOUS AND TRAGIC
LOSS OF LIFE,
00:21:21.719 --> 00:21:24.589
IT WAS TRAUMA IN THE SENSE
OF A RUPTURE
00:21:24.722 --> 00:21:26.090
OF OUR BOUNDARIES AROUND...
00:21:26.224 --> 00:21:29.093
OF THE NARCISSISTIC BUBBLE
AROUND AMERICA
00:21:29.227 --> 00:21:31.262
AND ITS SENSE
OF INVULNERABILITY,
00:21:31.395 --> 00:21:33.931
AND AMERICANS DON'T TOLERATE
HELPLESSNESS WELL,
00:21:34.065 --> 00:21:36.434
WHICH IS...WHICH IS
A CORE EXPERIENCE OF TRAUMA
00:21:36.567 --> 00:21:38.836
FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
AND THE GROUP.
00:21:38.970 --> 00:21:42.273
AND SO, YOU KNOW,
REACTIVE POWER
00:21:42.406 --> 00:21:44.775
CAME INTO THE PICTURE
VERY QUICKLY
00:21:44.909 --> 00:21:48.512
AS A WAY NOT ONLY
OF PROTECTING OURSELVES,
00:21:48.646 --> 00:21:52.116
BUT OF SHORING UP THE BOUNDARY
THAT HAD BEEN RUPTURED.
00:21:52.250 --> 00:21:55.953
NOW, WOULD THERE BE OTHER WAYS
TO DEAL WITH TRAUMA?
00:21:56.087 --> 00:21:57.955
PROBABLY...
BUT THAT WAS THE WAY
00:21:58.089 --> 00:22:00.024
AMERICA CHOSE
TO DEAL WITH IT.
00:22:00.157 --> 00:22:02.727
NARRATOR: THE EMOTIONAL
REACTIONS TO TRAUMA
00:22:02.860 --> 00:22:05.129
CAN INTERFERE WITH
THE WORK OF MOURNING.
00:22:05.263 --> 00:22:09.700
WE ARE TOO ANGRY OR DEPRESSED
TO ACCEPT LOSS.
00:22:09.834 --> 00:22:12.737
WE ARE TOO FILLED
WITH SHAME AND HUMILIATION,
00:22:12.870 --> 00:22:16.240
WITH A SENSE
OF APPALLING INJUSTICE.
00:22:18.376 --> 00:22:20.745
THROUGHOUT HISTORY,
THINKERS AND ARTISTS
00:22:20.878 --> 00:22:25.416
HAVE CONTEMPLATED
THE EXPERIENCE OF TRAUMA.
00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:29.287
HIERONYMUS BOSCH PAINTINGS
SHOW THE RELIGIOUS,
00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:31.756
THE EVERYDAY,
AND THE SURREAL
00:22:31.889 --> 00:22:34.926
WITH TRAUMA
PERMEATING ALL.
00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:39.530
VAMIK: TRAUMA IS A LAYMAN TERM
AS WELL AS A TECHNICAL TERM
00:22:39.664 --> 00:22:43.768
THAT REFERS TO
UNFORTUNATE THINGS
00:22:43.901 --> 00:22:48.673
THAT HAPPEN
TO AN INDIVIDUAL.
00:22:48.806 --> 00:22:51.842
WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN
COPING MECHANISMS.
00:22:51.976 --> 00:22:53.778
SOMEBODY DIES, YOU MOURN.
00:22:53.911 --> 00:22:58.749
SOMEBODY LOSES A JOB,
YOU GET VERY FRUSTRATED.
00:22:58.883 --> 00:23:01.719
BUT WE COPE WITH THAT.
WE HAVE OUR OWN WAYS,
00:23:01.852 --> 00:23:03.888
AND WE KNOW
THAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE
00:23:04.021 --> 00:23:06.557
DEVELOP DIFFERENT
COPING MECHANISMS.
00:23:06.691 --> 00:23:10.227
WHEN SOMETHING
SO BAD HAPPENS
00:23:10.361 --> 00:23:14.732
AND YOU CANNOT USE
YOUR USUAL COPING MECHANISM,
00:23:14.865 --> 00:23:16.500
THEN YOU ARE TRAUMATIZED.
00:23:16.634 --> 00:23:19.070
LET'S SAY
SOMEBODY GETS RAPED.
00:23:19.203 --> 00:23:20.571
THE REST OF THEIR LIVES
SOMETIMES,
00:23:20.705 --> 00:23:23.274
THEY KEEP REPEATING
THIS TRAUMA.
00:23:23.407 --> 00:23:25.576
DEALING WITH INDIVIDUALS
IS ONE THING,
00:23:25.710 --> 00:23:28.479
BUT HOW DO YOU
DEAL WITH...
00:23:30.715 --> 00:23:34.185
THOUSANDS OR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
WHO ARE TRAUMATIZED?
00:23:34.318 --> 00:23:36.087
NARRATOR:
VAMIK HAS WRITTEN
00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.323
THAT IF DIPLOMACY IS LIKE
A BASKETBALL GAME,
00:23:39.457 --> 00:23:41.959
THEN THE HISTORICAL TRAUMAS
OF A PEOPLE
00:23:42.093 --> 00:23:44.762
ARE LIKE A THOUSAND BOTTLES
OF OLIVE OIL
00:23:44.895 --> 00:23:48.032
POURED ON THE COURT.
00:23:48.165 --> 00:23:51.702
DIPLOMATS CAN TRY TO PLAY
BY THE RULES OF THE GAME,
00:23:51.836 --> 00:23:53.704
BUT IF THEY DON'T
FULLY UNDERSTAND
00:23:53.838 --> 00:23:56.107
THE HISTORICAL TRAUMAS
OF THE LARGE GROUPS
00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:57.808
THEY ARE NEGOTIATING WITH,
00:23:57.942 --> 00:24:00.978
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
WILL FAIL.
00:24:01.112 --> 00:24:04.382
ONE SOCIETY THAT
WE CONSTANTLY HEAR
00:24:04.515 --> 00:24:07.551
IS PALESTINIAN SOCIETY.
00:24:07.685 --> 00:24:10.554
THEY CALL THEMSELVES
TRAUMATIZED.
00:24:10.688 --> 00:24:12.223
AND THEN YOU THINK,
00:24:12.356 --> 00:24:14.892
MY GOD, THERE WAS SOMETHING
CALLED THE HOLOCAUST,
00:24:15.026 --> 00:24:18.229
AND YOU HAVE MILLIONS
OF PEOPLE WHO WERE TRAUMATIZED,
00:24:18.362 --> 00:24:22.400
AND WE NOW KNOW
THAT THERE ARE THINGS
00:24:22.533 --> 00:24:25.903
CAUSING TRANSGENERATIONAL
TRANSMISSIONS OF TRAUMA.
00:24:26.537 --> 00:24:27.938
THEY DON'T END.
00:24:28.071 --> 00:24:30.240
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:24:30.374 --> 00:24:36.079
AFTER A TRAUMA, THE ORIGINAL
SUFFERERS SUFFER,
00:24:36.213 --> 00:24:38.448
BUT THE NEXT GENERATIONS
00:24:38.582 --> 00:24:40.751
CONTINUE THE EFFECTS
OF THIS TRAUMA,
00:24:40.884 --> 00:24:45.022
SOMETIME FOR GENERATIONS
TO COME.
00:24:45.155 --> 00:24:47.024
NARRATOR: TOO GREAT
TO BE MOURNED,
00:24:47.157 --> 00:24:49.960
IT IS PASSED ON
FOR OTHERS TO HOLD.
00:24:50.093 --> 00:24:51.228
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:24:55.432 --> 00:24:57.968
JERRY: THE TRANSMISSION
OF TRAUMA ACROSS GENERATIONS
00:24:58.101 --> 00:25:01.772
REALLY BEGAN IN EARNEST
WITH HOLOCAUST STUDIES,
00:25:01.905 --> 00:25:03.907
SECOND-GENERATION
HOLOCAUST STUDIES.
00:25:06.176 --> 00:25:09.379
I CAME ACROSS
THIS VERY INTERESTING STORY.
00:25:09.513 --> 00:25:13.650
MY COLLEAGUE WAS THE CONSULTANT
TO THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
00:25:13.784 --> 00:25:16.386
AS IT WAS BEING BUILT
AND OPENED,
00:25:16.520 --> 00:25:19.056
AND HE SAID THERE WERE
A NUMBER OF THINGS
00:25:19.189 --> 00:25:20.724
THAT HAPPENED REGULARLY.
00:25:20.857 --> 00:25:23.560
ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT HAPPENED WAS
00:25:23.694 --> 00:25:27.230
AN 85-YEAR-OLD MAN
IN A RUMPLED SUIT
00:25:27.364 --> 00:25:30.734
WOULD GO UP TO THE FIRST PERSON
HE MET ON THE STAFF,
00:25:30.867 --> 00:25:34.805
USUALLY THE INFORMATION DESK,
WITH A BOX, A LITTLE BOX.
00:25:34.938 --> 00:25:38.742
IN THE BOX WAS THE DRIED-UP SKIN
THAT HE'D CUT OFF OF HIS ARM
00:25:38.875 --> 00:25:40.277
WITH A TATTOO
WITH A NUMBER ON IT,
00:25:40.410 --> 00:25:43.246
AND HE SAID
TO THE INFORMATION DESK,
00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:46.583
"I'M GONNA DIE SOON. MY FAMILY
DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS.
00:25:46.717 --> 00:25:48.218
"THEY'RE GONNA FIND IT.
00:25:48.352 --> 00:25:49.853
WOULD YOU HOLD THIS
FOR ME?"
00:25:49.987 --> 00:25:52.089
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:25:52.222 --> 00:25:54.091
YOU KNOW,
WHAT YOU SEE IS
00:25:54.224 --> 00:25:56.827
PEOPLE CARRYING SOMETHING
HUGELY TRAUMATIC
00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.529
MAKE AN EFFORT BOTH
TO DENY IT FOR THEMSELVES,
00:25:59.663 --> 00:26:04.701
TO DISSOCIATE IT, AND TO PROTECT
THE NEXT GENERATION FROM IT
00:26:04.835 --> 00:26:08.705
THROUGH SILENCE,
AND YET THE NEXT GENERATION
00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:10.874
PICKS UP
BITS AND PIECES,
00:26:11.008 --> 00:26:13.210
OFTEN VERY CONFUSED
BITS AND PIECES,
00:26:13.343 --> 00:26:16.046
SOMETIMES HIGHLY CHARGED
BITS AND PIECES
00:26:16.179 --> 00:26:18.382
THAT SOMEBODY EVENTUALLY
IS NOMINATED
00:26:18.515 --> 00:26:20.884
TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF.
00:26:22.352 --> 00:26:29.459
VAMIK: SOME TRAUMAS, THEY BECOME
MARKERS OF A LARGE GROUP.
00:26:31.361 --> 00:26:35.399
THEY ARE CHOSEN TRAUMAS.
00:26:35.532 --> 00:26:39.403
"CHOSEN TRAUMA" MEANS
A HUGE TRAUMATIC STORY
00:26:39.536 --> 00:26:42.906
OF YOUR ANCESTORS.
00:26:43.040 --> 00:26:46.476
POETS WRITE ABOUT THEM
FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
00:26:46.610 --> 00:26:50.414
LEADERS REFER TO THEM
GENERATIONS TO COME.
00:26:50.547 --> 00:26:52.416
IT IS SO DRAMATIC
00:26:52.549 --> 00:26:57.754
THAT IT BECOMES, LIKE,
A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY,
00:26:57.888 --> 00:27:01.858
AND THAT IS WHAT IS CALLED
"CHOSEN TRAUMA,"
00:27:01.992 --> 00:27:07.030
AN IMAGE OF HISTORY
IN THAT...A TRAUMA,
00:27:07.164 --> 00:27:09.866
MASSIVE TRAUMA
HAD OCCURRED,
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:17.274
IS USED AS A MARKER
OF THAT LARGE GROUP'S IDENTITY.
00:27:17.407 --> 00:27:19.276
NARRATOR: FOR GREEKS,
THIS CHOSEN TRAUMA
00:27:19.409 --> 00:27:22.946
IS THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
IN 1453.
00:27:23.080 --> 00:27:28.285
SCOTS KEEP ALIVE
THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN.
00:27:28.418 --> 00:27:30.887
SIOUX INDIANS STILL GATHER
EVERY YEAR
00:27:31.021 --> 00:27:36.226
TO COMMEMORATE THE ANNIVERSARY
OF WOUNDED KNEE.
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.229
VAMIK: WHEN
A MAJOR TRAUMA
00:27:39.362 --> 00:27:42.566
AFFECTS HUNDREDS
OF THOUSAND OF PEOPLE
00:27:42.699 --> 00:27:45.402
OR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
00:27:45.535 --> 00:27:48.572
AND WHEN AN IMAGE
OF TRAUMA
00:27:48.705 --> 00:27:52.075
AND EFFECTS OF A TRAUMA
ARE SHARED,
00:27:52.209 --> 00:27:55.579
YOU DON'T SEE IT LIKE YOU SEE
IN AN INDIVIDUAL.
00:27:55.712 --> 00:27:59.249
IN AN INDIVIDUAL,
YOU SEE CRYING, FOR EXAMPLE.
00:27:59.382 --> 00:28:04.187
IN THE INDIVIDUAL, YOU SEE
PAINTING THE WAR, FOR EXAMPLE.
00:28:04.321 --> 00:28:08.859
BUT WHEN A MILLION, TWO MILLION,
THREE MILLION PEOPLE
00:28:08.992 --> 00:28:13.029
DO THE SAME THING,
YOU SEE THE EFFECTS OF TRAUMA
00:28:13.163 --> 00:28:16.199
AS A SOCIETAL PROCESS.
00:28:16.333 --> 00:28:18.201
NARRATOR: FOR CERTAIN GROUPS
OF MUSLIMS,
00:28:18.335 --> 00:28:20.537
THEIR CHOSEN TRAUMA IS
THE LOSS OF THE CALIPHATE,
00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:24.708
A UNIFIED ISLAMIC STATE
THAT WAS ABOLISHED IN 1924
00:28:24.841 --> 00:28:27.711
AS PART OF TURKEY'S
SECULAR REFORMS.
00:28:27.844 --> 00:28:31.214
TODAY, A HUNDRED YEARS LATER,
THE SOCIETAL REPERCUSSIONS
00:28:31.348 --> 00:28:34.251
OF THIS TRAUMA
ARE BEING PLAYED OUT
00:28:34.384 --> 00:28:37.053
AS GROUPS LIKE AL-QAEDA
AND ISIS
00:28:37.187 --> 00:28:39.489
CALL FOR THE RETURN
OF THE CALIPHATE.
00:28:44.861 --> 00:28:47.898
VAMIK: YOU SEE
THAT SOCIETY DEVELOPS
00:28:48.031 --> 00:28:51.902
AN ENTITLEMENT IDEOLOGY--
00:28:52.035 --> 00:28:56.740
"ONE DAY, I WILL GET
WHAT I LOST BACK."
00:29:05.549 --> 00:29:08.185
CHOSEN TRAUMA IS SOMETHING
THAT WE "DISCOVERED"--
00:29:08.318 --> 00:29:09.853
I DON'T MEAN
WE DISCOVERED,
00:29:09.986 --> 00:29:11.855
BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN
ALWAYS THERE,
00:29:11.988 --> 00:29:14.691
BUT WE SUDDENLY REALIZED
HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS
00:29:14.825 --> 00:29:17.027
AND HOW IT CAN BE
REACTIVATED,
00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.863
AND HOW IT IS
A PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR
00:29:19.996 --> 00:29:21.765
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
00:29:21.898 --> 00:29:24.901
I LEARNED ABOUT THIS
WHEN WE BROUGHT
00:29:25.035 --> 00:29:26.369
VERY HIGH-LEVEL ESTONIANS,
00:29:26.503 --> 00:29:29.706
LET'S SAY SIX MEMBERS
OF PARLIAMENT,
00:29:29.840 --> 00:29:36.379
FORMER LEADERS OF ESTONIA,
POETS, PSYCHOLOGISTS,
00:29:36.513 --> 00:29:39.549
WITH PEOPLE FROM RUSSIA,
PARLIAMENTARIANS,
00:29:39.683 --> 00:29:43.887
CHIEFS OF N.G.O.'s
AND SO ON TOGETHER,
00:29:44.020 --> 00:29:45.722
AND HERE THEY'RE TALKING
00:29:45.856 --> 00:29:48.225
TO FIND SOLUTIONS
TO THEIR PROBLEMS,
00:29:48.358 --> 00:29:51.895
AND WHEN RUSSIANS
FELT HUMILIATED,
00:29:52.028 --> 00:29:54.898
THEY WOULD GO
TO TARTAR INVASION.
00:29:55.031 --> 00:29:59.569
HOW MANY CENTURIES AGO
TARTARS CAME AND HURT RUSSIANS?
00:29:59.703 --> 00:30:03.907
WE NEVER EVEN THINK OF IT.
THAT'S THEIR CHOSEN TRAUMA.
00:30:04.040 --> 00:30:07.244
THEY START TALKING ABOUT
SUFFERING UNDER TARTARS.
00:30:07.377 --> 00:30:09.079
IT HAPPENED CENTURIES AGO.
00:30:09.212 --> 00:30:11.815
THEY'RE TALKING
ABOUT IT TODAY.
00:30:26.496 --> 00:30:29.866
THESE ENTITLEMENT IDEOLOGIES
BECOME THE POLITICAL PROCESS
00:30:30.033 --> 00:30:34.604
THEY LIVE IN SOCIETIES FOR AGES,
SOMETIMES HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
00:30:34.738 --> 00:30:38.074
[APPLAUSE AND MAN
SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
00:30:38.208 --> 00:30:42.412
VAMIK: IN SERBIAN SOCIETY,
THE MENTAL REPRESENTATION,
00:30:42.545 --> 00:30:46.483
THE MENTAL IMAGE OF A BATTLE
THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE
00:30:46.616 --> 00:30:49.819
600 YEARS AGO WAS
STIMULATED.
00:30:49.953 --> 00:30:52.989
[SPEAKING SERBIAN]
00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:06.436
[CROWD CHANTING "SLOBO!"]
00:31:10.173 --> 00:31:12.909
NARRATIVE: SERBIA'S CHOSEN
TRAUMA IS THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
00:31:13.043 --> 00:31:15.879
AND THE DEATH OF THEIR LEADER,
PRINCE LAZAR.
00:31:16.012 --> 00:31:19.382
FOR VAMIK, LOOKING
AT HOW THIS ANCIENT BATTLE
00:31:19.516 --> 00:31:21.885
WAS REACTIVATED
IN THE 20th CENTURY
00:31:22.018 --> 00:31:24.888
BY SERBIA'S NEW CHARISMATIC
LEADER, SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC,
00:31:25.021 --> 00:31:27.891
SHOWS HOW CHOSEN TRAUMA
IS AT THE HEART
00:31:28.024 --> 00:31:31.461
OF GROUP IDENTITY
AND GROUP CONFLICT.
00:31:33.730 --> 00:31:37.901
600 YEARS AGO, OTTOMANS
AND SERBS FOUGHT.
00:31:38.034 --> 00:31:39.736
600 YEARS AGO.
00:31:39.869 --> 00:31:44.574
THAT WAS THE SEPTEMBER 11
600 YEARS AGO.
00:31:44.708 --> 00:31:46.409
ISLAMIC PEOPLE
AND CHRISTIAN PEOPLE
00:31:46.543 --> 00:31:50.513
MEET IN A BATTLE CALLED
THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO,
00:31:50.647 --> 00:31:55.719
AND BOTH LEADERS ARE DEAD
IN ONE DAY.
00:31:55.852 --> 00:31:58.922
THEY MAKE PEACE
AFTER THIS.
00:31:59.055 --> 00:32:01.257
NARRATOR: BUT PEACE
WAS ONLY TEMPORARY.
00:32:01.391 --> 00:32:04.361
75 YEARS LATER,
MUSLIMS FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
00:32:04.494 --> 00:32:09.332
RETURNED AND INVADED
THE LAND OF CHRISTIAN SERBIANS.
00:32:09.466 --> 00:32:12.369
THE SERBIANS THEN
DUG UP LAZAR'S BODY
00:32:12.502 --> 00:32:14.704
AND TOOK IT NORTH
OF BELGRADE
00:32:14.838 --> 00:32:18.208
IN THE HOPES OF PROTECTING
THEIR HERO'S REMAINS
00:32:18.341 --> 00:32:20.043
FROM THE INVADING OTTOMANS.
00:32:20.176 --> 00:32:22.912
FOR MANY YEARS,
ARTISTS DEPICTED LAZAR
00:32:23.046 --> 00:32:25.615
AND THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
IN THOUSANDS OF PAINTINGS
00:32:25.749 --> 00:32:28.051
AND SKETCHES.
00:32:28.184 --> 00:32:30.553
POETS WROTE
ENDLESS LINES OF VERSE.
00:32:30.687 --> 00:32:35.725
GUSLARS, SERBIAN BARDS
WITH ONE-STRING FIDDLES,
00:32:35.859 --> 00:32:38.561
SANG FOLK SONGS
ABOUT THE BATTLE.
00:32:38.695 --> 00:32:41.231
LAZAR APPEARS
IN CHURCHES THROUGHOUT SERBIA
00:32:41.364 --> 00:32:44.901
SIDE BY SIDE
WITH JESUS CHRIST.
00:32:45.035 --> 00:32:46.903
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:32:47.037 --> 00:32:49.472
HE EVEN POPS UP
ON THE LABELS OF RED WINES,
00:32:49.606 --> 00:32:51.908
AND SO, SYMBOLICALLY,
HIS BLOOD WAS CONSUMED
00:32:52.042 --> 00:32:55.578
BY THE SERBIAN PEOPLE.
00:32:55.712 --> 00:32:57.414
VAMIK: LAZAR,
BATTLE OF KOSOVO,
00:32:57.547 --> 00:33:01.184
BECOMES A MARKER
OF BEING SERBIAN.
00:33:01.317 --> 00:33:05.021
THEY CHOOSE IT
AS THEIR MARKER.
00:33:05.155 --> 00:33:09.859
NO OTHER GROUP ON EARTH
HAS A MARKER
00:33:09.993 --> 00:33:13.930
OF A CHOSEN TRAUMA
LIKE SERBS.
00:33:14.064 --> 00:33:16.866
NARRATOR: AFTER THE COLLAPSE
OF THE SOVIET UNION
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:18.868
AND BREAKUP
OF YUGOSLAVIA,
00:33:19.002 --> 00:33:20.870
SERBIA BECOMES
ITS OWN NATION
00:33:21.004 --> 00:33:23.706
FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
00:33:23.840 --> 00:33:27.210
AND A BANKER AND LAWYER
NAMED SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
00:33:27.343 --> 00:33:30.046
IS ITS LEADER.
00:33:30.180 --> 00:33:34.884
VAMIK: SOMETIMES
LEADERS COME ALONG,
00:33:35.018 --> 00:33:39.389
AND THEY REACTIVATE
THESE CHOSEN TRAUMAS
00:33:39.522 --> 00:33:41.891
AS IF IT OCCURRED YESTERDAY.
00:33:42.025 --> 00:33:43.893
WE CALL THIS
"TIME COLLAPSE."
00:33:44.027 --> 00:33:48.231
YOU GO BACK AND TAKE
AN EVENT FROM HISTORY
00:33:48.364 --> 00:33:50.834
AND YOU CONDENSE THEM.
00:33:50.967 --> 00:33:52.735
NARRATOR: MILOSEVIC
COMMISSIONED A MONUMENT
00:33:52.869 --> 00:33:56.072
AND HELD A RALLY AT THE SITE
OF THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
00:33:56.206 --> 00:33:58.908
FOR ITS 600th ANNIVERSARY.
00:33:59.042 --> 00:34:01.911
HE RETRIEVED LAZAR'S REMAINS
FROM NORTH OF BELGRADE,
00:34:02.045 --> 00:34:05.415
PLACED THEM IN A COFFIN WHICH,
OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR,
00:34:05.548 --> 00:34:08.184
WAS CARRIED THROUGH SERBIAN
VILLAGES AND TOWNS,
00:34:08.318 --> 00:34:12.188
WHERE IT WAS RECEIVED
BY MOURNERS DRESSED IN BLACK.
00:34:12.322 --> 00:34:15.191
AGAIN AND AGAIN
OVER THIS LONG JOURNEY,
00:34:15.325 --> 00:34:18.194
LAZAR'S REMAINS
WERE BURIED AND REBORN
00:34:18.328 --> 00:34:20.697
UNTIL AT LAST
THEY WERE BURIED
00:34:20.830 --> 00:34:23.733
IN THE ORIGINAL BATTLEGROUND
IN KOSOVO
00:34:23.867 --> 00:34:29.873
AT MILOSEVIC'S RALLY:
JUNE 28, 1989.
00:34:30.006 --> 00:34:33.877
OVER ONE MILLION
SERBIANS ATTENDED.
00:34:34.010 --> 00:34:37.213
THE EVENT WAS BROADCAST
ON LIVE TELEVISION
00:34:37.347 --> 00:34:40.216
WITH PAINTINGS
OF THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
00:34:40.350 --> 00:34:43.286
FLYING ACROSS THE SCREEN.
00:34:43.419 --> 00:34:48.057
PEOPLE IN THE CROWD CALLED
MILOSEVIC "LITTLE LAZAR"
00:34:48.191 --> 00:34:51.728
AND CRIED, "LAZAR,
YOU WERE NOT LUCKY ENOUGH
00:34:51.861 --> 00:34:55.565
TO HAVE SLOBO
BY YOUR SIDE."
00:34:55.698 --> 00:34:58.401
VAMIK: THEY BRING
ITS EMOTIONS BACK
00:34:58.535 --> 00:35:03.173
AND "NEVER AGAIN" BACK,
VICTIMIZATION BACK,
00:35:03.306 --> 00:35:07.844
ALONG WITH "LET'S DO SOMETHING,
LET'S GET REVENGE."
00:35:07.977 --> 00:35:10.847
NARRATOR: MILOSEVIC ACTIVATED
THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
00:35:10.980 --> 00:35:14.350
TO ATTACK PRESENT-DAY
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS LIVING IN SERBIA
00:35:14.484 --> 00:35:16.686
BY TYING THEM
TO THE OTTOMANS,
00:35:16.819 --> 00:35:20.356
WHO HUMILIATED THEM
CENTURIES EARLIER.
00:35:20.490 --> 00:35:22.358
HE USED STATE NEWSPAPERS
AND TELEVISION
00:35:22.492 --> 00:35:24.360
IN A PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
00:35:24.494 --> 00:35:28.698
TO MAKE SERBIANS FEAR
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS.
00:35:28.831 --> 00:35:31.034
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:35:31.167 --> 00:35:34.037
THIS POSTER CLAIMS TO SHOW
A SERBIAN CHILD
00:35:34.170 --> 00:35:36.873
WHO WAS KILLED
BY BOSNIANS.
00:35:37.006 --> 00:35:41.878
IT IS ACTUALLY A SERBIAN
PAINTING FROM THE 19th CENTURY.
00:35:42.011 --> 00:35:43.546
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:35:43.680 --> 00:35:46.349
UNVERIFIED STORIES
WERE PRESENTED AS FACTS
00:35:46.482 --> 00:35:48.685
ON STATE TELEVISION,
SUCH AS THE ONE
00:35:48.818 --> 00:35:51.387
WHICH CLAIMED BOSNIANS
WERE FEEDING SERB CHILDREN
00:35:51.521 --> 00:35:54.891
TO ANIMALS IN THE ZOO.
00:35:55.024 --> 00:35:59.062
VAMIK: SOMETIMES LEADERS
COME IN, LIKE MILOSEVIC DID,
00:35:59.195 --> 00:36:02.498
TO START NEW TRAGEDIES.
00:36:02.632 --> 00:36:05.468
NARRATOR: DURING
THE BOSNIAN-SERBIAN WAR,
00:36:05.602 --> 00:36:07.870
MILOSEVIC AND THE SERBIAN
GOVERNMENT COMMITTED GENOCIDE
00:36:08.004 --> 00:36:10.173
AGAINST BOSNIAKS.
00:36:10.306 --> 00:36:13.943
TENS OF THOUSANDS WERE KILLED,
TORTURED, OR RAPED.
00:36:14.077 --> 00:36:17.647
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
FLED THE COUNTRY.
00:36:17.780 --> 00:36:20.850
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:36:20.984 --> 00:36:23.519
CHOSEN TRAUMA, IT IS
A PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR
00:36:23.653 --> 00:36:25.355
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
00:36:25.488 --> 00:36:27.690
IF YOU DON'T
PAY ATTENTION TO IT,
00:36:27.824 --> 00:36:31.294
YOU CAN TRY
UNTIL YOU TURN BLUE,
00:36:31.427 --> 00:36:35.365
BUT IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW CHOSEN
TRAUMA IS BEING REACTIVATED,
00:36:35.498 --> 00:36:37.367
THE SOCIETY
AND ITS LEADERS,
00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:40.870
THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE UP
WHATEVER THEY'VE BEEN DOING.
00:36:41.004 --> 00:36:43.873
NARRATOR: MILOSEVIC WAS TRIED
AND CONVICTED AT THE HAGUE
00:36:44.007 --> 00:36:46.576
FOR CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY.
00:36:46.709 --> 00:36:48.878
VAMIK SAYS
THE SERBIAN PEOPLE
00:36:49.012 --> 00:36:50.880
WERE SUSCEPTIBLE
TO SUCH A LEADER
00:36:51.014 --> 00:36:53.549
BECAUSE THE SOVIET UNION
HAD JUST COLLAPSED,
00:36:53.683 --> 00:36:55.885
AND THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT
SERBIAN PEOPLE
00:36:56.019 --> 00:37:00.390
WERE ASKING THEMSELVES,
"WHO ARE WE NOW?"
00:37:00.523 --> 00:37:03.493
VAMIK SAYS THAT PEOPLE
YEARN FOR A LEADER
00:37:03.626 --> 00:37:08.598
TO RESCUE THEM IN TIMES
OF ANXIETY OR CRISIS.
00:37:08.731 --> 00:37:12.368
HE HAS OBSERVED TWO TYPES
OF LEADERS TYPICALLY EMERGE,
00:37:12.502 --> 00:37:14.671
A FORWARD-THINKING
REPARATIVE LEADER
00:37:14.804 --> 00:37:17.674
OR A DESTRUCTIVE LEADER
WHO LOOKS BACK IN TIME
00:37:17.807 --> 00:37:21.844
TO REACTIVATE CHOSEN TRAUMAS
OR A NATION'S PAST GLORIES,
00:37:21.978 --> 00:37:25.848
WHAT VAMIK CALLS
"CHOSEN GLORIES."
00:37:25.982 --> 00:37:28.718
VAMIK: SOMETIMES
THE COUNTRY
00:37:28.851 --> 00:37:30.420
SUFFERS A LOT,
GETS HUMILIATED,
00:37:30.553 --> 00:37:32.855
AND A CHARISMATIC
LEADER COMES
00:37:32.989 --> 00:37:37.193
AND HAS COMPLETELY
NEW IDEAS.
00:37:37.327 --> 00:37:39.028
NARRATOR: WHEN AMERICANS
WERE TRAUMATIZED
00:37:39.162 --> 00:37:40.897
BY THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
00:37:41.030 --> 00:37:43.199
F.D.R. CREATED
NEW SOCIAL PROGRAMS
00:37:43.333 --> 00:37:46.202
THAT LIFTED MILLIONS
OF AMERICANS OUT OF POVERTY
00:37:46.336 --> 00:37:50.740
AND PUT YOUNG PEOPLE
BACK TO WORK.
00:37:50.873 --> 00:37:55.545
TURKS STILL ADMIRE
THE PROGRESSIVE LEADER ATATURK.
00:37:55.678 --> 00:37:58.715
VAMIK: AFTER OTTOMAN
EMPIRE COLLAPSED,
00:37:58.848 --> 00:38:03.920
ATATURK WESTERNIZED
TURKEY DRAMATICALLY.
00:38:04.053 --> 00:38:07.757
THIS IS MY MOTHER
AFTER ATATURK'S REVOLUTION.
00:38:07.890 --> 00:38:11.694
UNTIL THEN, WOMEN
COVERED THEIR FACES,
00:38:11.828 --> 00:38:17.333
AND ONE DAY MY MOTHER
CAME LIKE THAT.
00:38:17.467 --> 00:38:19.836
SO MY FATHER
TOOK HER FOR A WALK.
00:38:19.969 --> 00:38:21.838
I KIND OF REMEMBER IT.
00:38:21.971 --> 00:38:26.342
THEY WERE SO PROUD,
WALKING IN THE STREETS,
00:38:26.476 --> 00:38:29.679
AND NO HEAD COVERS.
00:38:29.812 --> 00:38:35.852
BUT USUALLY THEY HAVE
REGRESSIVE CHARISMATIC LEADERS.
00:38:35.985 --> 00:38:37.653
THEY GO BACK.
00:38:37.787 --> 00:38:43.025
THEY GO BACK TO CULTURAL
TRADITIONS OF THE PAST.
00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:47.296
EVEN IN THE UNITED STATES,
THE FANTASY NOW,
00:38:47.430 --> 00:38:51.401
WHICH IS VERY PROMINENT
EVERYWHERE, IS MAGICAL THINKING.
00:38:51.534 --> 00:38:56.706
"IF I HAVE A CONNECTION
WITH GREATNESS...
00:38:56.839 --> 00:39:00.042
ABSOLUTE GREATNESS,
THEN I'LL BE ALL RIGHT."
00:39:00.176 --> 00:39:03.146
WE'RE GONNA
WIN, WIN, WIN!
00:39:03.279 --> 00:39:06.649
YOU PEOPLE, YOU'RE GONNA BE
SICK AND TIRED OF WINNING!
00:39:06.783 --> 00:39:09.819
YOU'RE GONNA SAY,
"MR. PRESIDENT, PLEASE,
00:39:09.952 --> 00:39:13.156
WE CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.
YOU'RE WINNING TOO MUCH."
00:39:13.289 --> 00:39:15.491
AND I'M GONNA SAY,
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!
00:39:15.625 --> 00:39:21.497
WE'RE GONNA KEEP WINNING!
100% AMERICA FIRST!"
00:39:21.631 --> 00:39:24.567
[CROWD CHEERING]
00:39:30.306 --> 00:39:33.176
NARRATOR: IN 2008,
VAMIK FOUNDED
00:39:33.309 --> 00:39:34.911
THE INTERNATIONAL
DIALOGUE INITIATIVE,
00:39:35.044 --> 00:39:37.580
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM
00:39:37.713 --> 00:39:41.851
OF PSYCHOANALYSTS,
HISTORIANS, SOCIOLOGISTS,
00:39:41.984 --> 00:39:44.520
AND CIVIC LEADERS
FROM EIGHT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
00:39:44.654 --> 00:39:47.190
IT COMES TOGETHER
ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR
00:39:47.323 --> 00:39:49.358
TO EXAMINE THE LEADER-FOLLOWER
RELATIONSHIP
00:39:49.492 --> 00:39:51.861
AND OTHER ASPECTS
OF LARGE-GROUP PSYCHOLOGY.
00:39:51.994 --> 00:39:53.529
JERRY: ONE
OF THE MEETINGS
00:39:53.663 --> 00:39:55.598
OF THE INTERNATIONAL
DIALOGUE INITIATIVE
00:39:55.731 --> 00:39:57.333
WAS HELD IN BELFAST.
00:39:57.467 --> 00:39:59.735
OUR CO-CHAIRPERSON,
JOHN ALDERDICE,
00:39:59.869 --> 00:40:02.205
HE WAS ONE OF THE PRINCIPLE
MEMBERS OF THE GROUP
00:40:02.338 --> 00:40:05.875
THAT NEGOTIATED THE NORTHERN
IRELAND PEACE PROCESS.
00:40:06.008 --> 00:40:08.377
WOMAN: MY WEE BROTHER
HAD TWO I.D.'s
00:40:08.511 --> 00:40:13.049
ONE WITH A BRITISH NAME
AND ONE WITH A CATHOLIC NAME.
00:40:13.182 --> 00:40:15.051
BOTH I.D.'s
HAD HIS PICTURE,
00:40:15.184 --> 00:40:17.053
BUT ONE HAD OUR ADDRESS,
00:40:17.186 --> 00:40:19.455
AND THE OTHER HAD
A PROTESTANT ADDRESS.
00:40:19.589 --> 00:40:21.457
HE'D KEEP THEM
IN DIFFERENT POCKETS
00:40:21.591 --> 00:40:23.893
AND HAD TO REMEMBER
WHICH POCKET HE KEPT THEM IN
00:40:24.026 --> 00:40:26.562
SO IF HE GOT STOPPED
AT A BLOCKADE,
00:40:26.696 --> 00:40:28.231
HE COULD GIVE
THE RIGHT I.D.
00:40:28.364 --> 00:40:30.399
TO THE PERSON
WHO HAPPENED TO STOP HIM.
00:40:30.533 --> 00:40:33.236
JERRY: ONE OF THE THINGS
I DID ON MY OWN
00:40:33.369 --> 00:40:35.571
WAS I WALKED DOWN
THE CATHOLIC STREET
00:40:35.705 --> 00:40:37.874
AND SAW THE MEMORIALS
AND THE MURALS
00:40:38.007 --> 00:40:40.376
TO THE FALLEN I.R.A HEROES,
00:40:41.910 --> 00:40:44.979
AND JUST BEHIND THE HOUSES
ON ONE SIDE OF THE STREET,
00:40:45.113 --> 00:40:47.015
THERE'S A HUGE WALL.
00:40:47.148 --> 00:40:49.550
ON THE OTHER SIDE
IS A PROTESTANT STREET,
00:40:49.684 --> 00:40:52.987
AND IT WAS ALIVE
IN ITS OWN WAY,
00:40:53.121 --> 00:40:55.490
CARRYING ALL KINDS
OF HISTORICAL THINGS
00:40:55.623 --> 00:40:58.326
AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME.
00:40:58.459 --> 00:41:01.329
WOMAN: IT'S HARD.
IT'S HARD HEARING TALK
00:41:01.462 --> 00:41:04.766
ABOUT PEACE
AND RECONCILIATION.
00:41:04.899 --> 00:41:08.836
NONE OF THAT
BRINGS MY SON BACK.
00:41:08.970 --> 00:41:11.506
THERE WAS THE DAY
THAT I'D HAD IT.
00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:14.175
I WAS DOWN
TO MY LAST FEW PENCE.
00:41:14.309 --> 00:41:16.611
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT
WE WERE HAVING FOR DINNER.
00:41:16.744 --> 00:41:18.646
MY HUSBAND HADN'T HAD
A JOB IN MONTHS.
00:41:18.780 --> 00:41:21.649
AND I WAS WALKING PAST
ONE OF THOSE MURALS,
00:41:21.783 --> 00:41:23.284
AND YOUR MAN
PAINTING IT SAID,
00:41:23.418 --> 00:41:25.453
"WOULD YOU LIKE
TO JUST HELP A BIT?"
00:41:25.586 --> 00:41:28.790
I PICKED UP A BRUSH,
AND FOR THE NEXT HOUR,
00:41:28.923 --> 00:41:32.460
I WAS LOST IN THE STORIES
OF CUCHULAIN AND FINN McCOOL.
00:41:32.593 --> 00:41:36.130
I BECAME PART
OF SOMETHING CREATIVE.
00:41:36.264 --> 00:41:37.799
OF COURSE WE WANT PEACE.
00:41:37.932 --> 00:41:40.134
OF COURSE WE WANT
A RECONCILIATION,
00:41:40.268 --> 00:41:41.803
BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE
RECONCILIATION
00:41:41.936 --> 00:41:44.105
IF YOU HAVEN'T
HAD HEALING.
00:41:44.238 --> 00:41:46.808
WHAT IS HAPPENING
WITH A PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY
00:41:46.941 --> 00:41:50.812
THAT THEY...
THAT SOMEONE OUTSIDE CAN SEE
00:41:50.945 --> 00:41:53.481
BUT THEY DON'T GIVE
A NAME TO THEMSELVES,
00:41:53.614 --> 00:41:55.650
WHAT THE PRIMARY
ANXIETY IS
00:41:55.783 --> 00:41:57.986
A GROUP OF PEOPLE
IS STRUGGLING WITH.
00:41:58.119 --> 00:42:02.991
THEY DON'T HAVE
LANGUAGE FOR EMOTION.
00:42:03.124 --> 00:42:06.094
NARRATOR: VAMIK DEVELOPED
WHAT HE CALLED THE TREE MODEL
00:42:06.227 --> 00:42:07.895
TO HELP GROUPS
IN CONFLICT
00:42:08.029 --> 00:42:12.033
FIND THE LANGUAGE
TO ADDRESS THEIR ANXIETY.
00:42:12.166 --> 00:42:14.102
FIRST IS
THE DIAGNOSIS PHASE,
00:42:14.235 --> 00:42:17.739
THE ROOTS OF THE TREE,
00:42:17.872 --> 00:42:20.675
WHEN THE TEAM GATHERS BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ON THE CONFLICT,
00:42:20.808 --> 00:42:23.611
INTERVIEWING A BROAD RANGE
OF PEOPLE,
00:42:23.745 --> 00:42:26.681
OFTEN AT HOT SPOTS.
00:42:26.814 --> 00:42:28.783
SECOND IS
THE DIALOGUE PHASE,
00:42:28.916 --> 00:42:31.419
THIS IS THE TRUNK
OF THE TREE,
00:42:31.552 --> 00:42:35.156
WHEN PEOPLE MEET IN SMALL GROUPS
WITH A FACILITATOR.
00:42:35.289 --> 00:42:37.959
MEETINGS GENERALLY BEGIN
WITH PERSONAL STORIES
00:42:38.092 --> 00:42:42.797
AND AIM, OVER TIME, TO SEPARATE
FANTASY FROM REALITY
00:42:42.930 --> 00:42:46.567
AND EXPAND TIME COLLAPSE.
00:42:46.701 --> 00:42:50.304
FINALLY, THE BRANCHES
OF THE TREE EXTEND
00:42:50.438 --> 00:42:53.474
WHEN PARTICIPANTS ASSEMBLE
LOCAL CONTACT GROUPS,
00:42:53.608 --> 00:42:58.212
SUCH AS N.G.O.'s,
TO PROVIDE ONGOING SUPPORT
00:42:58.346 --> 00:43:00.481
AND HELP COMMUNITIES
TAKE STEPS
00:43:00.615 --> 00:43:03.985
TO RESOLVING
REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS.
00:43:07.488 --> 00:43:10.758
WHENEVER I USED TO GO
TO A COUNTRY
00:43:10.892 --> 00:43:16.597
AND WANTED TO KNOW WHAT WAS
HAPPENING IN THAT COUNTRY,
00:43:16.731 --> 00:43:20.134
I AND MY FRIENDS
USUALLY VISITED
00:43:20.268 --> 00:43:23.271
WITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS,
00:43:23.404 --> 00:43:26.774
BECAUSE WATCHING THE KIDS
00:43:26.908 --> 00:43:30.111
AND HEARING THEM
TALK TO EACH OTHER
00:43:30.244 --> 00:43:33.281
IS VERY INFORMATIVE.
00:43:33.414 --> 00:43:35.616
NARRATOR: AFTER
THE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSED,
00:43:35.750 --> 00:43:37.618
VAMIK TRAVELED TO ESTONIA.
00:43:37.752 --> 00:43:39.620
HE WORKED WITH
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
00:43:39.754 --> 00:43:44.492
TO EASE GROUP CONFLICT
BETWEEN RUSSIANS AND ESTONIANS.
00:43:46.094 --> 00:43:49.931
VAMIK: ESTONIANS LIVED
UNDER OTHERS FOR MILLENNIA.
00:43:50.064 --> 00:43:51.799
THEY LIVED UNDER
SWEDISH PEOPLE.
00:43:51.933 --> 00:43:54.035
THEY LIVED UNDER THIS
00:43:54.168 --> 00:43:56.471
AND MAYBE GERMANS
AND THEN RUSSIANS
00:43:56.604 --> 00:43:59.607
AND THE SOVIETS
AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
00:43:59.740 --> 00:44:05.246
SO THEIR CHOSEN TRAUMA IS
LIVING UNDER SOMEBODY SO LONG.
00:44:05.379 --> 00:44:08.249
NARRATOR: AFTER FINALLY
GAINING THEIR INDEPENDENCE,
00:44:08.382 --> 00:44:12.587
ESTONIANS DID NOT WANT RUSSIANS
IN SCHOOL WITH THEM.
00:44:12.720 --> 00:44:15.923
THESE ESTONIANS, TRAUMATIZED
BY THOUSANDS OF YEARS
00:44:16.057 --> 00:44:18.593
OF FOREIGN RULE, FEARED
THAT RUSSIAN STUDENTS
00:44:18.726 --> 00:44:21.095
WOULD REFUSE
TO LEARN ESTONIAN
00:44:21.229 --> 00:44:24.098
AND THAT RUSSIAN WOULD REMAIN
THE DOMINANT LANGUAGE.
00:44:24.232 --> 00:44:27.935
VAMIK: EVEN THE MOST INTELLIGENT
ONES THOUGHT THAT,
00:44:28.069 --> 00:44:36.777
IF YOU PUT 4 RUSSIAN KIDS
IN A CLASS OF 16 ESTONIAN KIDS,
00:44:36.911 --> 00:44:41.616
ALL ESTONIAN KIDS WOULD LEARN
HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN,
00:44:41.749 --> 00:44:45.286
AND RUSSIAN KIDS WOULD NOT
LEARN HOW TO SPEAK ESTONIAN,
00:44:45.419 --> 00:44:48.289
A REFLECTION
OF THEIR EXPERIENCES.
00:44:48.422 --> 00:44:53.427
SO WE WANTED TO TEST THIS,
AND THE ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT
00:44:53.561 --> 00:44:57.765
ALLOWED US TO BE
IN CHARGE OF MUSTAMĂ„E,
00:44:57.899 --> 00:45:04.739
WHERE THE POPULATION WAS
50% ESTONIAN AND 50% RUSSIAN.
00:45:04.872 --> 00:45:08.242
AND WE PUT ESTONIAN KIDS
AND RUSSIAN KIDS TOGETHER
00:45:08.376 --> 00:45:10.745
IN A KINDERGARTEN.
00:45:10.878 --> 00:45:15.016
[CHILD RECITING ALPHABET
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:45:15.149 --> 00:45:20.755
AND SURE ENOUGH, RUSSIAN KIDS
LEARNED HOW TO SPEAK ESTONIAN.
00:45:20.888 --> 00:45:23.457
SINCE RUSSIAN
MOTHERS AND FATHERS
00:45:23.591 --> 00:45:27.261
DID NOT KNOW ESTONIAN,
THEY BEGAN USING THEIR KIDS
00:45:27.395 --> 00:45:29.096
TO COMMUNICATE
WITH ESTONIANS
00:45:29.230 --> 00:45:32.600
WHEN THEY WENT OUTSIDE
FOR SHOPPING.
00:45:32.733 --> 00:45:34.936
EVERY RUSSIAN FAMILY
IN THAT CITY
00:45:35.069 --> 00:45:39.207
WANTED TO USE THIS SCHOOL,
00:45:39.340 --> 00:45:41.542
SO WE WENT TO
THE ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT,
00:45:41.676 --> 00:45:45.279
AND THEY MADE OUR PROGRAM
A FORMAL PROGRAM
00:45:45.413 --> 00:45:49.784
IN MANY, MANY AREAS OF ESTONIA,
KIDS GETTING TOGETHER
00:45:49.917 --> 00:45:51.953
AND LEARNING
EACH OTHER'S LANGUAGE.
00:45:52.086 --> 00:45:55.623
THEY BECAME
THE FLAG BEARERS
00:45:55.756 --> 00:45:59.660
OF RESOLVING SOCIETAL CONFLICT
BETWEEN THEIR PARENTS.
00:45:59.794 --> 00:46:03.464
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:46:05.533 --> 00:46:08.236
AFTER WE DID WORK
IN THE BALTIC REPUBLICS,
00:46:08.369 --> 00:46:10.738
WE WANTED TO DO
SIMILAR KIND OF WORK
00:46:10.871 --> 00:46:12.907
IN THE REPUBLIC
OF GEORGIA.
00:46:13.040 --> 00:46:15.376
GEORGIA ALSO BECAME INDEPENDENT
00:46:15.509 --> 00:46:18.346
AFTER THE SOVIET EMPIRE
COLLAPSED,
00:46:18.479 --> 00:46:23.584
AND NEARLY A MILLION OF THEM
BECAME REFUGEES AND SO ON.
00:46:23.718 --> 00:46:27.054
THEN THEY HAD
A VERY NATIONALISTIC LEADER.
00:46:27.188 --> 00:46:31.425
[GAMSAKHURDIA
SPEAKING GEORGIAN]
00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:34.662
VAMIK: I THINK HIS NAME
WAS GAMSAKHURDIA,
00:46:34.795 --> 00:46:38.766
AND HE DECLARED THAT GEORGIA
IS ONLY FOR GEORGIANS,
00:46:38.899 --> 00:46:40.434
BUT IN GEORGIA,
THEY HAD ABKHAZIANS,
00:46:40.568 --> 00:46:44.305
THEY HAD SOUTH OSSETIANS,
AND BLOOD RUN.
00:46:44.438 --> 00:46:46.107
NARRATOR: WHEN VAMIK
AND HIS TEAM
00:46:46.240 --> 00:46:48.609
ARRIVED IN THE REPUBLIC
OF GEORGIA,
00:46:48.743 --> 00:46:53.447
THERE WERE 300,000
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS.
00:46:53.581 --> 00:46:55.650
VAMIK: BY THE TIME
WE WENT TO GEORGIA,
00:46:55.783 --> 00:46:58.953
THE BIGGEST HOTELS
WERE FILLED UP
00:46:59.086 --> 00:47:01.122
WITH REFUGEES
FROM ABKHAZIA.
00:47:01.255 --> 00:47:05.326
THERE'S A BIG, NICE HOTEL,
LOOKS LIKE A SHERATON OR HILTON,
00:47:05.459 --> 00:47:08.996
AND THIS WAS A PLACE WHERE
SOVIET BIG SHOTS WOULD COME
00:47:09.130 --> 00:47:12.233
AND SMOKE THEIR CIGARS,
DRINK THEIR VODKA, AND REST.
00:47:12.366 --> 00:47:15.503
THERE WERE FIVE HOTELS
LIKE THIS,
00:47:15.636 --> 00:47:18.939
AND NOW THEY WERE ALL FILLED UP
WITH 3,000 REFUGEES.
00:47:19.073 --> 00:47:23.144
IN ONE ROOM WOULD BE
5, 10 PEOPLE STAYING.
00:47:23.277 --> 00:47:27.648
INSIDE WAS LIKE THIS.
00:47:27.782 --> 00:47:32.420
SO, HOW DO YOU HELP
3,000 PEOPLE?
00:47:32.553 --> 00:47:34.555
I NEEDED TO FIND OUT
00:47:34.689 --> 00:47:40.094
WHO IS THE LEADER
IN THIS COMMUNITY.
00:47:40.227 --> 00:47:42.763
WHEN I LEARNED
THAT THEY HAD ONE PHONE,
00:47:42.897 --> 00:47:46.100
I FIGURED OUT
THAT WHERE PHONE WAS
00:47:46.233 --> 00:47:48.269
WOULD BE THE MOST
IMPORTANT APARTMENT,
00:47:48.402 --> 00:47:54.008
AND THE PEOPLE IN THIS APARTMENT
WOULD BE THE LEADERS.
00:47:54.141 --> 00:47:55.509
THEY WERE REFUGEES.
00:47:55.643 --> 00:47:59.447
THE HUSBAND WAS A VERY IMPORTANT
SOCCER PLAYER IN ABKHAZIA,
00:47:59.580 --> 00:48:02.149
AND THEY WERE
IN THIS APARTMENT,
00:48:02.283 --> 00:48:05.052
A TWO-ROOM APARTMENT
WITH THREE KIDS, A WIFE,
00:48:05.186 --> 00:48:06.554
FATHER UPSTAIRS.
00:48:06.687 --> 00:48:09.724
THEN I VISITED THEM
FOR FIVE YEARS,
00:48:09.857 --> 00:48:15.229
MAYBE TWICE A YEAR,
AND I WOULD SPEND A DAY
00:48:15.363 --> 00:48:17.565
IN THEIR LITTLE APARTMENT
00:48:17.698 --> 00:48:21.202
IN ORDER FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND
THEIR PSYCHOLOGY.
00:48:21.335 --> 00:48:24.405
NARRATOR: VAMIK FOUND
THAT THEY WERE DEPRESSED,
00:48:24.538 --> 00:48:27.908
ASHAMED, AND HAD
LITTLE WILL TO LIVE.
00:48:28.042 --> 00:48:29.477
THEY BECAME HOARDERS,
00:48:29.610 --> 00:48:33.080
CLINGING TO EVERY OBJECT
THEY COULD FIND.
00:48:33.214 --> 00:48:38.652
THE DEATH RATE AT THE REFUGEE
CAMP WAS ABNORMALLY HIGH.
00:48:38.786 --> 00:48:42.089
AS A SURVIVAL MECHANISM,
ONE OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS
00:48:42.223 --> 00:48:44.759
WROTE A POEM EVERY DAY.
00:48:44.892 --> 00:48:47.928
EVERY DAY, HE WOULD WRITE A POEM
DESCRIBING THEIR LIVES,
00:48:48.062 --> 00:48:51.932
SO THE HISTORY OF THEIR LIVES
IS IN POEMS.
00:48:52.066 --> 00:48:53.934
NARRATOR: THIS FAMILY
HAD BEEN THE TARGET
00:48:54.068 --> 00:48:56.937
OF ETHNIC CLEANSING
IN ABKHAZIA.
00:48:57.071 --> 00:49:00.241
THE VERSES OF POETRY
CONVEY THE SUFFERING
00:49:00.374 --> 00:49:04.678
THE FAMILY HAD ENDURED AS
REFUGEES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
00:49:04.812 --> 00:49:06.847
THERE WAS THE LOSS
OF THEIR LAND, GAGRA,
00:49:06.981 --> 00:49:09.183
AND THE HOME
THEY HAD LEFT BEHIND,
00:49:09.316 --> 00:49:14.054
THE FEAR AND CONFUSION
OF THEIR JOURNEY AS REFUGEES,
00:49:14.188 --> 00:49:17.758
AND THE OBSTACLES THEY FACED NOW
IN THEIR NEW ENVIRONMENT.
00:49:19.527 --> 00:49:22.563
A NEW POEM WAS
READ RITUALISTICALLY
00:49:22.696 --> 00:49:24.632
EVERY DAY OVER BREAKFAST.
00:49:24.765 --> 00:49:27.234
VAMIK'S PURPOSE,
LIKE THAT OF THE POEMS,
00:49:27.368 --> 00:49:29.837
WAS TO HELP
THE FAMILY MEMBERS INTEGRATE
00:49:29.970 --> 00:49:33.073
THE INTERNAL IMAGES
OF THEIR FORMER LIVES
00:49:33.207 --> 00:49:37.378
WITH THE EXPERIENCE
OF THEIR PRESENT SITUATION.
00:49:37.511 --> 00:49:39.580
DALI, THE MATRIARCH
OF THE HOUSE,
00:49:39.713 --> 00:49:43.250
BEGAN TO MEET WITH A GROUP
OF OTHER WOMEN IN THE COMMUNITY
00:49:43.384 --> 00:49:45.252
AND SHARE THE INSIGHTS
SHE'D GLEANED
00:49:45.386 --> 00:49:47.354
FROM HER TALKS
WITH VAMIK.
00:49:54.895 --> 00:49:59.066
AND THEN THEY SAID TO ME THEY
WANT TO BUILD A ROOM FOR ME,
00:49:59.200 --> 00:50:00.935
AND THEY BEGAN
BUILDING A ROOM.
00:50:01.068 --> 00:50:03.270
IT TOOK THEM TWO YEARS
TO BUILD THIS ROOM,
00:50:03.404 --> 00:50:04.972
A VERY SMALL ROOM,
OBVIOUSLY,
00:50:05.105 --> 00:50:07.274
AT THE TOP
OF THE STAIRWAY,
00:50:07.408 --> 00:50:11.278
JUST BEFORE YOU ENTER
THEIR APARTMENT.
00:50:11.412 --> 00:50:15.049
AFTER TWO YEARS,
I WENT IN,
00:50:15.182 --> 00:50:18.118
AND THEY WERE ALL BIG SMILES.
ROOM HAD FINISHED.
00:50:18.252 --> 00:50:20.955
AND WE WENT
AND ENTERED THE ROOM.
00:50:21.088 --> 00:50:24.758
AND THEY CALLED IT
"VAMIK'S ROOM," MY NAME.
00:50:24.892 --> 00:50:27.628
AH, GOD, IT MAKES ME CRY.
00:50:27.761 --> 00:50:30.464
IN THIS GARBAGE DUMP,
THEY BUILT A ROOM.
00:50:30.598 --> 00:50:33.567
IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL,
SO CLEAN.
00:50:33.701 --> 00:50:35.169
THIS CHANGED
THE WHOLE SOCIETY.
00:50:35.302 --> 00:50:37.471
YOU SEE, YOU CANNOT
GO AND CHANGE
00:50:37.605 --> 00:50:39.473
THE LIVES
OF 3,000 PEOPLE,
00:50:39.607 --> 00:50:44.378
EVEN IF YOU KNOW THE BEST
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE WORLD.
00:50:44.512 --> 00:50:46.647
THEY CHANGED THEMSELVES.
THEY FOUND THEIR OWN WAY.
00:50:46.780 --> 00:50:51.986
AS THEY WERE BUILDING THIS,
NEIGHBORS STARTED TO CLEAN UP
00:50:52.119 --> 00:50:55.089
THE GARBAGE,
BUILDING BETTER ROOMS,
00:50:55.222 --> 00:50:59.193
AND THEN THE WHOLE COMMUNITY
SLOWLY BEGAN CHANGING,
00:50:59.326 --> 00:51:03.464
AND THIS ROOM BECAME
THE SYMBOL OF CHANGE.
00:51:03.597 --> 00:51:06.333
AND THEN THEY DECIDED
00:51:06.467 --> 00:51:09.103
THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE
THEIR PLACE AND STAY
00:51:09.236 --> 00:51:12.273
AND THEY MIGHT AS WELL
TAKE CARE OF IT.
00:51:12.406 --> 00:51:14.608
NARRATOR: VAMIK'S ROOM
CAUSED A RIPPLE EFFECT
00:51:14.742 --> 00:51:16.143
THROUGHOUT
THE REFUGE CAMP.
00:51:16.277 --> 00:51:19.146
MANY PEOPLE BEGAN TO FEEL
A SENSE OF DIGNITY
00:51:19.280 --> 00:51:21.782
AND IMAGINE
A FUTURE LIFE.
00:51:21.916 --> 00:51:25.286
SOME CULTURAL TRADITIONS
RETURNED.
00:51:25.419 --> 00:51:28.856
[GEORGIAN POLYPHONIC SINGING]
00:51:48.776 --> 00:51:51.812
NARRATOR: AS THE WORLD DEALS
WITH MASS MIGRATION,
00:51:51.946 --> 00:51:53.647
GLOBAL PANDEMICS,
00:51:53.781 --> 00:51:56.150
AND INCREASINGLY
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY,
00:51:56.283 --> 00:51:59.253
MORE AND MORE GROUPS
ARE ASKING THEMSELVES
00:51:59.386 --> 00:52:01.989
"WHO ARE WE NOW?"
00:52:02.122 --> 00:52:07.528
VAMIK BELIEVES THIS QUESTION
IS THE HALLMARK OF OUR AGE.
00:52:07.661 --> 00:52:10.664
HE HOPES DIPLOMATS AND LEADERS
WILL LOOK CLOSER
00:52:10.798 --> 00:52:13.867
AT LARGE-GROUP PSYCHOLOGY
IN ORDER TO FIND WAYS
00:52:14.001 --> 00:52:15.769
OF BRINGING
CONSTRUCTIVE CHANGE
00:52:15.903 --> 00:52:18.305
TO COMMUNITIES
AROUND THE GLOBE.
00:52:19.406 --> 00:52:24.778
SOMETIMES I TALK ABOUT
LARGE-GROUP IDENTITY
00:52:24.912 --> 00:52:28.782
SUCH AS ETHNIC IDENTITY,
NATIONAL IDENTITY,
00:52:28.916 --> 00:52:32.653
TRIBAL IDENTITY,
POLITICAL IDENTITY
00:52:32.786 --> 00:52:35.356
AS A SECOND SKIN.
00:52:37.424 --> 00:52:39.960
WE HAVE ALL KINDS
OF IDENTITIES,
00:52:40.094 --> 00:52:44.298
AND WE HOLD ON THEM,
AND THAT'S NOT GOOD OR BAD.
00:52:44.431 --> 00:52:47.134
IT IS PART
OF HUMAN NATURE.
00:52:47.267 --> 00:52:48.969
BUT CERTAIN IDENTITIES,
00:52:49.103 --> 00:52:52.806
BELONGING TO THEM
IS NOT A CHOICE.
00:52:52.940 --> 00:52:55.542
YOU ARE BORN INTO IT.
00:52:57.277 --> 00:52:59.313
FROM CHILDHOOD ON,
YOU'RE ALMOST LIKE YOU ATE IT,
00:52:59.446 --> 00:53:01.315
LIKE YOUR MOTHER'S MILK.
00:53:01.448 --> 00:53:04.752
IF YOU ARE BORN, LET'S SAY,
IN A GREEK FAMILY,
00:53:04.885 --> 00:53:06.353
YOU EAT GREEKNESS.
00:53:06.487 --> 00:53:08.756
IF YOU'RE ARAB,
YOU'RE AN ARAB.
00:53:08.889 --> 00:53:12.960
IF YOUR PARENTS ARE COMMUNISTS
WHEN YOU WERE A SMALL CHILD,
00:53:13.093 --> 00:53:15.262
YOU'RE A COMMUNIST.
00:53:16.396 --> 00:53:18.831
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:53:19.433 --> 00:53:25.105
BUT IF SOMEBODY COMES
AND SCRATCH YOUR SECOND SKIN,
00:53:25.239 --> 00:53:27.441
SPITS ON IT, CUTS IT,
00:53:27.574 --> 00:53:30.277
IT IS LIKE YOUR CORE
IS BEATEN UP,
00:53:30.411 --> 00:53:32.780
YOUR CORE IS HUMILIATED,
BECAUSE IT IS...
00:53:32.913 --> 00:53:34.782
IT'S SO CLOSE TO YOU.
00:53:34.915 --> 00:53:36.784
EVEN IT'S SHARED,
IT IS SO CLOSE TO YOU,
00:53:36.917 --> 00:53:40.354
AND YOU HAVE TO DO THINGS
TO PROTECT IT.
00:53:44.758 --> 00:53:46.160
MAN: THIS IS
THE GREATEST COUNTRY.
00:53:46.293 --> 00:53:48.195
WE'VE GOT
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
00:53:48.328 --> 00:53:51.799
[CROWD CHANTING
"BUILD THE WALL!"]
00:53:51.932 --> 00:53:54.301
WE'RE ABSOLUTELY IN THE MIDDLE
OF A NEW CIVILIZATION,
00:53:54.435 --> 00:53:57.304
WHICH IS WHY EVERYBODY
IS SO REGRESSED.
00:53:57.438 --> 00:54:01.975
GLOBALIZATION IS GOOD,
BUT IT IS CONSTANTLY HURTING,
00:54:02.109 --> 00:54:04.278
INJURING LARGE-GROUP IDENTITIES.
00:54:04.411 --> 00:54:08.582
AND WE SEE IT NOW THAT
THE WORLD IS FULL OF IMMIGRANTS.
00:54:08.716 --> 00:54:11.685
IF YOU MIGRATE
VOLUNTARILY,
00:54:11.819 --> 00:54:15.589
YOU KEEP YOUR SECOND SKIN
MORE FLEXIBLE.
00:54:15.723 --> 00:54:18.659
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:54:22.362 --> 00:54:26.600
HOPEFULLY, HUMAN BEINGS
WILL FIND A WAY
00:54:26.734 --> 00:54:29.770
THAT THEY WILL KEEP
THE INITIAL SKINS
00:54:29.903 --> 00:54:34.441
AND HAVE KIND OF
SWISS-CHEESE SKINS
00:54:34.575 --> 00:54:36.110
AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS.
00:54:36.243 --> 00:54:37.978
YOU KNOW YOUR IDENTITY,
00:54:38.112 --> 00:54:40.280
BUT YOU HAVE HOLES
IN THE BORDER,
00:54:40.414 --> 00:54:43.283
LIKE SWISS CHEESE HAS,
YOU CAN GO IN AND OUT.
00:54:43.417 --> 00:54:45.652
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:54:45.786 --> 00:54:49.289
AND IF A WORLD LIKE THAT
DEVELOPS,
00:54:49.423 --> 00:54:51.959
THEN IT WILL BE
A DIFFERENT KIND OF...
00:54:52.092 --> 00:54:54.862
PERHAPS A BETTER
CIVILIZATION.
00:54:58.432 --> 00:55:00.868
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:55:06.707 --> 00:55:10.144
VAMIK: WHEN I GO TO CYPRUS,
I HAVE SOMETHING
00:55:10.277 --> 00:55:13.080
THAT I DON'T HAVE
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
00:55:13.213 --> 00:55:16.350
I LIKE THE EARTH.
I LIKE TO TOUCH THE GROUND,
00:55:16.483 --> 00:55:22.289
DIG, DIG THE GROUND UP,
AND PLANT TREES OR FLOWERS.
00:55:22.422 --> 00:55:28.862
I HAVE FIG TREES,
ORANGE TREES, ALMOND TREES.
00:55:28.996 --> 00:55:32.633
THE GROUND IN CYPRUS
IS LIKE MY MOTHER EARTH.
00:55:32.766 --> 00:55:34.434
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:55:34.568 --> 00:55:37.271
IT IS WHERE I WAS BORN.
00:55:37.404 --> 00:55:40.274
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 58 minutes
Date: 2021
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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