Nema Problema 2001
Distributed by LAVA - Latin American Video Archives, 124 Washington Place, New York, NY 10014; 212-243-4804
Producer n/a
Directed by Cristián Leighton and Susana Foxley
VHS, color, 60 min.
Adult
Human Rights, International Relations, Multicultural Studies
Date Entered: 11/10/2005
Reviewed by Cindy Badilla-Melendez, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MNIn 1999, the Chilean government granted asylum to 26 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia. The Chilean community welcomed them, giving them free room and board, free clothes, free calling cards, free Spanish lessons and the opportunity to rebuild their lives in a new country. But what went wrong a few months later? Did a clash of cultures make this group ungrateful or critical?
Several refugees are interviewed as they complain nearly about everything. With low wages, not enough work, hardly knowing the language and the culture - what could they do? One is not sure if they were told a different story about Chile. Perhaps misinformation and too many expectations were the problems in this uncomfortable situation but it seems that the refugees did not want to adapt. In the interviews, you can tell that they have no intention of adjusting to a new culture, new foods or new ways of living. The economic situation in Chile is bad and has been really bad for over 20 years due to political problems. Good intentions need resources and planning. However, political compromises cause some countries to do things they know they should not. The resources used for this refugee program could have been better spent helping their own people.
On the other hand, these people come from countries where life was hard. They were running either from persecution or from being killed. At least in Chile they don’t have to hide. After two years, 21 of the 26 refugees went back to the former Yugoslavia.
A controversial documentary, Nema Problema is pretty much “he said, she said”. During the 60 minutes you can not tell what really happened or what was promised to the refugees when they decided to leave their countries. However, at the same time the documentary is neutral and does not support either.
The picture and sound quality are fair, and the film is in Spanish and Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles. The best recommendation is to request this documentary for preview before buying it. Suited for library collections in peace and justice studies, human rights, international relations, and multicultural studies.