Educational Media Reviews Online

This series of six films chronicles human rights abuses in Asia and Africa. Each deals with a specific problem in a specific country. The individual co-producers or filmmakers approached localized practices and problems from separate points of view resulting in an uneven series. (Though three titles are clearly outstanding in depicting rights abuses, the remaining three are less so. This is due in part to the situations explored, a poor choice in presenting translated dialog, or both.)

Discipline With Dignity (ISBN 1-56029-804-9) considers the problem of corporal and psychological punishment in the schools of Nepal. The attitude of the teachers can be summarized as, "Students have to be punished to keep them on track." Violence pervades Nepalese society. The Center for Victims of Torture (CVICT) believes that violence in everyday life will decrease if school punishment is curtailed. This film suffers from telling one of the least compelling stories in the series and from clumsy translation voice-overs. 26:10 minutes.

Going Home (ISBN 1-56029-803-0) took second place in the One World Broadcasting Trust Awards. Guinea provides shelter for refugees from recent conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Bissau, aided by the UN High Commission for Refugees. The official refugee camps provide food, schooling and health care for their charges while refugees at the foreign embassies are on their own, though with slightly greater personal freedom. A particular problem recorded in the film is the repatriation of Liberian refugees to their totally destroyed country. 30:40 minutes.

In the Name of Safety (ISBN 1-56029-805-7) didn't win an award, but it is extremely well done and explores problems in Bangladesh with which one might easily empathize. Victims of domestic violence, rape or other crimes, children abandoned, rescued from slave rings, or simply unable to pay their school fees, are jailed for their own "protection." Not only are they often unable to get answers as to why they were jailed, the victims are often abused and beaten while in custody. Captions for names and descriptive text of some translations vastly improve the viewer's ease of understanding some scenes over earlier films in the series. 23:30 minutes.

Till Death Us Do Part (ISBN 1-56029-806-5) describes widowhood rites in Nigeria. The one year enforced mourning is bad enough, but women have no rights of inheritance in much of Nigeria and they also are usually seen as prime murder suspects in their husbands' deaths. Money to pay off one's relatives helps, of course, and often reduces family threats to the widow. Well produced, but not as compelling a story as others in the series. 27:43 minutes.

Smiles: The Hypocrisy of Thai Politics (ISBN 1-56029-807-3) is a history of Thai "democracy" since 1932 including the October confrontations of 1973 and 1976, the "Black May" demonstrations of 1992 and national stress from the 1997 Asian economic collapse. Certainly Thailand has an unusual government: a traditional monarch cooperating with a military dictatorship. A series of constitutions and a refurbishing of the Thai monument to democracy serve to underline the lack of progress in improving human rights. Good history, but falls well short of suggesting a direction for improving the Thai situation. 31:05 minutes.

Where Truth Lies (ISBN 1-56029-802-2) explores the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the case of the abduction, torture and murder of Siphiwo Mtimkulu and his friend Topsy Madaka by the South African Security Police. The film was voted the Best International Documentary at the One World Broadcasting Trust Awards for good reason. A key scene has Col. Gideon Nieuwoudt of the Security Police asking forgiveness of Mtimkulu's family for the part he played in Siphiwo's death. The confrontation is tense to say the very least. The viewer is given good insight into the apartheid regime and the role of the Commission in hearing requests for amnesty from members of the former government. No one should miss an opportunity to view this extraordinary film. 31:02 minutes.

The Triumph Over Terror series is recommended for 9th grade through adult audiences. Though there are inconsistencies, the better films are outstanding and the lesser films are still vibrant examples of human rights problems in Asia and Africa.