Seminar: Can Film Make a Difference?

Date: Tuesday, 16 January, 2007
Time: 17:30
Place: Verdensteateret
Free entrance

In cooperation with the Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Tromsø, Tromsø International Film Festival presents a special screening of the film by Danis Tanovic "No Man's Land" with an introduction by Professor Michael Shapiro, which includes stills from other films. Professor Shapiro has chosen the film as a starting point to discuss "The Relationship Between War and Landscape". The screening will be followed by a discussion on the theme "Can Film Make a Difference?"

No Man’s Land , Bosnia (2001),
Director: Danis Tanovic
Running time: 1t 38m

Set in the midst of the recent Balkan wars, No Man's Land is a powerful account of the relationship that develops between two enemy soldiers—a Serb and a Bosnian—who are trapped together in the same trench. When the United Nations begrudgingly decides to come to their rescue, the soldiers' predicament is blown up into an international news spectacle, and the dark humor of the film becomes evident. The award-winning drama explores humanity in the midst of the horrors of the Bosnia-Herzegovina war. The film has won the Golden Palm in Cannes for Best Screenplay and Special Jury Prize, and an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Michael Shapiro is a professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. He has taught courses on the subjects of 'Political Science and Film', 'Visual Culture and the Public Sphere', and 'War and Cinema'. Among his publications are titles such as 'Violent Cartographies: Mapping Cultures of War' (Minnesota 1997), 'Cinematic Political Thought: Narrating Race, Nation and Gender' (Edinburgh 1999), and 'Moral Spaces: Rethinking Ethics and World Politics' (Minnesota 1999). Shapiro is a guest lecturer at the Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) at University of Tromsø. He will lecture at the CPS on Monday January 15, at 10:15 and 14:15, room U-06, Nedre Lysthuset. He is also member of the jury that will award this year’s Norwegian Peace Film Award at TIFF.