BURDEN OF PEACE
Filmmaker Interview with Director Joey Boink
BURDEN OF PEACE tells the impressive story of Claudia Paz y Paz, the first woman to lead the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala. The country that has been ravaged for years by a devastating civil war, in which nearly 200,000 Mayan Indians were systematically massacred, is today one of the most violent countries in the world. Claudia starts a frontal attack against corruption, drug gangs and impunity and does what everyone had hitherto held to be impossible: she arrests former dictator Efraín Rios Montt on charges of genocide. His conviction becomes the first conviction of a former head of state for genocide in a national court in the world history.
Since her first year in office, Claudia gave access to filmmakers of Framewerk, Joey Boink and Sander Wirken. It resulted in an intimate glimpse into the life of a woman who wants to change her country and therefore brings immense sacrifices. The documentary was released during the Movies that Matter Film Festival, March 2015, The Hague. The film has screened at festivals around the world, was nominated for a Golden Calf for Best Documentary at the Netherlands Film Festival 2015, and won awards at film festivals in Biarritz, Brussels, Bratislava and Vienna.
What motivated you to make this film?
[Joey Boink] My colleague Sander Wirken and I have been working in Guatemala since 2005. Sander as a human rights lawyer, me as a filmmaker. While living in Guatemala, we experienced serious violence from very nearby. Everyone in Guatemala has relatives or friends that are murdered. Guatemala is infamous for solving only 2 % of its murder cases. One day a friend of ours did not show up at the soccer court. It appeared that he was driven over by a bus that did not even stop after the incident. No one went to the police, because all our friends knew that the police would not investigate the case. Crime has become normal in Guatemala. But in the end of 2010, something incredible happened in Guatemala.
Claudia Paz y Paz was appointed to lead the Prosecutor’s Office. Not only was it special because she was the first woman to lead the prosecutor’s office, but mainly because she was a human rights activist and was very outspoken about the need to change the system. Paz y Paz wanted to get rid of the corruption within her own prosecutor’s office, the police force, and all levels of government. She brought hope to the people in Guatemala and she is the central american example of a woman taking the lead in a culture that is known for its machismo. Now that Paz y Paz was appointed, we wanted to make a documentary about her fight against the impunity and corruption. We met with her and won her trust. Paz y Paz felt the need of having a transparent Prosecutor’s office. That is why she gave us full access to her activities as attorney general — and to all levels of her office.
What were some obstacles you encountered while making your film?
BURDEN OF PEACE has both physically and legally been a high risk project. Physically: From very nearby we followed the person that carries out one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Paz y Paz was responsible to prosecute organized crime bosses, drug traffickers and former dictators responsible for genocide. Claudia Paz y Paz, as well as her husband and child, were surrounded by bodyguards 24/7. As independent filmmakers we did not have that protection. However, to illustrate the context of Guatemalan daily violence we needed to film high risk arrest operations and crime scenes.
Legally: Claudia Paz y Paz was under a lot of pressure. There are powerful people who were not so happy with her fight against impunity. In order to get Claudia out of the Prosecutor’s Office, they made up rumors in the media about everything they can: they claim she is a marxist, abusing the Prosecutor’s Office to spread her ideologies; she would be directed by terrorist human rights NGOs from Europe and the United States etc… As a consequence, we as filmmakers had to be very cautious with what we say and share while Claudia was still in office. Every picture of us — foreigners working close to her — could be used against her and against us. We got used to a life in which we could not tell other people what we were doing.
Why BURDEN OF PEACE?
In my work I’m looking for unusual stories that tell something about great social themes. While making the film BURDEN OF PEACE has meant we were working far from home, but in a way it brought me closer to my family history.
In the 1980s the military regime in Guatemala fought a conflict with opposition groups. The opposition, which consisted mainly of students, operated from the mountains, which was inhabited by the Maya population. Fearing that Maya would give families relief and food to the resistance, the army destroyed entire Mayan villages. Women and children were not spared. According to the United Nations almost 200 000 innocent and unarmed Maya Indians were killed by the military regime.
During the shooting I realized that the Mayan population live with a trauma that also happened in my own family. The Maya Indians that we have spoken are survivors of a genocide, like my family was. An important difference is that I live in a society where no one will deny what was done to Jewish people during World War II, while the crimes against the Maya population are still denied by powerful groups in Guatemalan society, even by the current president. The Mayan population is still discriminated against every day and still live in oppression and poverty. There is a national day for veterans of the military, but there is no national day of remembrance for the victims.
In my family we do not talk about what happened in the camps. I am very proud that I have known my grandfather, though he was physically and mentally ill. Only after his death in 2000, I learned that he had survived Auschwitz. His twin brother and his mother were killed before his eyes in the camp. I understand why my mother chose not to tell me and my sister not too much of these stories. But by getting to know the families of the Guatemalan genocide, I feel like I got to know my own family and other survivors of the Holocaust better.
I hope the film helps to make people aware of what happened in Guatemala, so that the Maya population are heard and more people understand what it is like to be a survivor of a genocide that is denied.
If you could narrow it down, what is one film that’s impacted your filmmaking career most?
The Making of a Revolution (HUMAN, 2001)
What did you shoot on?
As we were following a woman who was surrounded by ten bodyguards 24/7 we needed to be flexible and discrete. That is why I chose to work with a small team and with equipment that doesn’t take much time to install before use. I shot the film with a Sony PMW 200. It has a great zoom lens fixed to the body and it easily connects with sound devices It has a good lens. While driving around the country with Claudia Paz y Paz we attached a GoPro3 to her car and the cars of her bodyguards, which resulted in some really nice driving-through-landscape shots.
What were a few stylistic choices or techniques that you used to help tell your story?
The main character is filmed in an observational style. The story is shown mainly from Claudia’s perspective. We follow her and because we have unlimited access, the viewer can become a part of her world.
The scenes that take place in present time are shot while developments enrolled, making the viewer feel present in the room of an office where you would normally never get access to. We are in the car with Claudia as much as possible, driving from one appointment to the next. Her car, the car following her, the six security guards and the tinted windows illustrate Claudia’s imprisonment. Though she wants to defend the poor and discriminated people she sees from her car window, she is in fact miles away. Her position has made her part of the elite.
Claudia is practiced at giving diplomatic answers. Interviewing her is only worthwhile when given plenty of time to speak, in a room with no one else present. Nevertheless, her facial expressions often show her true feelings or thoughts — all the more reason to try to comprehend what she is thinking, whilst filming a scene, without needing to interview her.
What do you love most about filmmaking?
My favorite part of documentary filmmaking is the process of stepping into a world where you knew little of before and that you discover by doing research and getting to know the characters. The challenge of little by little winning the trust of your protagonist, having them giving you access into their world is the most exciting and rewarding to me.
What advice can you give to other impact filmmakers?
When you make a film, never have making an impact as your primary goal! Film is your language. It requires a dramatic narrative and a convincing protagonist that an audience can identify with. If you do not stay true to the story, but rather want to tell something that fits the cause that you want to make an impact for, your film will not convince the audience and thus will not help making an impact.
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Written by Erinn Sullivan, SIMA
