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Letters: The Stolen Debate
[Tue 06/10/2009 11:55:29]
The documentary Stolen, which has been shortlisted for this year's IF Independent Spirit Award, has attracted considerable debate due to its claims of slavery in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Below are the full text of two letters received - including a defence by the filmmakers - received last month.
Dear IF,
The “documentary” Stolen was shown in June 2009 at the Sydney Film Festival and was slightly modified and shown during the Melbourne International Film Festival in July. The reasons for the changes made to the film are due to serious problems related to its production.
I note that due to serious copyright infringements, like illegally using interviews shot by other film makers, the film has been changed since its Sydney screening. However, the mistranslation, invented subtitles and scenes remain in the film. A disclaimer was added to the film since its screening in Sydney which states that the content of the film does not reflect the views of Screen Australia or the Australian Government.
The film purports to be an expose of slavery in the refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, where thousands of Saharawis, displaced by the Moroccan invasion of the Western Sahara, currently live. The film, alleging that some of these refugees are slaves has already caused great personal distress and sadness to the very refugees it purports to be helping. One of them, a key figure in the film Fetim Sellami, flew to Sydney and denounced the film when it was shown.
Fetim Sellami and other Saharawis included in the film did not give their informed consent to the film Stolen. Fetim has been destitute in the refugee camps all her adult life. Therefore, she is a powerless victim to the manipulation and deception of those behind Stolen.
A senior UN official, Ursula Abouchar, who appeared in the Sydney version has denounced the filmmakers for falsely using her interview and abusing what she said by editing and she has not given consent to her interview as the release the filmmakers gave her to sign is still with her.
In the film, there are inaccurate subtitles as well as distorted scenes with invented sub-titles. The translator, Oumar Sy, who the filmmakers claimed certified the translations for the subtitles, has denounced the filmmakers as falsifying what he said. The issue of translation in subtitles is very important since it reveals the essence of the allegations [of slavery] to be completely false.
Locations are muddled so that the film indicates, for example, that what occurs in Mauritania, another country, also occurs in the Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf- Algeria.
The filmmakers, with these unfounded allegations, have abused the human dignity of fine people already living in difficult circumstances, causing great distress to families and children.
It is our opinion they have made a mockery of the documentary film process, attacking its legitimacy as a truth-telling medium. This film as it was shown only went to aid the objectives of Morocco – a country that occupies Western Sahara. Parts of it were broadcast on Moroccan television for example.
Knowing many of the distressed people portrayed who object to being in the film; I write this letter to you with a heavy heart, much sadness and considerable outrage at this attack on human dignity and rights.
I strongly emphasize that we are not seeking to ban this film or infringe on the freedom of expression of the individuals who made it. We are only trying to show the shortcomings of the film and how it is causing harm to our cause and the individuals who appear in it, including myself. I have asked the filmmakers to remove my image and voice from the film and they have ignored my request.
For anyone interested in the film they can check a document a prepared by the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA). It is a detailed report and critique of Stolen, investigating the questionable methods and unethical practices from pre to post production used in the making of the film: http://awsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/critique-of-stolen-ii.pdf.
Yours Sincerely,
Kamal Fadel
Western Sahara Representative to Australia
Dear IF,
We stand by the film we've made. It raises the issue of slavery in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria and in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
The constant criticism of the film is part of a sophisticated and well-resourced campaign by the Polisario, and in particular Kamal Fadel its official representative in Australia.
We did not originally set out to make a film about slavery. It was only disclosed to us during our third trip to the POLISARIO governed camps.
The Polisario detained us and attempted to seize our camera tapes, the people who talked to us in the camps were intimidated, retractions were obtained from some of our interviewees and Screen Australia was lobbied to stop our funding.
Given they were unable to prevent the making of the film, the Polisario now attempt to undermine its credibility, and us the
filmmakers.
The Hassaniya translations are a case in point. Hassaniya is a dialect of Arabic. It has no written form and as such only an interpretation can be made, which is a subjective skill. Oumar Sy, a Mauritanian living in New York verified the subtitles in the film before the edit was finalised.
He signed a letter to say the translations were accurate. He was then sent a final version of the film, and had four months to raise any concerns with us. When he finally did, he copied the same email to Polisario.
Nonetheless for the sake of accuracy we decided to employ the only officially accredited Hassaniya interpreter in Australia to scrutinise the entire film. It turned out that there were some minor issues and they have since been corrected. As a result, some minor changes were made to the translations. It's important to point out that the majority of the slavery disclosures in the film are in Spanish.
Fetim, one of the main characters, gave her consent to appear in the film, we didn't mislead her or anyone else. Historically slavery has existed in this region for centuries. In 1975, the United Nations published a report describing slave markets and slavery in Tindouf, where the refugee camps exist.
The Polisario flew Fetim, to Australia to protest at the Sydney screening. According to Anti-Slavery International it is a common practice for states to put pressure in the victims of slavery to retract their statements.
Human Rights Watch published a report in 2008 that says slavery still affects a percentage of the black minority in the Tindouf refugee camps. We requested a formal on-camera interview from the UN High Commission for Refugees to discuss slavery in the camps. It was granted to us. Deputy director for the North Africa Bureau Ursula Aboubacar told us that slavery exists and is a regional problem.
To show the context of her original comments to us we have made available on our website a 10-minute compilation of
the interview.
The film has not been screened on Moroccan television. Several DVDs and 20 hours of footage were stolen while we were filming in Morocco. Footage filmed by us has appeared on YouTube several times. We have had the videos taken down whenever they did appear.
With regard to Kamal Fadel¹s request to be taken out of the film, we see no reason to do this. He was speaking in a public forum at the Sydney Film Festival when we filmed him. We are under no legal obligation to remove the footage.
Stolen is the only Australian documentary selected for the Toronto Film Festival, it will have its European premiere in competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.
