Crazy

Film preceded by a discussion with Andrea Holley, Director of Outreach and Public Education, Human Rights Watch

There may not be a word for the kind of emotion evoked by Heddy Honigmann's latest film. But Crazy is the word used most frequently by the Dutch UN soldiers who tell their stories of emotional devastation during peacekeeping missions in "security zones," such as Cambodia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Korea. These "peacekeepers" speak of being witnesses to brutally chaotic conditions, of murder and child prostitution, of being improperly equipped, of feelings of powerlessness amidst incredible suffering. Each soldier recalls a song intimately connected to these memories, one that helped get him through his plight. Watching this very personal and direct film, there is a sense these stories are being told for the first time. A curious but careful interviewer, Honigmann's use of home video and snapshots provides an emotional link the soldiers often deny or struggle to conceal. But it's the lingering close-ups of these soldiers listening to their songs that are the most revealing. The remarkable and mysterious power of these segments, a complex marriage of music and memory, will be immediately recognized by anyone with a song they've called their own.