Top 5 International Documentaries of 2011
Having produced the television series Great Decisions in Foreign Policy on PBS for decades, the FPA has long respected the work of filmmakers taking on international issues. The Foreign Policy Association polled its staff, editors, writers and bloggers on the best international documentaries of the year on issues related to U.S. foreign policy. Below is a list of the top five.
Hell and Back Again
Though the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are officially coming to a close, many question whether it is appropriate to deem the invasion a mission accomplished. The stability of Iraqi security forces is dubious, Afghanistan remains fractioned and its leaders corrupt, and the thousands of U.S. soldiers returning from battle face a nation largely at odds with the drawn-out intervention. Hell and Back Again juxtaposes a battalion’s raid with one soldier’s struggle to return to a normal life back home.
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat
The rapid communication of today’s media allows for greater understanding of international events, but new mediums also increase demand for footage of often dangerous situations. There are some that revel in these environments, those who in risking their lives provide an invaluable service, influencing populations and decision-makers alike by importing striking portraits of challenges abroad. Under Fire profiles these war-time journalists and their commendable efforts to transport foreign affairs to American living rooms.
The Island President
The debate surrounding climate change in the U.S. usually manifests as a distant, though looming, threat. Yet in other parts of the world, where a few differences in temperature have altered entire crop cycles, flooded towns, or hastened crippling droughts, climate change is an immediate struggle between life and death. In the islands nation of the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed has adopted this urgent cause to prevent his country from literally sinking into the surrounding ocean. The Island President gives a glimpse of the challenges and successes of international diplomacy surrounding this global threat.
In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heralded Ghana as a country where economic growth and democratic development have set an example for the rest of the continent. Yet in 2008, when the memory of surprising violence in presumed stable Kenya had barely abated, the world’s eyes fixated on Ghana’s dangerously close election. An African Election follows the trajectory of this historic moment, capturing the struggles of an emerging democracy through the eyes of those attempting to rule.
Back Door Channels
The U.S. has long employed clandestine or backdoor channels when conducting foreign policy- from Henry Kissinger’s classified meetings with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong to envoys negotiating with Arab Spring rebels, secret exchanges are a backbone of U.S. foreign policy. The 1979 Camp David Peace Accords are still considered a remarkable lesson in the power of undisclosed meetings and third party negotiations. As Middle East peace is more precarious than ever, Backdoor Channels is a welcome reminder of diplomatic success.
By Sarah Marion Shore