Disturbed Earth
Behind closed doors, the world's leading diplomats and military experts are ineffective, and reluctant about the fate of an entire people, despite all reports from the field and corresponding evidence. The men deliberate, sending messages and directions to other officials, but no decisions are ever made. The tragedy unfolds elsewhere.
The reasons are manifold - some personal ambitions, some bigoted prejudices, some fanatic obsessions - all flavored with the procedural lockstep of bureaucracy, which adds up to a disaster that has been steadily approaching. The final genocide of the twentieth century transpires under the guardianship of the United Nations in 1995 in Srebrenica.
Disturbed Earth is a theatrical performance rehearsal shot in one day - the bureaucratic incompetence takes inspiration from a historical specificity, but it also occurs right now; bureaucrats are incapable of acting on time in the midst of climate catastrophe.
Disturbed Earth was Didem Pekün's research project at the Graduate School and premiered at this year's BFI London Film Festival where it was part of the short film programme Memorials of Meaning.