ONE MORE MILE: A DIALOGUE ON NATION BUILDING

One More Mile: A Dialogue on Nation-Building
(80 minutes, digital Betacam, 2002)

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Synopsis:

What happens when the bombs stop falling from the sky? How does a country heal itself after the devastation of genocide? What role does the world play in nation-building in countries such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan ,and now Iraq? ONE MORE MILE: A DIALOGUE ON NATION-BUILDING investigates the delicate and controversial role of the international community in a post-war society.

ONE MORE MILE centers on a series of interviews with individuals (from high-ranking international officials to Bosnian students, artists and workers) who recount their experiences in all phases of the recovery process—media, economy, education, law, the arts, and the more abstract healing of the soul. This feature-length documentary offers a glimpse into the personal and professional complexities of a massive, multinational reconstruction venture.

“Internationals” are involved in a vast, utopian project, using the economic and political philosophies of the democratic and capitalistic West to rebuild a country. These decisions are made sometimes with, but often without the cooperation of local Bosnians, and the isolation of the international community at times suggests just another form of colonialism.

Whether interviewing striking pensioners, journalists whose lives have been threatened, or human rights workers who wish to challenge the political bias in school textbooks, filmmakers Elizabeth Coffman and Ted Hardin paint an impressionistic portrait of life in a divided society while exploring both the agendas and the effectiveness of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina..

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