Ivan Goldschmidt's Academy Award-nominated "Na Wewe" addresses the absurdity of conflicts about ethnicity. When Hutu rebels stop a minivan and try to separate the Hutus from the Tutsis, it proves hard to determine who's who since the people won't cooperate. This is an obvious reference to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, although the setting isn't mentioned (I read that it takes place in Burundi). According to Paul Rusesabagina - best known for opening his hotel as a refuge for people fleeing the genocide - it was the Belgians who started labeling people Hutu and Tutsi. This just emphasizes the lack of logic behind ethnic conflicts.Good one. The title means "you too", which could also be U2.

This Belgian film talks about a subject that is very much talked about nowadays in Belgium: national identity. The country that holds the record for time taken to form a new democratic government after an election, held until then by Iraq, offered us a very good insight on the essence of national identities. The way the director Ivan Goldsmidt achieved this was by setting his film at the civil war in Burundi and the genocidal conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. A van full of people is stopped by a few gun- wielding rebels, who demand to know everybody's origins. Of course this proves to be extremely complicated, which is why this movie turns into a comedy quite soon, despite the wielding guns. The tension of this situation is effectively used to make a point about the funny irrationality of the idea of national identity. "Na wewe" means "you too" in Kurundi, because this is definitely not a topic concerning only Hutus and Tutsis.

The film got me going. The cinematography was crisp, and I was really on the edge of my seat, anxiously awaiting the fate of the poor boy with the walk man. Unfortunately, said walk man was critical flaw of this film. Before viewing the climax, I had intended to rate this film at least a 9 on IMDb, but, unfortunately, that walk man and its involvement in the narrative ruined it for me ten fold. I mean, it felt like a commercial for U2! And the sight of those battle hardened soldiers dancing and smiling to music was quite difficult to bear. Up until that point I was ready to give this film a 9 on IMDb, but because of that cheese infested anti climactic ending the film received a 6.

Well, I just got back from my yearly pilgrimage to see the nominees for the Best Live Action Academy Award. Compared to other years, this is an interesting field, as I actually liked all the films and see there being no clear winner. Usually I have at least a few of them I don't particularly like but this is a good crop...but there also is no clearly 'perfect' film as well. So, in light of this, my predicting that "The Confession" will be the most likely of the films to win is not at all certain--as I see this as mostly a three film race but any of the five could easily win."Na Wewe" is set in Burundi during the horrible tribal violence that took place there and in Rwanda in 1994. A van loaded with people is stopped by a group of armed Hutus who question them one-by-one to determine which are Tutsis so they can kill them. The film is very tense and compelling throughout.I liked "Na Wewe" quite a bit but think it's a dark horse in the Oscar race this year for several reasons. First, its topic would have been wonderfully timely fifteen years ago. However, as the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi happened back in the 1990s, the timing seems pretty late. Also, while the acting and direction were terrific, the story seems awfully sanitized. After all, estimates are that between 500,000 and 1.000,000 were killed during this ethnic cleansing--and most of these were hacked to death with machetes! Such viciousness is only hinted at in the film and you'd think the Hutu/Tutsi violence was bad but not that bad (it was like Hell on Earth). Just my two cents worth.I'll update all my Live Action Short nominees after the Oscars are awarded--we'll see who takes the statue.UPDATE: Wow, this never happens. I actually picked this category correctly. In a conversation I had with a friend who saw the films with me, I told him that although I thought "The Confession" was the best film that it and "Wish 143" were so similar in tone and style that "God of Love" would win. Insanely enough, "God of Love" won and I think my prediction was correct--something that NEVER happens!