Jarreth Merz: Filming democracy in Ghana

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

I was born in Switzerland

Rodil sem se v Švici

and raised in Ghana, West Africa.

in odrasel v Gani, v Zahodni Afriki.

Ghana felt safe to me as a child.

Kot otroku se mi je Gana zdela varna.

I was free, I was happy.

Bil sem svoboden, bil sem srečen.

The early 70s

Zgodnja sedemdeseta leta

marked a time of musical and artistic excellence in Ghana.

so bila v Gani zaznamovana kot obdobje glasbene in umetniške odličnosti.

But then by the end of the decade,

Toda proti koncu desetletja

the country had fallen back into political instability

je država zapadla v ponovno politično nestabilnost

and mismanagement.

in slabo upravljanje.

In 1979,

Leta 1979

I witnessed my first military coup.

sem bil priča svojemu prvemu vojaškemu udaru.

We the children had gathered at a friend's house.

Otroci smo se zbrali v prijateljevi hiši.

It was a dimly lit shack.

To je bila medlo osvetljena koliba.

There was a beaten up black and white television

Izrabljen črnobel televizor

flickering in the background,

je utripal v ozadju

and a former head of state and general

in bivšemu voditelju države in generalu

was being blindfolded

so zavezali oči

and tied to the pole.

in ga privezali na drog.

The firing squad aimed, fired --

Strelski vod je nameril, sprožil --

the general was dead.

general je bil mrtev.

Now this was being broadcast live.

To so prenašali v živo.

And shortly after, we left the country,

Kmalu zatem smo odšli iz države

and we returned to Switzerland.

in se vrnili v Švico.

Now Europe came as a shock to me,

Evropa je bila zame šokantna

and I think I started feeling the need

in mislim, da sem začutil potrebo po tem,

to shed my skin in order to fit in.

da se rešim svoje kože, da bi spadal sem.

I wanted to blend in like a chameleon.

Hotel sem se zliti z okoljem kot kameleon.

I think it was a tactic of survival.

Mislim, da je bila to taktika za preživetje.

And it worked, or so I believed.

In delovala je, oziroma vsaj mislil sem tako.

So here I was in 2008

In tako sem se leta 2008

wondering where I was in my life.

spraševal, kje sem v svojem življenju.

And I felt I was being typecast as an actor.

In čutil sem, da sem postal igralec.

I was always playing the exotic African.

Vedno sem igral eksotičnega Afričana.

I was playing the violent African,

Igral sem nasilnega Afričana,

the African terrorist.

afriškega terorista.

And I was thinking,

In mislil sem si,

how many terrorists could I possibly play

koliko teroristov bi lahko igral,

before turning into one myself?

preden bi sam postal eden od njih?

And I had become ashamed of the other,

In postalo me je sram te druge strani,

the African in me.

tega Afričana v meni.

And fortunately I decided in 2008

Na srečo sem se leta 2008 odločil,

to return to Ghana,

da se vrnem v Gano,

after 28 years of absence.

po 28 letih odsotnosti.

I wanted to document on film

Na film sem hotel posneti

the 2008 presidential elections.

predsedniške volitve leta 2008.

And there, I started by searching

Tam sem začel z iskanjem

for the footprints in my childhood.

prstnih odtisov v svojem otroštvu.

And before I even knew it,

In še preden sem se zavedel,

I was suddenly on a stage

sem se znašel na odru,

surrounded by thousands of cheering people

obkrožen s tisoči vzklikajočih ljudi

during a political rally.

med političnim zborovanjem.

And I realized that, when I'd left the country,

In spoznal sem, da so bile, ko sem zapustil državo,

free and fair elections in a democratic environment

svobodne in poštene volitve v demokratičnem okolju

were a dream.

samo sanje.

And now that I'd returned, that dream had become reality,

Zdaj, ob vrnitvi, so te sanje postale resnica,

though a fragile reality.

pa čeprav krhka.

And I was thinking,

In razmišljal sem,

was Ghana searching for its identity

ali Gana išče svojo identiteto

like I was looking for my identity?

tako kot sem jo iskal sam?

Was what was happening in Ghana a metaphor

Je bilo dogajanje v Gani metafora

for what was happening in me?

za dogajanje v meni?

And it was as if through the standards of my Western life,

Zdelo se je, da glede na standarde svojega zahodnega načina življenja

I hadn't lived up to my full potential.

nisem dosegel svojega polnega potenciala.

I mean, nor had Ghana,

Mislim, tudi Gana ga ni,

even though we had been trying very hard.

čeprav smo se zelo trudili.

Now in 1957,

Leta 1957

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country

je bila Gana prva podsaharska država,

to gain its independence.

ki je postala neodvisna.

In the late 50s,

V poznih 50. letih

Ghana and Singapore had the same GDP.

sta Gana in Singapur imela enak BDP.

I mean, today, Singapore is a First World country

Danes je Singapur razvita država,

and Ghana is not.

Gana pa ni.

But maybe it was time to prove to myself,

A morda je bil čas, da sam sebi dokažem,

yes, it's important to understand the past,

da ja, pomembno je razumeti preteklost,

it is important to look at it in a different light,

pomembno je nanjo gledati v drugačni luči,

but maybe we should look at the strengths in our own culture

a morda bi morali pogledati na prednosti svoje lastne kulture

and build on those foundations in the present.

in na teh temeljih graditi sedanjost.

So here I was, December 7th, 2008.

In tu sem bil 7. decembra 2008.

The polling stations opened to the voters at 7:00 AM,

Volišča so se odprla ob sedmih zjutraj,

but voters, eager to take their own political fate into their hands,

toda volivci, željni vzeti svojo politično usodo v svoje roke,

were starting to line up at 4:00 AM in the morning.

so se začeli zbirati ob štirih zjutraj.

And they had traveled from near, they had traveled from far,

In pripotovali so od blizu in daleč,

because they wanted to make their voices heard.

saj so hoteli, da bi se njihov glas slišal.

And I asked one of the voters, I said, "Whom are you going to vote for?"

Enega od volivcev sem vprašal: "Za koga boste volili?"

And he said, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

Odgovoril je: "Žal mi je, ne morem vam povedati".

He said that his vote was in his heart.

Dejal je, da je njegov glas v njegovem srcu.

And I understood, this was their election,

In razumel sem, to so bile njihove volitve

and they weren't going to let anyone

in nikomur niso nameravali pustiti,

take it away from them.

da jim jih odvzame.

Now the first round of the voting didn't bring forth a clear winner --

Prvi krog ni prinesel jasnega zmagovalca --

so nobody had achieved the absolute majority --

nihče ni dosegel absolutne večine --

so voting went into a second round three weeks later.

in glasovanje se je čez tri tedne ponovilo v drugem krogu.

The candidates were back on the road; they were campaigning.

Kandidati so se vrnili na cesto, nadaljevali so kampanjo.

The rhetoric of the candidates, of course, changed.

Retorika kandidatov se je seveda spremenila.

The heat was on.

Bilo je vroče.

And then the cliche came to haunt us.

In potem se je vrnil kliše, preganjal nas je.

There were claims of intimidation

Slišati je bilo obtožbe o ustrahovanju

at the polling stations,

na voliščih,

of ballot boxes being stolen.

o kraji glasovnic.

Inflated results started coming in

Prihajali so napihnjeni rezultati

and the mob was starting to get out of control.

in počasi je množica začela uhajati nadzoru.

We witnessed the eruption of violence in the streets.

Bili smo priča izbruhu nasilja na ulicah.

People were being beaten brutally.

Ljudje so bili brutalno pretepeni.

The army started firing their guns. People were scrambling.

Vojska je začela streljati. Ljudje so se prerivali.

It was complete chaos.

To je bil popoln kaos.

And my heart sank,

In srce me je bolelo,

because I thought, here we are again.

saj sem mislil, pa smo spet tam.

Here is another proof

To je še en dokaz,

that the African is not capable of governing himself.

da si Afričani niso sposobni vladati.

And not only that, I am documenting it --

In ne samo to, jaz to dokumentiram --

documenting my own cultural shortcomings.

dokumentiram lastne kulturne slabosti.

So when the echo of the gunshots

In ko je odmev streljanja

had lingered,

kar vztrajal,

it was soon drowned by the chanting of the mob,

ga je kmalu utopilo petje množice

and I didn't believe what I was hearing.

in nisem mogel verjeti svojim ušesom.

They were chanting, "We want peace.

Ljudje so peli: "Hočemo mir.

We want peace."

Hočemo mir".

And I realized it had to come from the people.

In spoznal sem, da je moralo priti od ljudi.

After all, they decide,

Konec koncev oni odločajo

and they did.

in odločili so.

So the sounds that were before distorted and loud,

Zvoki, ki so bili prej popačeni in glasni,

were suddenly a melody.

so nenadoma prešli v melodijo.

The sounds of the voices were harmonious.

Glasovi so bili v harmoniji.

So it could happen.

Torej je bilo mogoče.

A democracy could be upheld peacefully.

Demokracija lahko obstane brez nasilja.

It could be, by the will of the masses

Lahko, zaradi volje množice,

who were now urgently pressing

ki je z vsem srcem in voljo

with all their heart and all their will

vztrajno zahtevala

for peace.

mir.

Now here's an interesting comparison.

Tu je zanimiva primerjava.

We in the West,

Mi na Zahodu

we preach the values,

pridigamo o vrednotah,

the golden light of democracy,

zlatem siju demokracije,

that we are the shining example of how it's done.

kako smo sijajen primer, kako deluje.

But when it comes down to it,

A v samem bistvu

Ghana found itself in the same place

se je Gana znašla v enakem položaju

in which the U.S. election stalled

kot ZDA med volitvami leta 2000,

in the 2000 presidential elections --

med predsedniškimi volitvami --

Bush versus Gore.

Bush proti Goru.

But instead of the unwillingness of the candidates

A namesto nasprotovanja kandidatov temu,

to allow the system to proceed and the people to decide,

da bi sistem deloval in ljudje odločili,

Ghana honored democracy

je Gana izkazala čast demokraciji

and its people.

in svojim ljudem.

It didn't leave it up to the Supreme Court to decide;

Odločitve ni prepustila vrhovnemu sodišču,

the people did.

ampak ljudem.

Now the second round of voting

Drugi krog volitev

did not bring forth a clear winner either.

spet ni prinesel jasnega zmagovalca.

I mean, it was so incredibly close.

Mislim, bilo je neverjetno tesno.

The electoral commissioner declared,

Predsednik volilne komisije je, s privolitvijo strank,

with the consent of the parties,

najavil,

to run an unprecedented

da bo potekal še en krog,

second re-run.

kar se še nikoli ni zgodilo.

So the people went back to the polls

Tako so ljudje spet šli na volišča

to determine their own president,

in izbrali svojega predsednika,

not the legal system.

tega ni storil pravni sistem.

And guess what, it worked.

In veste kaj, delovalo je.

The defeated candidate

Poraženi kandidat

gave up power

se je odrekel oblasti

and made way for Ghana to move into a new democratic cycle.

in dovolil Gani, da vstopi v nov demokratični cikel.

I mean, at the absolute time

Hočem reči, v tem absolutnem času,

for the absolute need of democracy,

ko je bila absolutna potreba po demokraciji,

they did not abuse their power.

niso zlorabili svoje moči.

The belief in true democracy and in the people runs deep,

Vera v pravo demokracijo in v ljudi je globoko zakoreninjena,

proving that the African is capable of governing himself.

kar dokazuje, da so si Afričani sposobni vladati sami.

Now the uphill battle for Ghana and for Africa

Trd boj za Gano in za Afriko

is not over,

še ni končan,

but I have proof that the other side of democracy exists,

imam pa dokaz, da obstaja druga stran demokracije,

and that we must not take it for granted.

in da je ne smemo vzeti kot nekaj samoumevnega.

Now I have learned

Naučil sem se,

that my place is not just in the West or in Africa,

da moje mesto ni le na Zahodu ali v Afriki,

and I'm still searching

in še vedno iščem

for my identity,

svojo identiteto,

but I saw Ghana

a videl sem, kako je Gana

create democracy better.

ustvarila boljšo demokracijo.

Ghana taught me

Gana me je naučila,

to look at people differently

naj gledam na ljudi drugače

and to look at myself differently.

in naj drugače gledam tudi nase.

And yes,

In da,

we Africans can.

mi Afričani zmoremo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)