Page - 74 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/01

74 | Milja Radovic www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/1, 73–89 In this article I explore film as a socio-political and artistic-transformative cultural prac- tice through which acts and activism are performed. I am interested in how film em- beds acts of peacebuilding and how this scene of imagery/imaginary is transformed by those acts, with the filmmakers transformed into activist citizens whose activism questions ideologies that surround them. I approach the notion of acts from an on- tological perspective and activism as an extension of acts. Furthermore, I claim that a specific form of activism expressed through film is directly related to peacebuilding processes. For filmmakers the issue of how an individual act impacts society can be a matter of both peacemaking and religion in a wider sense. Although the films I discuss here do not address religion explicitly, they have religious motifs and symbols embedded in their narratives. Religion is rather implicitly depicted and is primarily related to the questions Who is my neighbour? and Who is the Other in society? Religion also has a significant role in shaping the socio-political context and cultural milieu in which these filmmakers work: in the Balkans it has had a crucial part in defining the “Other”, while in Saudi Arabia it is part of a societal codex and norms that determine the rights of citizens. I argue that acts of citizenship and activism, as creative practice, do not solely merit a deconstruction of how activism has been represented in films, for they also require a deeper understanding of what is beyond these representations and narratives. In that respect, I explore activism as a creative act of the filmmaker. My main research questions concern how acts of citizenship and activism are con- structed and practised through film and how these acts consequently impact peace- building. To answer these questions I explore the cinematic narratives that encap- sulate “acts of citizenship”3: I look at (a) how auteurs emerge as activists through the narratives and created scenes4, (b) how these acts consequently represent “an- swerability to Others”,5 and (c) how performativity6, activism, and peacebuilding are linked. I consider acts and activism beyond their institutional meaning: I understand activism as an “extension of acts” or concretised acts, “deeds” that carry out certain praxis and practices of peacebuilding. These practices inevitably become political by being subjected to diverse interpretations. The ability to act and to express one’s thoughts or opinions is basic to human na- ture and freedom. Denial of such rights represents the denial of the being, and of humanity itself, and reminds us of Hannah Arendt’s definition of totalitarianism as a system made and enabled by, Engin Isin writes, “a figure of a human being who could 3 See Isin/Nielsen 2008. 4 Isin/Nielsen 2008, 38. 5 Isin/Nielsen 2008, 19. 6 Isin 2012, 134.