Page - 87 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/01

Activist Citizenship, Film and Peacebuilding | 87www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/1, 73–89 constructed. These actors are defined and constituted by their authentic acts of crea- tion. Their creation represents the aforementioned answerability to Others and to own-being. I argue that acts have a ripple effect: as described in Circles, an act by Srdjan Alek- sic, for instance, represents what Isin calls “an act with performative force”,67 show- ing that an act “cannot be reduced to the moment of its performance” but “must include its subsequent interpretation and description”.68 Isin argues that acts are performative descriptions,69 and therefore acts are inevitably subjected to interpreta- tion, also because “all mental phenomena are ontologically subjective”.70 The films do not represent a mere descriptive statement; I argue that their power is in the afore- mentioned “performative utterance” (which through the scene is transformed into an act). Performativity is directly linked with transformative practices and activism in film: the transformative practice of film is a result of the director’s creative per- formative act, which brings acts and activism into focus not just thematically (as a denial of rights) but also through the creative process of the filmmaker. Performative force communicates the issues at hand non-violently, which is pertinent for sustaining peace. The directors transform acts of violence and “non-kind actions” by focussing on non-violent acts such as the act of forgiveness. Wadjda represents a non-violent quest for recognition of ultimate worth. The peacebuilding dimension of films is a product of individual creative acts that surpass existing ideological divisions. In that respect, films are not just interpretations of the acts and deeds of activism; they are novel creations, produced in specific conditions and societies in which dif- ferent ideologies prevail and where these acts are not fully accepted. Film discloses the filmmaker to be a claimant of rights who breaks with the ideological discourse of a society, in itself a subversive act, even if not intentional. Through film demands are made for new ways, practices, and ethics. Embedded in the narrative of the film is the quest for recognition of the equality and humanity of those with different rights. This quest is purposive for both the subject – the one who creates – and the environment in which the creator creates. The transformative dimension of film works on two lev- els: through answerability to Others and through a personal act by the filmmaker that embodies their quest for a just society, which transforms them into the activists. Peacebuilding is not necessarily intentional (although broadly speaking it can be) but is rather a purpose of creative activism, whose “outcome is not predictable”.71 Peacebuilding is an ongoing process that continues in space and time and has an ethi- cal and moral quality because it reveals how subjects are engaging and relating to Oth- ers. But if we take peacebuilding as an outcome of activism with moral quality, how 67 Isin 2012, 134. 68 Isin 2012, 135. 69 For more detailed discussion see Isin 2012, 126. 70 Searle 1995, 12. 71 Isin 2012, 129.