Dear Soni:
Thank you so much for sharing this-- contemplating this kind of film is
really a wonderful healing opportunity. I've seen several films that take
one on a journey through this terrain-- and it's so wonderful to make
visible sensations and impressions carried within..
I will try to reconstruct the films¹ names and send them in a later email.
One was about a Hungarian adolescent in that epoch who winds up in a camp
and one goes through the experience through his...
It was stark and plain, and it really took one through it in a way that I
had never before felt-- it was so great to really take that journey..
The other was a documentary made by a German film-maker whose father was
executed after the war because of his key role in sending Jews under his
jurisdiction to their deaths. In that film the film-maker engaged with his
own middle aged siblings as he uncovered historical evidence of their
father's role. The family ran the gamut from the eldest child who was an
alcoholic and suicide to Dad's defenders, to Dad's questioners, to the aged
widow herself. The film was awesome-- because one could really taste how
this beloved family man adored by his adorable children could draw a line of
conscience and treat "others" with such cruel lack of regard for their being
and humanity. Of course, this is what everyone is at risk to do with the
"other." The family went through every kind of rationalization and denial in
the attempt to come to terms with their father's history. And in that, they
are no different from other families I see in American workshops- as the
denial, shame, and cover/surround all familial sources of pain and harm.
Because as a rule-- we so much don't want to see-- that is why I so much
love seeing and value the films we are both writing about. I recall seeing
the latter film with a German friend-- crying together was so healing. For
me, carrying the constellation view into one¹s life and sharing it is one of
the great gifts of this work.
Many thanks to you, Soni, for this conversation...
Alison
Dear Alison and all,
Alison wrote:
they are a natural phenomenon which we have been taught to recognizeBut constellations are not just in the hands of the constellators,
and work with and other forces can also enact them even on a grand
stage.<<
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you all a film
that impressed me as embodying constellation work in art form.
Recently ABC1 TV Australia showed a documentary, 'Bloodlines', by
Australian film maker Cynthia Connop, featuring descendants of
Holocaust victims and perpetrators facing each other and the trauma
they carry for their ancestors, and attempting reconciliation.
http://www.bloodlinesfilm.com/
The film chronicles the meeting of Bettina Goering, grand-niece of
Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, with Ruth Rich, daughter of
Holocaust survivors. I see it relating to two recent strands of
conversation on Constellation Talk ('Country First' and 'Global
Transformation is at Hand').
'A moving meditation on guilt and reconciliation, this film explores
the unwritten cost of war and genocide on future generations of
both victims and perpetrators. Bettina Goering, descendent of Nazi
war criminal Herman Goering, comes to Australia to meet Ruth Rich,
artist and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. With astonishing
honesty and courage, both women attempt to reconcile the traumas in
their bloodlines.' (program blurb)
I was deeply touched by the honesty both Ruth and Bettina displayed
in front of the camera. Themes from my own family history, a great-
uncle who published Nazi propaganda, resonated. Being part of the
same German post-war generation as Bettina, also living abroad, I
have felt the same reluctance to embrace my German heritage that many
of our generation have felt and which has driven them away from
Germany. Ulrike Danks, Max Dauskard and others have written
eloquently about this.
In her blog documentary maker Cynthia Connop writes: 'I was pleased
to see that the resonance of the film included both facing the
genocide of the Holocaust and healing any traumas carried down
through generations. I believe 'Bloodlines' shows that facing the
past can heal the present and lead to a different future.'
The film will screen at several film festivals and is available on
DVD (http://www.enhancetv.com.au). A good summary appears in this
article: http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=6292
I believe her film is an excellent example of works emerging in
contemporary art, culture and public life that resonate with
constellation work. Also popular with Australian TV audiences is the
BBC's series 'Who do you think you are?' which explores celebrities'
family tree and ancestral history (and quite a few emotional responses).
Many may remember the excitement running through Constellation Talk
when in 2006 the newly elected Bolivian president, Evo Morales,
honoured the ancestors in his inauguration ceremony. There are many
projects in public life and the arts that endeavour to heal the
wounds of the past, and I am heartened to see that a wide range of
people participate in these attempts.
Best wishes for your German project, Alison and Dan.
Soni
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Soni Stecker
Brown Hill, Australia
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