MASSIMO ACCARDO – Advanced Video Journalism

This film was painful to watch. Seeing a pregnant woman carried on a stretcher, with gashes in her side and legs- you see the true cost of war. It makes you wonder why we fight in the first place. It makes you wonder how far removed these national leaders are- from humanity. The filmmaker was clear on his intent: to tell the story and to relay the pain. If we try to forget, the camera will never let us. It sometimes feels like an intrusive tool, but in times like this, the camera is objective. The emotions we are feeling are not of pity, but empathy. The same tool can be used on the Russian front to promote propaganda, and this is why the world is so torn. You would think that our advancements since the world wars or even the cold war, would position us in a more peaceful world, but information is still just as hard to decipher. One thing remains the same- people will never change. The narrator said that times of war heighten the qualities of people… those who are good hearted will continue to provide and help, and those who are selfish will only worsen.

The style of shooting made me feel like I was involved. I was experiencing the POV. Seeing the hospital workers and surgeons react to bombing was almost second nature. One woman was holding a new born baby and had to shift in a split second, behind a wardrobe, to protect this innocent life. The world it has entered is riddled with fragments and shockwaves.

The filmmaker showed his face once, only at the end. I think this was a nice touch. You don’t often see this but it gave me a further sense of humanity from the efforts of the Associated Press news team. They aren’t just a legacy broadcast station, they are humans with lives at risk. He has children and a wife, as did many other souls who were buried in the plot in Mariupol.

With the ongoing war in Gaza, it frightens me to see that no matter how much action the civilian takes, the decision of war is truly dependent on coherence in government. If we cannot agree that crime is crime, especially on a national scale, then the death count of 30,000 will still resemble nothing. The desensitization of this culture is painful. I hope it changes. For now, I still feel as helpless as those children in the concrete basement.