NFB Collection
War Is Not a Game
20101 h 26 min 48 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Lode Desmet
Production: Line Richard (National Film Board of Canada)David Rihs (Point Prod)Michel OuelletteKathleen de Béthune (Simple Production)Helena Van Dantzig (Lieurac Productions)Stéphanie Murphy
Script: Lode Desmet
Produced by SimpleProduction, Lieurac Productions, the National Film Board of Canada, Point Prod in co-production with Arte France, RTBF Secteur Documentaires, Télévision Suisse Romande and Belgacom, in association with Société Radio-Canada and RDI, with the collaboration of Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, and the participation of Centre national de la cinématographie (CNC), Centre du cinéma et de l'audiovisuel de la Communauté française de Belgique, YLE TV1 and Lichtpunt with the support of Programme MÉDIA de l'Union européenne.
War Is Not a Game is a documentary based on the experiences of eight soldiers at war on several continents. Lode Desmet reveals their helplessness in regard to the many international agreements aimed at regulating armed conflict, which they have been supposed to apply on the battlefield since the first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864. Some of them feel like scapegoats, while others feel no qualms about war and simply follow orders. The film looks at the international treaties ratified up to the present by our governments and assesses what these choices imply for the human race. We are reminded that there are still eighty-three countries in the world that do not recognize the International Criminal Court at The Hague. By juxtaposing testimony on a planetary scale with war archives, film clips and video games, Lode Desmet challenges our attitudes to war and its consequences for all the world’ citizens and for the combatants who have to wage it.
Subject categories
- National Security and Defence > Armed Forces Programs and Operations
- Foreign Countries > Conflicts and Civil War
- Politics and Government > International OrganizationsInternational RelationsWar and Conflict
- War, Conflict and Peace > Memoirs and MemorialsPortraitsWar Veterans
- Social Studies > Comparative Civilizations
- Civics/Citizenship > Human Rights
- Health/Personal Development > Mental Health/Stress/Suicide
- History > World War II
Credits
- director
- Lode Desmet
- script
- Lode Desmet
- narration
- Lode Desmet
- voice
- Leni Parker
- camera
- Philippe Lavalette
- Hans De Bauw
- sound
- Cédric Mariotti
- Arnaud Derimay
- Martin Desranleau
- Yannick Dox
- editing
- Anne-Laure Guégan
- Linda Ibbari
- sound editing
- Pascale Schaer
- Sabrina Calmels
- first assistant editor
- Linda Ibbari
- second assistant editor
- Laurent Gérard
- original music
- Serge Laforest
- Martin Rouillard
- narration consultant
- François Le Bayon
- Michel Ouellette
- witness
- Dmitrii Gladkii
- Alexandre Vinogradov
- Ramesh Kumar Gurung
- Jaina Donberg
- Jennifer Ureke
- Brie Wilson
- Shannon Lippert
- Juan Carlos Alvarado
- Yehuda Shaul
- Pascal Lacoste
- Benjamin Ferencz
- Vassia Akimana
- researcher
- Julie Elkner
- Gili Nadav
- Tom Puchniak
- Nicole Kivuto
- translator
- Evghenia Sleptsova
- transcripts
- Katerina Klujeva
- Alena Dzemidzenka
- Sacha Van Hauwaert
- Axel Zeiliger
- Anaïs Calgaro
- Tomas Munoz Caballero
- Michael Hanon
- Dhana Ong
- Sandy Napier
- Theodose Simuzeye
- translation
- Katerina Klujeva
- Alena Dzemidzenka
- Sacha Van Hauwaert
- Axel Zeiliger
- Anaïs Calgaro
- Tomas Munoz Caballero
- Michael Hanon
- Dhana Ong
- Sandy Napier
- Theodose Simuzeye
- head of production
- Robert Alaux
- Osnat Trabelsi
- Ori Dubnov
- assistant director
- Robert Alaux
- assistant researcher
- Robert Alaux
- coordination
- Curt Perano
- Fraser Newton
- Talia Salomon
- Hélène Hekpazo
- Vanessa Sanfaçon
- security
- Curt Perano
- Fraser Newton
- research
- An Baccaert
- assistant producer
- Ram Somekh
- Peter Cavanagh
- Sandy Napier
- Tali Hyman
- additional camera
- Erez Miller
- production manager
- Derek Kennedy
- driver
- Liam Canning
- mixing
- Luc Thériault
- Alexandre Wang-Legentil
- Johan Chacon
- Dominic Cabana
- sound effects
- Philippe Ralet
- colour grading artist
- Denis Gathelier
- narration recording
- Geoffrey Mitchell
- post-production
- Marco Dellamulla
- line production
- Kathleen de Béthune
- François Le Bayon
- producer
- Line Richard
- David Rihs
- Kathleen de Béthune
- Helena Van Dantzig
- Stéphanie Murphy
- creative producer
- Michel Ouellette
- coordinator
- Tatjana Dorsey
- marketing officer
- François Jacques
- marketing officer - assistance
- Émilie Nguyen Ngoc
- administrator
- Johanne Dubuc
- technical coordinator
- Richard Cliche
- production coordinator
- Hélène Regimbal
- Dominique Brunet
- Florence Beaudouin-Lafortune
- Stéphanie Demers
- administrative assistant
- Lise Lévesque
- associate producer
- Maryse Chapdelaine
- production accounting assistant
- Isabelle Malinowski
- Natalia Yudanova
Awards
- Étoile de la Scam 2011Forum des images
- Colin Low Award for Most Innovative Canadian DocumentaryDoxa - Documentary Film and Video Festival
- Golden Sheaf Award: Documentary HistoryYorkton Film Festival