Watu Wote: All of Us

The 2018 Oscars is unusual in that so many of the short films nominated for Best Live Action Short are amazingly good. They are so good that I really wish several could win the award....they are that well made and effective. To give you an idea how good they all are, "Watu Wote: All of Us" was my third favorite...and it would clearly win if it had been nominated any other year!

"Watu Wote" is based on a real story...and it's a story all of us need to know and learn from it. The story is set in Kenya, a country which has had more than its share of radical Islamists. In fact, portions of the country are riddled with these rebel groups to this day.

The story begins with a young Christian woman taking a bus ride across the country to see her ailing mother. Most of the passengers are Muslim and you can tell the lady is uncomfortable about this. Later, you learn that woman's husband and child were murdered by terrorists and you can understand much of her feelings. But what this bus full of mostly Muslims ends up doing does a lot to change her perceptions and, hopefully, those of many in the audience. What does happen? See the film.

The story gets very high marks for its realism and creating a very taut atmosphere. Well made in every way and very worthy of the Oscar.

All of Us is the kind of story that builds up to something once it gets into its big final stretch. Though it's only 20 minutes long (a bit long for a short film, but still in the range of what is one), it aims for the scope and harrowing drama of a feature film, and it's remarkable if nothing else that it was produced by a graduate film program from Hamburg, Germany, of all places, and that they were able to put together their resources for a story of humanity's strife in the face of religious persecution. It may also have some extra resonance too since there it takes place - right on the border of Kenya - is one of those areas where a certain someone I won't mention called a "S***hole" not too long ago (though by this writing it feels like ages considering the news cycle, but I digress). What do people on either side stand for? Well.... peace, for one thing?

I think what seems to be a flaw against the film, that the woman we think is the main character here, Adelyne Wairimu's Jua, is kind of put to the side narratively once it gets to its climax of these gun-wielding oh-so-"tough" Al-Shabaab terrorists pulling over a bus full of Christians and Muslims and asking one side to out the other, is actually what makes it compelling. We're following her, as a Christian woman, who really doesn't want to talk or even have a word of dialog with another Muslim person (this goes for the guy on the bus hawking his water and food and other things to buy), and at first her story seems pretty simplistic. But cut to this bus take-over, and the stakes shoot up a thousand percent.

This is based on a true story and I don't doubt it based on how the filmmakers present it; the weakest part is some of the dialog, which sounds more forced or like how we might picture someone writing it who wasn't there. That may be exactly what was spoken - I'm mostly referring to the climax of this - but I don't know if I fully buy it. Nevertheless, this is compelling work for what it's attempting to show us, and the message amid such a brutal environment is a good and pure one: we need to understand one another and actually *listen* to what our religious texts tell us, because otherwise we'll just kill each other till there's no one left. It may end slightly abruptly too, but it's worth waiting to get to the emotional punch of that climax.

'WATU WOTE/ALL OF US': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A 22-minute German/Kenyan short film, spoken in Swahili and Somali languages. This one is about a Christian living in Kenya, who takes a bus filled with mostly Muslims (in December of 2015) to visit a relative, when the bus is stopped and taken over by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. The terrorists demand that the Muslims identify the Christians among them, and turn them over. It was directed by Katja Benrath and written by Julia Drache. This is another intense little short film, dealing with a powerful, and somewhat timely, subject as well. It's thrilling and mildly moving too. There's also something important to learn about tolerance towards others in it too.

A timely message about the very intense feelings which sometimes lead to ill-will and violence between African Christians and Muslims, and how one group on a bus ride chose to deal with such tensions, even in a life and death situation.

Greetings again from the darkness. The Al-Shabaab Islamic terrorists have created escalating distrust between Christians and Muslims in eastern Africa. The border between Kenya and Somalia is especially treacherous. Director Katja Benrath brings us the harrowing true story from 2015 of the attack on a Mandera public bus where a group of Muslims stood in solidarity to protect fellow Christian passengers from a terrorist attack.

Writers Julia Drache and Brian Dunene show, in frightening detail, a slice of traumatic daily life that these folks face. This 18 minute gem follows a young woman as she takes the bus on a cross-country journey. We learn through her interactions with another passenger that her family was murdered by Muslim terrorists and she carries the anger with her on this trip to visit her sick mother.

It's an unfortunate aspect of human nature that we tend to condemn an entire group because of the actions of a few. This true story reminds us that in fact, it's the humanity that binds us, rather than tears us apart. Amazing strength and being committed to doing the right things in life, allowed these passengers to stand up to those committing atrocities under the same label (Muslims) that these folks hold dearly. It's a powerful story, and a terrific short film that reminds us that no matter how difficult doing the right thing can be, it's always worthwhile.