"EAST TIMOR: BIRTH OF A NATION"
East Timor - Birth of a Nation looks at how a country is born, literally from the ashes, and how the East Timorese people are working to build a future. In light of this statement, the documentary focuses on a young woman named Rosa, and her struggle in her country to re-build her life and the life of her six children.
When Burnett asserts in How Images Think that the "trope of images as...transparent vistas onto the events of the world" I agree with him here in relation to Rosa's story however, there are factors that do not agree and I will be discussing both.
The images portrayed in Birth of a Nation do have a clear indication of East Timor, primarily because of Rosa Martin's relationship with her country. This documentary gives a personal account of her experiences during the Indonesian occupation in East Timor and her hope in the future for her life.
USS Blue Ridge, 12 February 2000, Dili, East Timor...
Demonstration against Indonesian occupation of Eas...
Adopted from Image:Timor.png. Names, roads, etc fr...It also reflects that through the amount of suffering and loss she has faced it can appeal to the audience through the use of sympathy. The fact that she is a widow with six children, three of which live in orphanages in different cities and how her brother and her self are the only survivors in her family during such turmoil engages the viewer and therefore we as an audience accept what is being shown as the truth.
On the other hand, being a documentary, the single view of the director is brought about by the camera techniques. These include, music, cuts and editing and the voice of Rosa over an array of images.
The director then has the power to alter how the image is being presented to fit more of how he believes East Timor should be...