Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984)
Directors:
Werner Herzog,
Denis Reichle
Runtime: 46 min
Herzog said: "it is about children who are fighting in a war, not a film about the Sandinistas or Somoza. (…) Originally the Miskitos had fought against Somoza as allies of the Sandinistas, and in their social structure they traditionally lived a primitive form of socialism. The Sandinistas wanted to help the Indians take a step forward towards 'real' scientific socialism, and in an attempt to reorganize the village communes a whole strip of Miskito land on the Honduran border was categorically depopulated and sixty-five towns and villages razed to the ground. The excuse the Sandinistas gave was they wanted to transform the region into a military zone of protection against the Contra rebels, and inevitably, after these great abuses had been committed against them, the Indians broke from the Sandinistas. For some people, showing nine-year-old kids fighting against the Sandinistas meant I was clearly an American imperialist. No one would even contemplate that the Sandinistas could violate the essential rights of native Indians (…).What was most interesting about the Miskito children was that they were all volunteers, and a very personal and traumatizing experience had forced every one of them to take up arms. (…) This war was about a traditional culture being ripped apart by the introduction of modern instruments of killing, and to talk about it in political or military terms is not useful."
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Quick Description: The story of the Spanish Anarchists of 1936, who succeeded in overthrowing the state, creating a free and mutual society, and engaging in the largest land collectivization project in human history. Also covers the downfall of the stateless society due to compromises, negotiations, and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
