Jane Wells: From Darfur to the Super Bowl

Sharing Stories of Survivors of War and Human Trafficking

ABOUT JANE

Jane Wells comes from a strong family background in film-making.

Her father, Sidney Bernstein was a founding member of The British Film Society and a pioneer of independent British Television. In 1945 he was amongst the first troops to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and filmed for the first time the horrors that the liberators encountered.

In later years he setup Transatlantic Pictures with reknowned film-maker Alfred Hitchcock.

The memories of what he saw in the concentration camps stayed with him all his life and he was finally able to get his classified film footage released for public viewing in 1985 as a documentary called A Painful Reminder: Evidence for All Mankind and is widely used as stock footage in many other documentaries.

THE DEVIL ON HORSEBACK

In 2005, during the genocide in Darfur, Jane Wells travelled to the country as a freelance writer to bear witness to the unfolding genocide.

Whilst there she met a US military observer, Brian Steidle, who was so appalled by what he saw and experienced that he decided to resign from his job and to expose the inaction of the international community. Jane decided to help Brian and helped raise money for a critically acclaimed documentary "The Devil Came on Horseback."

PARALLELS

"In the case of my father his footage and his script for a documentary about the Holocaust were classified by the Allied governments for 40 years and not available until 1985. As an old man he told me the biggest regret of his life was not completing his film Memories of the Camps. After coming home to the USA with proof of genocide in Darfur, Brian Steidle was asked by the State Department to stop showing his pictures. He was not under military command and decided he could not do that. Hearing this and remembering my father's regret, I felt impassioned to help Brian tell the world about the Darfur genocide; I realized I would be correcting an ancestral wrong in helping to make this film."

3GENERATIONS

Jane's NGO, 3Generations continues  a family tradition in film making and producing short documentaries.

The organisation's current project focuses on and tackles the issue of Child Sexual Slavery in the USA.

"I wanted to create a place where survivors can tell their stories exactly as they wish to have them told, with no agenda except to share their stories. I believe in the power of storytelling."

Interview

We live in a world where injustice, war and abuse take place with alarming regularity. So many horrific images are seen on the news and through the web. When you watched Darfur unfold, why was it that country, that situation, that became your focus?

 I had moved to Aspen from New York and found a way of life where people were very self-absorbed and myopic.

People who only really care about the condition of the snow and really weren’t talking about Darfur.

When I became aware of what was happening through the news and internet, I think I was in a place in my life where I had the time to really think about it.

For the first time in 15 years, I had more space – and I think it was also the age I was, as I was in my 40’s. It was the first time I wasn’t running back and forth to daycare or toddler groups, and that meant I had the time and I was in the right stage of my life.

After I returned from Darfur, one of my friends pointed out that I was the same age as my father. I think some of it was serendipity.

During your time in Darfur you met with Brian Steidle. How did this come about?

I knew that Brian was in Darfur as there was a family connection. It was coincidence that he was there.

I contacted him and, a funny story, I started to talk to people about what to take to a war torn country – and I called Brian to ask what equipment, protective clothing or footwear I would need, and he said “flip flops”.

I said, “Flip flops! What about the scorpions?” and he said, “Believe me, if you come to Darfur, the last thing you’ll worry about is the scorpions”

Did you take the flips flops?

“Yes I did!”

You have mentioned the work of your father and parallels between his and Brian’s work. Was it this that led you to work together, and how did this relationship develop when you left Darfur?

When I traveled to Darfur I was hosted by an NGO, and I was asked not to talk about what I’d seen.

However, following an interview with British Vogue, I thought, “Then what do you do?” After Brian had returned and given an interview with Nick Kristof, he was thinking “Now what!”

He really wanted to make a film about what he had witnessed so we began working together and holding fundraisers.

The parallels between Brian and my father’s work were so clear.

You have been quoted as saying, “With no agenda except to share their stories. I believe in the power of storytelling.” How will these stories make a difference to the future of Darfur?

My approach was this. There were so many organizations doing advocacy and work within Darfur and people would ask me, “Who can I donate to?”

I think that’s very subjective, but if we can tell their stories, we can then say you can donate here for medical aid, you can donate here for advocacy… people can choose to give to the cause that appeals to them.

Being in Darfur and seeing the situation first-hand, how has this impacted your work compared to viewing it remotely?

I think it would have been easier to back down if I hadn’t seen it. If I hadn’t been to Darfur, I wonder if I would continue to have the energy I do for this.

It’s like, you see a person’s story first hand and you feel a responsibility towards them…maybe for the rest of your life.

Your latest project tackles sexual slavery in the USA. How did this project come about? How did you move from Darfur to this issue?

It’s so easy for us to look at the human rights abuses in other countries and imagine that they only occur elsewhere.

Slowly, trafficking filtered into my consciousness. I think it was the Super Bowl.

I remember being on Twitter and I saw statistics from one of the human rights organizations saying that there were approximately 10,000 people trafficked for the Super Bowl and I thought, “Wait a minute…what!”

Do you think the general public of the USA has an awareness of the extent of the problem?

I thought if I could work in human rights for five years and be unaware of the figures in human trafficking, then so could the average person.

They don’t know either. But with something like this people say things like, but it’s all Mexican children or its all immigrants!

It’s convenient to put up a wall between us and the truth and what is happening in our own country.

It’s even like that with genocide; we say, “It’s the others” or “They’re different; why should I care about those children?”

What has shocked you or touched you most while working as part of this project?

I think I have developed a sense of responsibility to share these stories.

It’s not often we see real survivor stories. If you see a story on the news or on the TV then it has some emotional music or background images, it’s like the story on its own is not enough!

It’s very manipulative. We just tell the survivors’ stories and, though I get frustrated that we cannot share all the stories, I have become better at dealing with the emotional side.

It’s like my emotions are directed in anger at those who create the victims of human trafficking.

What can the general public do? What would you hope a reader seeing this information for the first time will take away from this?

The stories are very real and there is also a healing, therapeutic aspect to this project. We need to share the survivor’s stories and we hope other survivors contact us and work with us as well as the awareness that we raise.

What’s the future for 3 Generations?

We will continue to raise awareness and tell the stories of victims of human trafficking. We will continue to share stories and I hope that survivors contact us to share theirs! We are currently also working on a campaign for the 2012 Super Bowl. We are constantly raising and seeking funds to further this campaign.

Learn more about Jane Wells and 3Generations

OTHER

The Devil Came on Horseback