Kill the Camera

They are produced, circulated, and consumed within political and moral economies that are shot through with unequal power relations and ulterior interests. “Victims” become a primary currency of exchange in conflict coverage, human rights campaigns, and propaganda efforts, sustaining networks of humanitarian assistance and solidarity demonstrations as well as structures of political domination and the moral superiority of viewers. In this presentation, which includes a showing of short films made by the anonymous Syrian film collective, Abounaddara, Charif Kiwan and Joseph Slaughter discuss the roles of victims and viewers in responding to violence, the right to the image, and the languages of human rights.