Hoosier Filmmaker Kate Chaplin, "First They Came For"
Kate Chaplin's short film "First They Came For..." is a short dramatic interpretation of an anti-oppression poem written by Reverend Martin Niemoller, where a narrator laments that he didn't stand up against oppression of other groups, because sooner or later "they" target a group he belongs to.
Chaplin talks about her film, what drew her to the subject matter and what the poem means to her.
The Yap: What drew you to this subject for your film? KC: I want to make movies that make some kind of statement that is helpful to people. My first film with Karmic Courage was a statement that any time spent together with a child can be fun - even something as boring as laundry. My second film was another way to look at death. When talking with my co-producer (Joshua Leach) for our 3rd film we wanted to make something that really said something that was truly empowering and moving. We both feel very strongly about the issue of Human Rights and equality.
The Yap: Why did you choose this particular poem? KC: Josh (Leach, Chaplin's co-producer) was in the Army during the Iraq War, and he attended a Holocaust memorial. They passed out copies of the original Rev. Martin Niemoller poem. For years we kept that poem hanging in our office as inspiration to stand up for others.
The Yap: So that initial contact with the poem then led to you wanting to create this short film about it? Were there any external influences that inspired you to create it? KC: Yes, the initial contact with the poem led me to want to create film but I worried if we would be able to and we shelved the project for some time. Then a friend in LA sent us a call for submissions for Pangea Day. The deadline was doable, but tight. We dusted off the script, did a ton of research and planned for a 2-day shoot with a very fast turnaround time to hit the Pangea Day deadline. Human Rights violations are unfortunally an on-going issue. I am a big crusader for a free Tibet as well as GLTB rights
The Yap: The film features a wordless narrative set against the text of the poem. Can you talk a little about that choice? KC: With the last name Chaplin and a background in music video, silent (like) films are what I naturally gravitate toward. I wanted the character to be a silent observer and always over to the side of the action. I also wanted the voice overs to set the tone and the pacing for the the overall film.
The Yap: Let's talk specifically about the themes of your film. Can you talk specifically about what themes the poem discuss and why it inspired you?
KC: The themes in the poem are standing up for injustice. To me the theme of standing up relates to everything, from children standing up to bullies in a playground to the man who stood in front of a tank at Tiananmen Square.
There have been many variations of the Niemoller poem - Niemoller himself changed the poem to fit the changing times. We follow the same suit and looked at groups would we felt strongly were being targeting for being different. We decided that Jews, homosexuals and Muslims were still a strong target for discrimination. We also had a longer version of the script that contained immigrants and African Americans but decided to shorten the film to fit a 5-minute length.
The poems inspires me because as a Buddhist standing up for others is more important than standing up for ourselves. As an example is if a group of people were imprisoned in a room that would run out of air it would be the Buddhist who would without question stop breathing so that the others could be saved. "First They Came for..." is an anti-message of what happens if you don't help others. Not only do others fall but you fall as well. I love train of thought that standing up for others is just if for no other reason than "they" will come after you.