War Is Not a Game

In 1864, 12 European countries signed an international treaty for the first time that established rules regarding armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions regulate how wars are waged. They grant rights to wounded soldiers, to prisoners of war, and since the fourth and final version, which was completed shortly after World War II, also to civilians. But what bearing do these "paper laws" have on the tough reality of the battlefield? This is the question filmmaker Lode Desmet seeks to answer in conversations with soldiers and veterans, guerillas and rebels, legal experts and pacifists. The film is also equipped with an enthusiastic voice-over in which the director offers the historical context and the steady development of the Geneva Conventions, with considerable support from black-and-white archive footage. When soldiers are being trained, do they get sufficient information about the existence of the treaty? Do the Conventions fail to provide enough room for interpretation to nations at war? Can war really ever be reconciled with rules and regulations, and universal human rights? War Is Not a Game would seem to suggest that we're on the right track, but that there's still a long road ahead of us. That is certainly the case when we consider the fact that 81 countries, including the United States, Russia and China, refuse to recognize the International Criminal Court in The Hague. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)