Human Rights Watch International Film Festival 2014
25th edition. Five themes: Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring; Human Rights Defenders, Icons and Villains; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights; Migrants’ Rights; and Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights.
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THE 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center
and IFC Center June 12-22, 2014
Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Program of 22 Powerful Films That Capture the Stories Behind the Headlines
Twenty documentaries and two fiction films will be featured, including 19 New York premieres and an unprecedented 16 features by women.
This year’s program is organized around five themes: Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring; Human Rights Defenders, Icons and Villains; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights; Migrants’ Rights; and Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights.
The festival will launch on June 12 with a fundraising Benefit Night for Human Rights Watch featuring Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman’s Sundance award-winner E-TEAM, which follows four intrepid activists from Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Team as they investigate and document war crimes on the front lines of Syria and Libya.
The Closing Night screening on June 22 will be Scheherazade’s Diary, a tragicomic documentary that follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theater project set up by director Zeina Daccache at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets are available online at filmlinc.com for the screenings at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and ifccenter.com for the IFC Center, as well as directly from each of the organization’s box offices.
Film Society of Lincoln Center:
.00 General Public,
.00 Seniors & Students,
.00 FSLC Members.
IFC Center:
.00 General Public,
.00 Seniors & Children,
.00 IFC Center Members.
A discount package is also available for screenings at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. For more information, call the Film Society at 212-875-5600 or IFC Center at 212-924-7771 or visit ff.hrw.org. Ticket On Sale Dates: Tuesday, May 20 – Pre-sale to Members; Tuesday, May 27 – General Public. For discounted tickets and festival updates, sign up for the mailing list at www.hrw.org/filmconnect.
Follow the festival on Twitter @hrwfilmfestival.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. We work tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and fight to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Through the Human Rights Watch Film Festival we bear witness to human rights violations and create a forum for courageous individuals on both sides of the lens to empower audiences with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a difference. The film festival brings to life human rights abuses through storytelling in a way that challenges each individual to empathize and demand justice for all people. To learn more about our work or to make a donation, visit www.hrw.org
Film Society Of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film.
IFC Center
IFC Center is a state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. Opened in June 2005 following an extensive renovation of the historic Waverly Theater, the theater expanded in 2009 and now boasts five screens. IFC Center presents the very best in new foreign-language, American independent and documentary features to audiences…. For additional theater information, current and upcoming program details and more, visit www.ifccenter.com
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PROGRAM DETAILS
Benefit Film & Reception
Thursday, June 12, 6:00 pm, The Times Center, 242 West 41st St.
E-TEAM (New York premiere + panel discussion with filmmakers and others)
Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, filmmakers; Marilyn Ness, producer-US-2013-89m-doc-In English and French/German/ Russian/Arabic with English subtitles
When atrocities are committed in countries held hostage by ruthless dictators, Human Rights Watch sends in the E-Team (Emergencies Team), a collection of fiercely intelligent individuals who document war crimes and report them to the world. Within this volatile climate, award-winning filmmakers Ross Kauffman and Katy Chevigny take us to the front lines in Syria and Libya, where shrapnel, bullet holes, and unmarked graves provide mounting evidence of atrocities by government forces. The crimes are rampant, random, and often unreported-making the E-Team’s effort to get information out of the country and into the hands of media outlets, policy makers, and international tribunals even more necessary. Cinematography Award US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
A Netflix Original Documentary.
Post-screening panel discussion: Featuring filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman and film subjects Fred Abrahams, Peter Bouckaert, Anna Neistat, and Ole Solvang. Moderated by staff writer for The New Yorker Jon Lee Anderson.
For further information about the event or to purchase tickets, please call 212-249-6188 or email [email protected]. Tickets start at 0.
Opening Night Film & Reception
Friday, June 13, 7:00 pm, The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater
PRIVATE VIOLENCE (New York premiere + panel discussion with filmmakers and others)
Cynthia Hill-US-2013-81m-doc
Private Violence explores a simple but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. Through the eyes of two survivors-Deanna Walters, a mother who seeks justice for the crimes committed against her at the hands of her estranged husband, and Kit Gruelle, an advocate who seeks justice for all women-we bear witness to the complex realities of intimate partner violence. Private Violence begins to shape powerful, new questions that hold the potential to change our society: « Why does he abuse? » « Why do we turn away? » « How do we begin to build a future without domestic violence? »
The HBO Documentary Film Private Violence will premiere on HBO in October 2014.
Post-screening panel discussion: Featuring filmmaker Cynthia Hill, executive producer Gloria Steinem, and film subjects Kit Gruelle and Deanna Walters. Moderated by Liesl Gerntholtz, director Women’s Rights division, Human Rights Watch.
Closing Night Film
Sunday, June 22, 6:30 pm, IFC Center
SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY (New York premiere + Q&A with Zeina Daccache)
Zeina Daccache-Lebanon-2013-80m-doc-In Arabic with English subtitles
This engaging tragicomic documentary follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theater project set up in 2012 by director Zeina Daccache (12 Angry Lebanese) at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon. Through their unprecedented theater initiative, entitled Scheherazade in Baabda, these « murderers of husbands, adulterers and drug felons » reveal their stories-tales of domestic violence, traumatic childhoods, failed marriages, forlorn romances, and deprivation of motherhood. The women of Baabda Prison share their personal stories, and in doing so, hold up a mirror to Lebanese society and all societies that repress women.
Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring
ABOUNADDARA COLLECTIVE SHORTS FROM SYRIA + Discussion of « Emergency Cinema » (New York premiere)
Various filmmakers-Syria-2013-90m-In Arabic with English subtitles
Founded in 2010, the Abounaddara Collective is a group of filmmakers working to provide an alternative image of Syrian society, different from the prevailing representations of Syria found in the mainstream media. Since April 2011, the collective has produced one short film every week, using a very particular cinematographic language-a sort of « emergency cinema. » Working in a state of emergency and subject to certain constraints, the collective’s members are all volunteers and anonymous. They present ordinary men and women who are neither heroes nor victims.
Human Rights Watch will screen a series of short films from the Abounaddara Collective, which won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and explore the concept of « emergency cinema » in the context of Syria. The first section of the program will be devoted to the theme of citizen-reporters as represented by Osama al-Habali. The second section of the program will focus on the barbarism of the conflict and how it devours the soldiers involved. In both sections, the discussion will center on a generation of young people being crushed by the conflict who have chosen to defend themselves in different ways-some with images, some with arms.
Thursday, June 19, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the Abounaddara Collective)
FIRST TO FALL (New York premiere)
Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-2013-80m-doc-In English and Arabic with English subtitles
First to Fall is an intimate story of friendship, sacrifice, and the madness of war. It bears witness to the irreversible transformation of two friends, and the price they pay for their convictions. Hamid and Tarek leave their lives as students in Canada and travel to Libya, their homeland, to join the fight to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. They pledge to make it to the front line despite neither of them having ever picked up a weapon. A second-hand video camera becomes Hamid’s ticket to the front where he documents battles to liberate Misrata, a city famous for the ferocity of its citizens. Hamid eventually earns a gun and becomes a fully-fledged soldier with an AK-47 in one hand and his video camera in the other. Meanwhile Tarek joins a training camp and eventually a katiba (freedom fighter battalion) in Misrata. In a battle to liberate Zawya, his hometown, Tarek’s life will change forever. Filmmaker Rachel Beth Anderson bears witness to Tarek and Hamid’s incredible odyssey, as they navigate a brutal guerrilla war to liberate Libya from 40 years of tyranny.
Tuesday, June 17, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
Wednesday, June 18, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
THE MULBERRY HOUSE (New York premiere)
Sara Ishaq-Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates-2013-64m-doc-In English and Arabic with English subtitles
After 10 years in Scotland, Sara Ishaq travels back to her childhood home of Yemen and takes her camera along. She hopes to feel at home in the place that was once so close to her heart, but the complications soon become clear. Outside the gates of her family home, people are protesting against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s authoritarian rule, and Ishaq and her family quickly become caught up in the movement. Ishaq contributes by acting as a local correspondent, sharing news with the international press. In this personal and touching film, Ishaq captures events in her own home throughout this tumultuous period, when multiple changes are afoot.
Thursday, June 19, 9:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
RETURN TO HOMS
Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-2013-87m-doc-In Arabic with English subtitles
Filmed between August 2011 and August 2013, Return to Homs is a remarkably intimate portrait of a group of young revolutionaries in the city of Homs in western Syria. They dream of their country being free from President Bashar al-Assad and fight for justice through peaceful demonstrations. As the army acts ever more brutally and their city transforms into a ghost town, the young men begin to take up arms. The protagonists are two friends: Basset, the charismatic 19-year-old goalkeeper of the national soccer team whose revolutionary songs make him the voice of the protest movement, and Osama, a 24-year-old media activist and cameraman. The close-up camerawork takes the viewer right into the city and scenes of grim battles in a deserted city soon replace those of lively protest parties in the streets. World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Friday, June 13, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with producers)
Saturday, June 14, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with producers)
NESTOR ALMENDROS AWARD
Renowned cinematographer and filmmaker Nestor Almendros (1930-1992) was a founder of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, actively involved in the selection of films and the promotion of human rights filmmaking. Even while deeply immersed in his own projects, he took the time to call the Festival team to mention a strong documentary or promote a work-in-progress. Believing in the power of human rights filmmaking, Nestor devoted himself to becoming a mentor to many young filmmakers. It is in the Festival’s loving memory of Nestor and our desire to celebrate his vision that we proudly bestow this award to filmmakers for their exceptional commitment to human rights.
The Festival is delighted to present director Talal Derki and producer Orwa Nyrabia-filmmakers of Return to Homs-with our 2014 Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking.
Human Rights Defenders, Icons, and Villains
DANGEROUS ACTS STARRING THE UNSTABLE ELEMENTS OF BELARUS (New York premiere)
Madeleine Sackler-US/UK/Belarus-2013-76m-doc-In English and Belarusian and Russian with English subtitles
Director Madeleine Sackler goes behind the scenes with the Belarus Free Theatre, an acclaimed troupe of imaginative and subversive performers who, in a country choked by censorship and repression, defy Europe’s last remaining dictatorship. Comprised of smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus gives audiences a front row seat to a resistance movement as it unfolds, both on the stage and in the streets. Creating provocative theatre carries great emotional, financial, and artistic risks. For the members of the Belarus Free Theatre, there are additional risks: censorship, imprisonment, and exile. The film picks up in 2010 when the Belarus KGB is cracking down on dissenters, 16 years after Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko takes power during the break-up of the Soviet Union. Now, as a dubious new presidential election looms, the KGB targets the Free Theatre’s founders Nikolai Khalezin and Natalia Koliada who, along with their colleagues, find themselves torn between fighting for their art and for their families’ safety.
The HBO Documentary Film Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus will premiere on HBO on July 7.
Wednesday, June 18, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Following the film will be a special performance featuring Oleg Sidorchik of the Belarus Free Theatre with an introduction by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater (reception to follow)
THE GREEN PRINCE (New York premiere)
Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-2014-101m-doc-In English and Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles
This real-life thriller tells the story of one of Israel’s most prized intelligence sources: the son of top Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Youssef, Mosab Hassan Youssef. For over a decade Mosab-code name: « The Green Prince »-was the number one source for the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret security service. Recruited at 17, he spied for his former enemy in the heart of his father’s organization. His Shin Bet handler, Gonen Ben Yitzhak, risked everything-including treason-to save him. The special bond between Mosab and Gonen made for one of the most unlikely but effective partnerships in the history of Israeli intelligence. The Green Prince is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, impossible choices-and a friendship that defies all boundaries.
Audience Award World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Courtesy of Music Box Films, The Green Prince will open theatrically on August 8.
Saturday, June 14, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Monday, June 16, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (US premiere)
Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-2013-86m-doc
South African filmmaker Khalo Matabane was an idealistic teenager with fanciful ideas about a post-apartheid era of freedom and justice when the great icon of liberation Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990. In a personal odyssey encompassing an imaginary letter to Mandela and conversations with politicians, activists, intellectuals, and artists, Matabane questions the meaning of freedom, reconciliation, and forgiveness-and challenges Mandela’s legacy in today’s world of conflict and inequality. The film juxtaposes Matabane’s inner quest for coherence with the opinions of people who both knew Mandela and those whose political perspectives were shaped by him. Matabane weighs equally the words of his subjects, leading us to question these concepts as well. Special Jury Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013.
Friday, June 13, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Saturday, June 14, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
WATCHERS OF THE SKY (New York premiere)
Edet Belzberg-US-2014-114m-doc-In English and Zaghawan/Spanish/French with English subtitles
Watchers of the Sky interweaves four stories of remarkable courage, compassion, and determination, while setting out to uncover the forgotten life of Raphael Lemkin-the man who created the word « genocide » and believed the law could protect the world from mass atrocities. Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, « A Problem From Hell, » Watchers of the Sky takes you on a provocative journey from Nuremberg to The Hague, from Bosnia to Darfur, from criminality to justice, and from apathy to action. Editing Award and Special Jury Award for Use of Animation US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Courtesy of Music Box Films, Watchers of the Sky will open theatrically in October, 2014.
Wednesday, June 18, 9:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Thursday, June 19, 6:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
*Benefit Night film, E-TEAM, is also featured under this theme
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT)
LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (New York premiere)
Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-2014-90m-doc
Former US Navy SEAL Chris Beck embarks on a new mission as Kristin Beck. Kristin’s journey in search of the American ideals that she protected: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have a whole new meaning as she lives her life truthfully as a transgender woman.
Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story will be broadcast on CNN/U.S. beginning September 4.
Saturday, June 14, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
Monday, June 16, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
OUT IN THE NIGHT (New York premiere)
blair dorosh-walther-US-2014-74m-doc
One hot August night in 2006, in New York’s Greenwich Village, a group of young African-American lesbian friends are violently and sexually threatened by an older man. They defend themselves and a fight begins that draws in strangers on the street. It ends quickly, and all involved walk away until the man realizes he has been stabbed. The women are charged with gang assault, a serious felony. The media labels them a « Gang of Killer Lesbians » and the man an « admirer. » Three of the friends plead guilty and are released but four continue to fight, claiming self-defense. Out in the Night uncovers how their lives leading up to that night compelled these young women to defend themselves. Through this act, and their audacity to claim innocence in the courtroom, these young women became known as The New Jersey 4.
Wednesday, June 18, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subjects)
Friday, June 20, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subjects)
TO BE TAKEI (New York premiere)
Jennifer Kroot-US-2014-90m-doc
From the iconic role of Sulu on « Star Trek » to Howard Stern and Facebook fame, George Takei’s sharp eye, coupled with his wicked sense of humor, continues to challenge the status quo well into the 21st century. As a child forced into Japanese-American internment camps, the actor-turned-activist reveals the ways that racism affected him well into his acting career. Now 76, and nine years after coming out of the closet, Takei and his husband, Brad, have become the poster couple for marriage equality, highlighting homophobia through television interviews and hilarious skits, many of which have garnered widespread attention.
Sunday, June 15, 6:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Migrants’ Rights
THE BEEKEEPER (New York premiere)
Mano Khalil-Switzerland-2013-107m-doc-In German and Kurdish with English subtitles
The Beekeeper relates the touching story of Ibrahim Gezer, a Kurdish beekeeper from southeast Turkey, and his unusual experience of integration into the seemingly conservative heart of today’s Switzerland. The turmoil of the decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the armed Kurdish guerrilla movement, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), robbed Gezer of everything that he had: his wife, two of his children, his country, and over 500 bee colonies-his means of making a living. He has been left only with his love for bees and his unshakeable faith in humanity. Displaced from his home and livelihood, the beekeeper discovers a new life in Switzerland.
Monday, June 16, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
EVAPORATING BORDERS (New York premiere)
Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-2014-73m-doc-in English and Arabic and Greek with English subtitles
A visual essay in five parts, Evaporating Borders is told through a series of vignettes that explore the lives of asylum seekers and political refugees on the island of Cyprus. Cyprus is one of the easiest points of entry into Europe. Through the microcosm of the current situation in Cyprus, the film explores tolerance and immigration practices throughout Europe and the Western world-where migrating populations have become subject to a variety of human rights abuses. The film looks at what it means to be displaced and examines the idea of belonging and notions of diaspora, exile, and migration.
Sunday, June 15, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Tuesday, June 17, 9:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights
FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (New York premiere)
Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-2013-72m-drama-In English and Bosnian with English subtitles
Jasmila Zbanić’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales follows an Australian tourist as she discovers the silent legacy of wartime atrocities in a seemingly idyllic town on the border of Bosnia and Serbia. On a summer holiday through Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kym is the picture of an average tourist: visiting the sites promoted in her guidebook and keeping a video diary. Yet her stay at a hotel in Visegrad inexplicably gives way to anxiety and sleepless nights. Upon returning home to Australia, she finds out that the Vilina Vlas hotel was used as a rape camp during the war. Questions around the region’s atrocities begin to haunt her, as does the question of why the guidebook, or the town itself, made no mention of the event. The testimonies she later finds online compel her to return to Visegrad and investigate this hidden history for herself.
Monday, June 16, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Tuesday, June 17, 9:15 pm, IFC Center
THE HOMESTRETCH (New York premiere)
Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-2014-89m-doc
The Homestretch follows three homeless teens in Chicago as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers-Roque, Kasey, and Anthony-will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, the teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film connects us to larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBT rights. The Homestretch is a powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young, homeless, and building a future in America today.
Friday, June 20, 8:45 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
Saturday, June 21, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
A QUIET INQUISITION (World premiere)
Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-2014-65m-doc-In Spanish with English subtitles
At a public hospital in Nicaragua, Ob/Gyn Dr. Carla Cerrato must choose between following a law that bans all abortions and endangers her patients or taking a risk and providing the care that she knows can save a woman’s life. In 2007, Dr. Cerrato’s daily routine took a detour. The newly elected government of Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who converted to Catholicism to win votes, overturned a 130-year-old law protecting therapeutic abortion. The new law entirely prohibits abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s life is at stake. As Carla and her colleagues navigate this dangerous dilemma, the impact of this law emerges-illuminating the tangible reality of prohibition against the backdrop of a political, religious, and historically complex national identity. The emotional core of the story-the experiences and situations of the young women and girls who are seeking care-illustrate the ethical implications of one doctor’s response.
Sunday, June 15, 8:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
Friday, June 20, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (New York premiere)
Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-2013-88m-doc-In English and Farsi with English subtitles
Sepideh is a young Iranian woman who dares to dream-of a future as an astronaut. At night, she stares up at the universe. At home, full of hope and longing, she watches recordings of the first female Iranian in space, Anousheh Ansari. When her father died suddenly six years earlier, Sepideh discovered that she could feel closer to him by watching the stars. And so her dream was born. But not everyone appreciates her boundless ambition. After all, becoming an astronaut is not exactly a normal goal for a girl in Iran. Her mother and uncle are worried about the emancipated young woman. She doesn’t want to learn to cook, hardly ever visits her family, and doesn’t seem to be thinking about marriage at all. As we follow Sepideh, it becomes clear just how at odds her dreams are with her current reality and the expectations of those around her.
Sunday, June 15, 9:15 pm, IFC Center
Saturday, June 21, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
SIDDHARTH
Richie Mehta-Canada/India-2013-96m-drama-In English and Hindi with English subtitles
In New Delhi, 12-year-old Siddharth is sent by his father Mahendra to work in a factory in another province to help support their family. Siddharthis supposed to come home in one month for the Diwali festival. When he fails to return or call, his distraught father begins a desperate search to find his missing son. The authorities, who scold an already guilt-ridden man for allowing his son to become a child laborer, believe that Siddharth may have been abducted and trafficked. Filmmaker Richie Mehta deftly brings to life Mahendra’s moving, tangled, and often futile-seeming journey with a touch that transforms it into both a commentary on modern India as well as a moving portrait of one family within that society.
Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films, Siddharth will open theatrically in New York on June 27.
Saturday, June 21, 9:00pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
THE SUPREME PRICE (New York premiere)
Joanna Lipper-US-2013-75m-doc
Director Joanna Lipper elegantly explores past and present as she tells the remarkable story of Hafsat Abiola, daughter of human rights heroine Kudirat Abiola, and Nigeria’s President-elect M.K.O. Abiola, who won a historic vote in 1993 that promised to end years of military dictatorship. Shortly after the election, M.K.O. Abiola’s victory was annulled and he was arrested. While he was imprisoned, his wife Kudirat took over leadership of the pro-democracy movement. In this riveting political thriller, the Abiola family’s intimate story unfolds against the epic backdrop of Nigeria’s evolution from independence in 1960, through a series of military dictatorships to present day civilian rule as Hafsat continues to face the challenge of transforming a corrupt culture of governance into a democracy capable of serving Nigeria’s most marginalized population: women.
Thursday, June 19, 9:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
*The Opening and Closing Night films, Private Violence and Scheherazade’s Diary, are also featured under this theme
Photography by Marcus Bleasdale
THE UNRAVELING
Journey Through the Central African Republic Crisis
June 12-22, 2014 at the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, The Walter Reade Theater
In November 2013, the photographer Marcus Bleasdale and Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert began a four-month-long journey to investigate and expose a massive human rights crisis unfolding in a country that few people in the world even knew existed-the Central African Republic.
The nightmare began when the Seleka, a predominately Muslim group of fighters, toppled the Central African Republic’s government in March 2013. For months, the armed Seleka rebels ruled through fear: burning down village after village, killing civilians and torturing anyone suspected of plotting against them. The situation spiraled as fury with the Seleka spilled over into vicious armed resistance among Christians and animist militias known as « anti-balaka » (« anti-machete »). Claiming self-defense against the Seleka onslaught, they retaliated against Muslim communities with the same brutality, killing and terrorizing countless civilians. The attacks created an enormous humanitarian crisis, forcing people to live in hiding places in the bush, without adequate shelter, food, or medical care.
The tide turned last December when the anti-balaka carried out a major attack on Bangui, the capital, forcing the Seleka to retreat and eventually cede power by January 2014. In the wake of the Seleka collapse and facing the wrath and revenge of the anti-balaka militias and some Christian civilians, hundreds of thousands of Muslim residents fled their homes to seek refuge in the neighboring countries of Chad, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Marcus Bleasdale is one of the world’s leading documentary photographers and has collaborated with Human Rights Watch for over a decade. He is dedicated to covering under-reported issues and uses his images to influence policy makers around the world. His work covering human rights abuses and conflict have been shown at the US Senate, The US House of Representatives, The United Nations, and the Houses of Parliament in the UK. Marcus’s work also appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, Stern, Le Monde, TIME Magazine, Newsweek and National Geographic Magazine. He has published two books: « One Hundred Years of Darkness » in 2002, and « The Rape of a Nation » in 2009.
PUBLIC SCREENING SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 12
Benefit Film and Reception
The Times Center, 242 West 41st St.
7:00 E-TEAM (Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman-US-89m)
9:00 Reception in the Times Center
Panel discussion with filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman and film subjects to follow
Friday, June 13
Opening Night Screening & Reception
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
7:00 PRIVATE VIOLENCE (Cynthia Hill-US-81m)
Panel discussion with Gloria Steinem, filmmaker Cynthia Hill, and film subjects to follow
9:00 Reception in the Furman Gallery, Walter Reade Theate
IFC Center:
7:00 RETURN TO HOMS (Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-87m)
Q&A with producers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El Jeiroudi
9:30 NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-86m)
Q&A with filmmaker Khalo Matabane
Saturday, June 14
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-86m)
Q&A with filmmaker Khalo Matabane
9:00 THE GREEN PRINCE (Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-101m)
Q&A with filmmaker Nadav Schirman
IFC Center:
7:00 LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-90m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sandrine Orabona and film subject Kristin Beck
9:30 RETURN TO HOMS (Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-87m)
Q&A with producers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El Jeiroudi
Sunday, June 15
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:00 TO BE TAKEI (Jennifer Kroot-US-90m)
8:30 A QUIET INQUISITION (Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-65m)
Q&A with filmmakers Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn and film subject Dr. Carla Cerrato
IFC Center:
7:00 EVAPORATING BORDERS (Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-73m)
Q&A with filmmaker Iva Radivojevic
9:15 SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-88m)
Monday, June 16
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-90m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sandrine Orabona and film subject Kristin Beck
9:00 FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-72m)
IFC Center:
7:00 THE GREEN PRINCE (Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-101m
Middle East)
Q&A with filmmaker Nadav Schirman
9:30 THE BEEKEEPER (Mano Khalil-Switzerland-107m)
Q&A with filmmaker Mano Khalil
Tuesday June 17
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 THE BEEKEEPER (Mano Khalil-Switzerland-107m)
Q&A with filmmaker Mano Khalil
9:15 EVAPORATING BORDERS (Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-73m)
Q&A with filmmaker Iva Radivojevic
IFC Center:
7:00 FIRST TO FALL (Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-80m)
Q&A with filmmakers Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza
9:15 FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-72m)
Wednesday, June 18
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 DANGEROUS ACTS STARRING THE UNSTABLE ELEMENTS OF BELARUS (Madeleine Sackler-US/UK/Belarus-76m)
Special performance featuring Oleg Sidorchik of the Belarus Free Theatre with introduction by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater (reception to follow)
9:00 FIRST TO FALL (Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-80m)
Q&A with filmmakers Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza
IFC Center:
7:00 OUT IN THE NIGHT (blair dorosh-walther-US-74m)
Q&A with filmmaker blair dorosh-walther and film subjects
9:00 WATCHERS OF THE SKY (Edet Belzberg-US-114m)
Thursday, June 19
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:15 WATCHERS OF THE SKY (Edet Belzberg-US-114m)
Q&A with filmmaker Edet Belzberg
9:15 THE SUPREME PRICE (Joanna Lipper-US-75m)
Q&A with filmmaker Joanna Lipper and film subject Hafsat Abiola
IFC Center:
7:00 ABOUNADDARA COLLECTIVE SHORTS FROM SYRIA + Discussion of « Emergency Cinema » (Various filmmakers-Syria-90m)
Q&A with Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the Abounaddara Collective
9:00 THE MULBERRY HOUSE (Sara Ishaq-Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates-64m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sara Ishaq
Friday, June 20
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 OUT IN THE NIGHT (blair dorosh-walther-US-74m)
Q&A with filmmaker blair dorosh-walther and film subjects
8:45 THE HOMESTRETCH (Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-89m
United States)
Q&A with filmmakers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
IFC Center:
7:00 A QUIET INQUISITION (Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-65m)
Q&A with filmmakers Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn and subject Dr. Carla Cerrato
Saturday, June 21
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-88m)
9:00 SIDDHARTH
(Richie Mehta-Canada/India-96m)
Q&A with filmmaker Richie Mehta
IFC Center:
7:00 THE HOMESTRETCH (Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-89m)
Q&A with filmmakers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
Sunday, June 22
IFC Center:
6:30 SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY – Closing Night Film (Zeina Daccache-Lebanon-80m)
Q&A with filmmaker Zeina Daccache
CONTACT
Susan Norget Film Promotion | 198 Sixth Avenue | Suite 1 | New York | NY | 10013
www.norget.com/humanrightswatch14
Co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center
and IFC Center June 12-22, 2014
Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Program of 22 Powerful Films That Capture the Stories Behind the Headlines
Twenty documentaries and two fiction films will be featured, including 19 New York premieres and an unprecedented 16 features by women.
This year’s program is organized around five themes: Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring; Human Rights Defenders, Icons and Villains; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights; Migrants’ Rights; and Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights.
The festival will launch on June 12 with a fundraising Benefit Night for Human Rights Watch featuring Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman’s Sundance award-winner E-TEAM, which follows four intrepid activists from Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Team as they investigate and document war crimes on the front lines of Syria and Libya.
The Closing Night screening on June 22 will be Scheherazade’s Diary, a tragicomic documentary that follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theater project set up by director Zeina Daccache at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets are available online at filmlinc.com for the screenings at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and ifccenter.com for the IFC Center, as well as directly from each of the organization’s box offices.
Film Society of Lincoln Center:
.00 General Public,
.00 Seniors & Students,
.00 FSLC Members.
IFC Center:
.00 General Public,
.00 Seniors & Children,
.00 IFC Center Members.
A discount package is also available for screenings at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. For more information, call the Film Society at 212-875-5600 or IFC Center at 212-924-7771 or visit ff.hrw.org. Ticket On Sale Dates: Tuesday, May 20 – Pre-sale to Members; Tuesday, May 27 – General Public. For discounted tickets and festival updates, sign up for the mailing list at www.hrw.org/filmconnect.
Follow the festival on Twitter @hrwfilmfestival.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. We work tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and fight to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Through the Human Rights Watch Film Festival we bear witness to human rights violations and create a forum for courageous individuals on both sides of the lens to empower audiences with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a difference. The film festival brings to life human rights abuses through storytelling in a way that challenges each individual to empathize and demand justice for all people. To learn more about our work or to make a donation, visit www.hrw.org
Film Society Of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film.
IFC Center
IFC Center is a state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. Opened in June 2005 following an extensive renovation of the historic Waverly Theater, the theater expanded in 2009 and now boasts five screens. IFC Center presents the very best in new foreign-language, American independent and documentary features to audiences…. For additional theater information, current and upcoming program details and more, visit www.ifccenter.com
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PROGRAM DETAILS
Benefit Film & Reception
Thursday, June 12, 6:00 pm, The Times Center, 242 West 41st St.
E-TEAM (New York premiere + panel discussion with filmmakers and others)
Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, filmmakers; Marilyn Ness, producer-US-2013-89m-doc-In English and French/German/ Russian/Arabic with English subtitles
When atrocities are committed in countries held hostage by ruthless dictators, Human Rights Watch sends in the E-Team (Emergencies Team), a collection of fiercely intelligent individuals who document war crimes and report them to the world. Within this volatile climate, award-winning filmmakers Ross Kauffman and Katy Chevigny take us to the front lines in Syria and Libya, where shrapnel, bullet holes, and unmarked graves provide mounting evidence of atrocities by government forces. The crimes are rampant, random, and often unreported-making the E-Team’s effort to get information out of the country and into the hands of media outlets, policy makers, and international tribunals even more necessary. Cinematography Award US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
A Netflix Original Documentary.
Post-screening panel discussion: Featuring filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman and film subjects Fred Abrahams, Peter Bouckaert, Anna Neistat, and Ole Solvang. Moderated by staff writer for The New Yorker Jon Lee Anderson.
For further information about the event or to purchase tickets, please call 212-249-6188 or email [email protected]. Tickets start at 0.
Opening Night Film & Reception
Friday, June 13, 7:00 pm, The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater
PRIVATE VIOLENCE (New York premiere + panel discussion with filmmakers and others)
Cynthia Hill-US-2013-81m-doc
Private Violence explores a simple but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. Through the eyes of two survivors-Deanna Walters, a mother who seeks justice for the crimes committed against her at the hands of her estranged husband, and Kit Gruelle, an advocate who seeks justice for all women-we bear witness to the complex realities of intimate partner violence. Private Violence begins to shape powerful, new questions that hold the potential to change our society: « Why does he abuse? » « Why do we turn away? » « How do we begin to build a future without domestic violence? »
The HBO Documentary Film Private Violence will premiere on HBO in October 2014.
Post-screening panel discussion: Featuring filmmaker Cynthia Hill, executive producer Gloria Steinem, and film subjects Kit Gruelle and Deanna Walters. Moderated by Liesl Gerntholtz, director Women’s Rights division, Human Rights Watch.
Closing Night Film
Sunday, June 22, 6:30 pm, IFC Center
SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY (New York premiere + Q&A with Zeina Daccache)
Zeina Daccache-Lebanon-2013-80m-doc-In Arabic with English subtitles
This engaging tragicomic documentary follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theater project set up in 2012 by director Zeina Daccache (12 Angry Lebanese) at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon. Through their unprecedented theater initiative, entitled Scheherazade in Baabda, these « murderers of husbands, adulterers and drug felons » reveal their stories-tales of domestic violence, traumatic childhoods, failed marriages, forlorn romances, and deprivation of motherhood. The women of Baabda Prison share their personal stories, and in doing so, hold up a mirror to Lebanese society and all societies that repress women.
Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring
ABOUNADDARA COLLECTIVE SHORTS FROM SYRIA + Discussion of « Emergency Cinema » (New York premiere)
Various filmmakers-Syria-2013-90m-In Arabic with English subtitles
Founded in 2010, the Abounaddara Collective is a group of filmmakers working to provide an alternative image of Syrian society, different from the prevailing representations of Syria found in the mainstream media. Since April 2011, the collective has produced one short film every week, using a very particular cinematographic language-a sort of « emergency cinema. » Working in a state of emergency and subject to certain constraints, the collective’s members are all volunteers and anonymous. They present ordinary men and women who are neither heroes nor victims.
Human Rights Watch will screen a series of short films from the Abounaddara Collective, which won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and explore the concept of « emergency cinema » in the context of Syria. The first section of the program will be devoted to the theme of citizen-reporters as represented by Osama al-Habali. The second section of the program will focus on the barbarism of the conflict and how it devours the soldiers involved. In both sections, the discussion will center on a generation of young people being crushed by the conflict who have chosen to defend themselves in different ways-some with images, some with arms.
Thursday, June 19, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the Abounaddara Collective)
FIRST TO FALL (New York premiere)
Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-2013-80m-doc-In English and Arabic with English subtitles
First to Fall is an intimate story of friendship, sacrifice, and the madness of war. It bears witness to the irreversible transformation of two friends, and the price they pay for their convictions. Hamid and Tarek leave their lives as students in Canada and travel to Libya, their homeland, to join the fight to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. They pledge to make it to the front line despite neither of them having ever picked up a weapon. A second-hand video camera becomes Hamid’s ticket to the front where he documents battles to liberate Misrata, a city famous for the ferocity of its citizens. Hamid eventually earns a gun and becomes a fully-fledged soldier with an AK-47 in one hand and his video camera in the other. Meanwhile Tarek joins a training camp and eventually a katiba (freedom fighter battalion) in Misrata. In a battle to liberate Zawya, his hometown, Tarek’s life will change forever. Filmmaker Rachel Beth Anderson bears witness to Tarek and Hamid’s incredible odyssey, as they navigate a brutal guerrilla war to liberate Libya from 40 years of tyranny.
Tuesday, June 17, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
Wednesday, June 18, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
THE MULBERRY HOUSE (New York premiere)
Sara Ishaq-Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates-2013-64m-doc-In English and Arabic with English subtitles
After 10 years in Scotland, Sara Ishaq travels back to her childhood home of Yemen and takes her camera along. She hopes to feel at home in the place that was once so close to her heart, but the complications soon become clear. Outside the gates of her family home, people are protesting against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s authoritarian rule, and Ishaq and her family quickly become caught up in the movement. Ishaq contributes by acting as a local correspondent, sharing news with the international press. In this personal and touching film, Ishaq captures events in her own home throughout this tumultuous period, when multiple changes are afoot.
Thursday, June 19, 9:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
RETURN TO HOMS
Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-2013-87m-doc-In Arabic with English subtitles
Filmed between August 2011 and August 2013, Return to Homs is a remarkably intimate portrait of a group of young revolutionaries in the city of Homs in western Syria. They dream of their country being free from President Bashar al-Assad and fight for justice through peaceful demonstrations. As the army acts ever more brutally and their city transforms into a ghost town, the young men begin to take up arms. The protagonists are two friends: Basset, the charismatic 19-year-old goalkeeper of the national soccer team whose revolutionary songs make him the voice of the protest movement, and Osama, a 24-year-old media activist and cameraman. The close-up camerawork takes the viewer right into the city and scenes of grim battles in a deserted city soon replace those of lively protest parties in the streets. World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Friday, June 13, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with producers)
Saturday, June 14, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with producers)
NESTOR ALMENDROS AWARD
Renowned cinematographer and filmmaker Nestor Almendros (1930-1992) was a founder of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, actively involved in the selection of films and the promotion of human rights filmmaking. Even while deeply immersed in his own projects, he took the time to call the Festival team to mention a strong documentary or promote a work-in-progress. Believing in the power of human rights filmmaking, Nestor devoted himself to becoming a mentor to many young filmmakers. It is in the Festival’s loving memory of Nestor and our desire to celebrate his vision that we proudly bestow this award to filmmakers for their exceptional commitment to human rights.
The Festival is delighted to present director Talal Derki and producer Orwa Nyrabia-filmmakers of Return to Homs-with our 2014 Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking.
Human Rights Defenders, Icons, and Villains
DANGEROUS ACTS STARRING THE UNSTABLE ELEMENTS OF BELARUS (New York premiere)
Madeleine Sackler-US/UK/Belarus-2013-76m-doc-In English and Belarusian and Russian with English subtitles
Director Madeleine Sackler goes behind the scenes with the Belarus Free Theatre, an acclaimed troupe of imaginative and subversive performers who, in a country choked by censorship and repression, defy Europe’s last remaining dictatorship. Comprised of smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus gives audiences a front row seat to a resistance movement as it unfolds, both on the stage and in the streets. Creating provocative theatre carries great emotional, financial, and artistic risks. For the members of the Belarus Free Theatre, there are additional risks: censorship, imprisonment, and exile. The film picks up in 2010 when the Belarus KGB is cracking down on dissenters, 16 years after Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko takes power during the break-up of the Soviet Union. Now, as a dubious new presidential election looms, the KGB targets the Free Theatre’s founders Nikolai Khalezin and Natalia Koliada who, along with their colleagues, find themselves torn between fighting for their art and for their families’ safety.
The HBO Documentary Film Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus will premiere on HBO on July 7.
Wednesday, June 18, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Following the film will be a special performance featuring Oleg Sidorchik of the Belarus Free Theatre with an introduction by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater (reception to follow)
THE GREEN PRINCE (New York premiere)
Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-2014-101m-doc-In English and Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles
This real-life thriller tells the story of one of Israel’s most prized intelligence sources: the son of top Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Youssef, Mosab Hassan Youssef. For over a decade Mosab-code name: « The Green Prince »-was the number one source for the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret security service. Recruited at 17, he spied for his former enemy in the heart of his father’s organization. His Shin Bet handler, Gonen Ben Yitzhak, risked everything-including treason-to save him. The special bond between Mosab and Gonen made for one of the most unlikely but effective partnerships in the history of Israeli intelligence. The Green Prince is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, impossible choices-and a friendship that defies all boundaries.
Audience Award World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Courtesy of Music Box Films, The Green Prince will open theatrically on August 8.
Saturday, June 14, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Monday, June 16, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (US premiere)
Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-2013-86m-doc
South African filmmaker Khalo Matabane was an idealistic teenager with fanciful ideas about a post-apartheid era of freedom and justice when the great icon of liberation Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990. In a personal odyssey encompassing an imaginary letter to Mandela and conversations with politicians, activists, intellectuals, and artists, Matabane questions the meaning of freedom, reconciliation, and forgiveness-and challenges Mandela’s legacy in today’s world of conflict and inequality. The film juxtaposes Matabane’s inner quest for coherence with the opinions of people who both knew Mandela and those whose political perspectives were shaped by him. Matabane weighs equally the words of his subjects, leading us to question these concepts as well. Special Jury Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013.
Friday, June 13, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Saturday, June 14, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
WATCHERS OF THE SKY (New York premiere)
Edet Belzberg-US-2014-114m-doc-In English and Zaghawan/Spanish/French with English subtitles
Watchers of the Sky interweaves four stories of remarkable courage, compassion, and determination, while setting out to uncover the forgotten life of Raphael Lemkin-the man who created the word « genocide » and believed the law could protect the world from mass atrocities. Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, « A Problem From Hell, » Watchers of the Sky takes you on a provocative journey from Nuremberg to The Hague, from Bosnia to Darfur, from criminality to justice, and from apathy to action. Editing Award and Special Jury Award for Use of Animation US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014.
Courtesy of Music Box Films, Watchers of the Sky will open theatrically in October, 2014.
Wednesday, June 18, 9:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Thursday, June 19, 6:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
*Benefit Night film, E-TEAM, is also featured under this theme
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT)
LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (New York premiere)
Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-2014-90m-doc
Former US Navy SEAL Chris Beck embarks on a new mission as Kristin Beck. Kristin’s journey in search of the American ideals that she protected: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have a whole new meaning as she lives her life truthfully as a transgender woman.
Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story will be broadcast on CNN/U.S. beginning September 4.
Saturday, June 14, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
Monday, June 16, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
OUT IN THE NIGHT (New York premiere)
blair dorosh-walther-US-2014-74m-doc
One hot August night in 2006, in New York’s Greenwich Village, a group of young African-American lesbian friends are violently and sexually threatened by an older man. They defend themselves and a fight begins that draws in strangers on the street. It ends quickly, and all involved walk away until the man realizes he has been stabbed. The women are charged with gang assault, a serious felony. The media labels them a « Gang of Killer Lesbians » and the man an « admirer. » Three of the friends plead guilty and are released but four continue to fight, claiming self-defense. Out in the Night uncovers how their lives leading up to that night compelled these young women to defend themselves. Through this act, and their audacity to claim innocence in the courtroom, these young women became known as The New Jersey 4.
Wednesday, June 18, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subjects)
Friday, June 20, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subjects)
TO BE TAKEI (New York premiere)
Jennifer Kroot-US-2014-90m-doc
From the iconic role of Sulu on « Star Trek » to Howard Stern and Facebook fame, George Takei’s sharp eye, coupled with his wicked sense of humor, continues to challenge the status quo well into the 21st century. As a child forced into Japanese-American internment camps, the actor-turned-activist reveals the ways that racism affected him well into his acting career. Now 76, and nine years after coming out of the closet, Takei and his husband, Brad, have become the poster couple for marriage equality, highlighting homophobia through television interviews and hilarious skits, many of which have garnered widespread attention.
Sunday, June 15, 6:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Migrants’ Rights
THE BEEKEEPER (New York premiere)
Mano Khalil-Switzerland-2013-107m-doc-In German and Kurdish with English subtitles
The Beekeeper relates the touching story of Ibrahim Gezer, a Kurdish beekeeper from southeast Turkey, and his unusual experience of integration into the seemingly conservative heart of today’s Switzerland. The turmoil of the decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the armed Kurdish guerrilla movement, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), robbed Gezer of everything that he had: his wife, two of his children, his country, and over 500 bee colonies-his means of making a living. He has been left only with his love for bees and his unshakeable faith in humanity. Displaced from his home and livelihood, the beekeeper discovers a new life in Switzerland.
Monday, June 16, 9:30 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
EVAPORATING BORDERS (New York premiere)
Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-2014-73m-doc-in English and Arabic and Greek with English subtitles
A visual essay in five parts, Evaporating Borders is told through a series of vignettes that explore the lives of asylum seekers and political refugees on the island of Cyprus. Cyprus is one of the easiest points of entry into Europe. Through the microcosm of the current situation in Cyprus, the film explores tolerance and immigration practices throughout Europe and the Western world-where migrating populations have become subject to a variety of human rights abuses. The film looks at what it means to be displaced and examines the idea of belonging and notions of diaspora, exile, and migration.
Sunday, June 15, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Tuesday, June 17, 9:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights
FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (New York premiere)
Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-2013-72m-drama-In English and Bosnian with English subtitles
Jasmila Zbanić’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales follows an Australian tourist as she discovers the silent legacy of wartime atrocities in a seemingly idyllic town on the border of Bosnia and Serbia. On a summer holiday through Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kym is the picture of an average tourist: visiting the sites promoted in her guidebook and keeping a video diary. Yet her stay at a hotel in Visegrad inexplicably gives way to anxiety and sleepless nights. Upon returning home to Australia, she finds out that the Vilina Vlas hotel was used as a rape camp during the war. Questions around the region’s atrocities begin to haunt her, as does the question of why the guidebook, or the town itself, made no mention of the event. The testimonies she later finds online compel her to return to Visegrad and investigate this hidden history for herself.
Monday, June 16, 9:00 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Tuesday, June 17, 9:15 pm, IFC Center
THE HOMESTRETCH (New York premiere)
Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-2014-89m-doc
The Homestretch follows three homeless teens in Chicago as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers-Roque, Kasey, and Anthony-will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, the teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film connects us to larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBT rights. The Homestretch is a powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young, homeless, and building a future in America today.
Friday, June 20, 8:45 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
Saturday, June 21, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmakers)
A QUIET INQUISITION (World premiere)
Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-2014-65m-doc-In Spanish with English subtitles
At a public hospital in Nicaragua, Ob/Gyn Dr. Carla Cerrato must choose between following a law that bans all abortions and endangers her patients or taking a risk and providing the care that she knows can save a woman’s life. In 2007, Dr. Cerrato’s daily routine took a detour. The newly elected government of Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who converted to Catholicism to win votes, overturned a 130-year-old law protecting therapeutic abortion. The new law entirely prohibits abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s life is at stake. As Carla and her colleagues navigate this dangerous dilemma, the impact of this law emerges-illuminating the tangible reality of prohibition against the backdrop of a political, religious, and historically complex national identity. The emotional core of the story-the experiences and situations of the young women and girls who are seeking care-illustrate the ethical implications of one doctor’s response.
Sunday, June 15, 8:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
Friday, June 20, 7:00 pm, IFC Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (New York premiere)
Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-2013-88m-doc-In English and Farsi with English subtitles
Sepideh is a young Iranian woman who dares to dream-of a future as an astronaut. At night, she stares up at the universe. At home, full of hope and longing, she watches recordings of the first female Iranian in space, Anousheh Ansari. When her father died suddenly six years earlier, Sepideh discovered that she could feel closer to him by watching the stars. And so her dream was born. But not everyone appreciates her boundless ambition. After all, becoming an astronaut is not exactly a normal goal for a girl in Iran. Her mother and uncle are worried about the emancipated young woman. She doesn’t want to learn to cook, hardly ever visits her family, and doesn’t seem to be thinking about marriage at all. As we follow Sepideh, it becomes clear just how at odds her dreams are with her current reality and the expectations of those around her.
Sunday, June 15, 9:15 pm, IFC Center
Saturday, June 21, 6:30 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center
SIDDHARTH
Richie Mehta-Canada/India-2013-96m-drama-In English and Hindi with English subtitles
In New Delhi, 12-year-old Siddharth is sent by his father Mahendra to work in a factory in another province to help support their family. Siddharthis supposed to come home in one month for the Diwali festival. When he fails to return or call, his distraught father begins a desperate search to find his missing son. The authorities, who scold an already guilt-ridden man for allowing his son to become a child laborer, believe that Siddharth may have been abducted and trafficked. Filmmaker Richie Mehta deftly brings to life Mahendra’s moving, tangled, and often futile-seeming journey with a touch that transforms it into both a commentary on modern India as well as a moving portrait of one family within that society.
Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films, Siddharth will open theatrically in New York on June 27.
Saturday, June 21, 9:00pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker)
THE SUPREME PRICE (New York premiere)
Joanna Lipper-US-2013-75m-doc
Director Joanna Lipper elegantly explores past and present as she tells the remarkable story of Hafsat Abiola, daughter of human rights heroine Kudirat Abiola, and Nigeria’s President-elect M.K.O. Abiola, who won a historic vote in 1993 that promised to end years of military dictatorship. Shortly after the election, M.K.O. Abiola’s victory was annulled and he was arrested. While he was imprisoned, his wife Kudirat took over leadership of the pro-democracy movement. In this riveting political thriller, the Abiola family’s intimate story unfolds against the epic backdrop of Nigeria’s evolution from independence in 1960, through a series of military dictatorships to present day civilian rule as Hafsat continues to face the challenge of transforming a corrupt culture of governance into a democracy capable of serving Nigeria’s most marginalized population: women.
Thursday, June 19, 9:15 pm, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Q&A with filmmaker and film subject)
*The Opening and Closing Night films, Private Violence and Scheherazade’s Diary, are also featured under this theme
Photography by Marcus Bleasdale
THE UNRAVELING
Journey Through the Central African Republic Crisis
June 12-22, 2014 at the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, The Walter Reade Theater
In November 2013, the photographer Marcus Bleasdale and Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert began a four-month-long journey to investigate and expose a massive human rights crisis unfolding in a country that few people in the world even knew existed-the Central African Republic.
The nightmare began when the Seleka, a predominately Muslim group of fighters, toppled the Central African Republic’s government in March 2013. For months, the armed Seleka rebels ruled through fear: burning down village after village, killing civilians and torturing anyone suspected of plotting against them. The situation spiraled as fury with the Seleka spilled over into vicious armed resistance among Christians and animist militias known as « anti-balaka » (« anti-machete »). Claiming self-defense against the Seleka onslaught, they retaliated against Muslim communities with the same brutality, killing and terrorizing countless civilians. The attacks created an enormous humanitarian crisis, forcing people to live in hiding places in the bush, without adequate shelter, food, or medical care.
The tide turned last December when the anti-balaka carried out a major attack on Bangui, the capital, forcing the Seleka to retreat and eventually cede power by January 2014. In the wake of the Seleka collapse and facing the wrath and revenge of the anti-balaka militias and some Christian civilians, hundreds of thousands of Muslim residents fled their homes to seek refuge in the neighboring countries of Chad, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Marcus Bleasdale is one of the world’s leading documentary photographers and has collaborated with Human Rights Watch for over a decade. He is dedicated to covering under-reported issues and uses his images to influence policy makers around the world. His work covering human rights abuses and conflict have been shown at the US Senate, The US House of Representatives, The United Nations, and the Houses of Parliament in the UK. Marcus’s work also appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, Stern, Le Monde, TIME Magazine, Newsweek and National Geographic Magazine. He has published two books: « One Hundred Years of Darkness » in 2002, and « The Rape of a Nation » in 2009.
PUBLIC SCREENING SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 12
Benefit Film and Reception
The Times Center, 242 West 41st St.
7:00 E-TEAM (Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman-US-89m)
9:00 Reception in the Times Center
Panel discussion with filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman and film subjects to follow
Friday, June 13
Opening Night Screening & Reception
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
7:00 PRIVATE VIOLENCE (Cynthia Hill-US-81m)
Panel discussion with Gloria Steinem, filmmaker Cynthia Hill, and film subjects to follow
9:00 Reception in the Furman Gallery, Walter Reade Theate
IFC Center:
7:00 RETURN TO HOMS (Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-87m)
Q&A with producers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El Jeiroudi
9:30 NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-86m)
Q&A with filmmaker Khalo Matabane
Saturday, June 14
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 NELSON MANDELA: THE MYTH AND ME (Khalo Matabane-South Africa/Germany-86m)
Q&A with filmmaker Khalo Matabane
9:00 THE GREEN PRINCE (Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-101m)
Q&A with filmmaker Nadav Schirman
IFC Center:
7:00 LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-90m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sandrine Orabona and film subject Kristin Beck
9:30 RETURN TO HOMS (Talal Derki-Syria/Germany-87m)
Q&A with producers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El Jeiroudi
Sunday, June 15
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:00 TO BE TAKEI (Jennifer Kroot-US-90m)
8:30 A QUIET INQUISITION (Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-65m)
Q&A with filmmakers Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn and film subject Dr. Carla Cerrato
IFC Center:
7:00 EVAPORATING BORDERS (Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-73m)
Q&A with filmmaker Iva Radivojevic
9:15 SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-88m)
Monday, June 16
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 LADY VALOR: THE KRISTIN BECK STORY (Sandrine Orabona and Mark Herzog-US-90m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sandrine Orabona and film subject Kristin Beck
9:00 FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-72m)
IFC Center:
7:00 THE GREEN PRINCE (Nadav Schirman-UK/Germany/Israel-101m
Middle East)
Q&A with filmmaker Nadav Schirman
9:30 THE BEEKEEPER (Mano Khalil-Switzerland-107m)
Q&A with filmmaker Mano Khalil
Tuesday June 17
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 THE BEEKEEPER (Mano Khalil-Switzerland-107m)
Q&A with filmmaker Mano Khalil
9:15 EVAPORATING BORDERS (Iva Radivojevic-US/Cyprus-73m)
Q&A with filmmaker Iva Radivojevic
IFC Center:
7:00 FIRST TO FALL (Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-80m)
Q&A with filmmakers Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza
9:15 FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (Jasmila Zbanić-Bosnia and Herzegovina-72m)
Wednesday, June 18
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 DANGEROUS ACTS STARRING THE UNSTABLE ELEMENTS OF BELARUS (Madeleine Sackler-US/UK/Belarus-76m)
Special performance featuring Oleg Sidorchik of the Belarus Free Theatre with introduction by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater (reception to follow)
9:00 FIRST TO FALL (Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza-UK/US-80m)
Q&A with filmmakers Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza
IFC Center:
7:00 OUT IN THE NIGHT (blair dorosh-walther-US-74m)
Q&A with filmmaker blair dorosh-walther and film subjects
9:00 WATCHERS OF THE SKY (Edet Belzberg-US-114m)
Thursday, June 19
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:15 WATCHERS OF THE SKY (Edet Belzberg-US-114m)
Q&A with filmmaker Edet Belzberg
9:15 THE SUPREME PRICE (Joanna Lipper-US-75m)
Q&A with filmmaker Joanna Lipper and film subject Hafsat Abiola
IFC Center:
7:00 ABOUNADDARA COLLECTIVE SHORTS FROM SYRIA + Discussion of « Emergency Cinema » (Various filmmakers-Syria-90m)
Q&A with Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the Abounaddara Collective
9:00 THE MULBERRY HOUSE (Sara Ishaq-Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates-64m)
Q&A with filmmaker Sara Ishaq
Friday, June 20
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 OUT IN THE NIGHT (blair dorosh-walther-US-74m)
Q&A with filmmaker blair dorosh-walther and film subjects
8:45 THE HOMESTRETCH (Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-89m
United States)
Q&A with filmmakers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
IFC Center:
7:00 A QUIET INQUISITION (Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn-US-65m)
Q&A with filmmakers Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn and subject Dr. Carla Cerrato
Saturday, June 21
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater:
6:30 SEPIDEH – REACHING FOR THE STARS (Berit Madsen-Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden-88m)
9:00 SIDDHARTH
(Richie Mehta-Canada/India-96m)
Q&A with filmmaker Richie Mehta
IFC Center:
7:00 THE HOMESTRETCH (Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly-US-89m)
Q&A with filmmakers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
Sunday, June 22
IFC Center:
6:30 SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY – Closing Night Film (Zeina Daccache-Lebanon-80m)
Q&A with filmmaker Zeina Daccache
CONTACT
Susan Norget Film Promotion | 198 Sixth Avenue | Suite 1 | New York | NY | 10013
www.norget.com/humanrightswatch14
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