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All screenings are at the Ritzy Cinema, unless otherwise noted
THE FOG OF WAR Errol Morris, USA 2003; 106m. 35mm. Documentary. In English "If there's one movie that ought to be studied by military and civilian leaders around the world at this treacherous historical moment, it is Errol Morris's sober, beautifully edited documentary portrait of the former U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert S. McNamara." — Stephen Holden, The New York Times Renowned filmmaker Errol Morris, director of The Thin Blue Line and Fast, Cheap and Out of Control — presents a powerful cinematic conversation with Robert S. McNamara — former US Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations — who was both witness to and participant in many of the crucial events of the 20th Century: WWII, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Using archival footage, taped telephone conversations, visual aids and a Philip Glass score, Morris structures the film as "eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara," with McNamara candidly presenting his version of the political processes at play, raising deep moral questions about his role and, by implication, the role of other key players. Reflecting on the firebombing of sixty-seven Japanese cities in 1945 he asks, "In order to win a war, is a nation justified in killing 100,000 civilians in one night?" Winner of the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Wed Mar 17: 6.30 at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema; Thurs Mar 18: 20.00 HRW's Work on the Philippines and Thailand LIFE ON THE TRACKS (U.K. Premiere) Ditsi Carolino, U.K./Philippines 2002; 70m. Video. Documentary. In Tagalog with English subtitles Filmmaker Ditsi Carolino achieves an amazing intimacy in her cinema verité portrait of a young Filipino couple, Eddie and Pen Renomeron, and their two biological and three adopted children. The family lives in a neighborhood teaming with makeshift houses crowded dangerously close to the railway tracks in the Philippine capital Manila. Between the rails, children play, vendors push handmade carts, men gamble and women socialize. When a train approaches, everyone steps aside for a moment. Once the cars have rumbled past, life resumes its normal course. Eddie and Pen have serious worries: they owe back rent; the landlord has announced their "house" is to be demolished; Eddie earns almost nothing selling duck eggs and the pittance that Pen receives as a maid is not enough. They each cope with their anxieties in different ways: Eddie converts his hard-earned cash into booze whenever he gets a chance and when Pen finds her husband drunk, she flies into a rage. Filmmaker Carolino exhibits remarkable skill in capturing the seminal moments of emotion and humor in one family's life journey. Distribution: contact Ditsi Carolino, ditsicarolino@yahoo.com. Preceded by: POISON / SANPEET (London Premiere) Giuseppe Petitto, Enrico Pizianti, Gianluca Pulcini Italy/Thailand 2001/2002; 27m. Video. Documentary. In Issan with English subtitles Sanpeet Petnonnoi is a small, beautiful, unblemished seven year-old boy who lives in the poor region of northeast Thailand known as the "Golden Triangle." Like many boys his age, Sanpeet earns his family some extra money by kickboxing. The Thai government turns a blind eye to the matches. Kickboxing has been encouraged by some government officials as a way of hardening young people against the temptations of opium and heroin, drugs that are pervasive in this area. But this questionable sport is further tainted by another addiction: gambling. The lower the weight of a boxer, the higher the stakes; this makes Sanpeet, with his sixteen kilos, an attractive betting prospect. Distributed by Karousel Films. Contact mail@karousel.org. Fri Mar 19: 18.45, filmmakers present; Sun Mar 21: 21.00, filmmakers present HRW's Work on Corporations and Human Rights THE CORPORATION London Premiere Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, Canada 2003; 145m. 35mm. Documentary. In English A timely, critical inquiry, The Corporation invites players, pawns, and pundits on an eye-opening journey to reveal the corporation's inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts, and possible futures. One hundred and fifty years ago, the corporation was a relatively insignificant institution. Today, it is a powerful, pervasive presence in all our lives. Like the Church, the Monarchy, and the Communist Party in other times and places, the corporation is today's dominant institution. Filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott deftly weave together case studies, anecdotes, and true confessions to reveal behind-the-scenes tensions and influences in several corporate and anti-corporate dramas. Each illuminates an aspect of the corporation's complex character. Featuring interviews with Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Mark Kingwell, The Corporation charts the spectacular rise of an institution aimed at achieving specific economic goals — but it also recounts victories against this apparently invincible force. Official selection, Sundance Film Festival 2004; Screening courtesy of Metrodome Distribution. Distributed by Metrodome. Contact broberts@metrodomegroup.com. Fri Mar 19: 19.00 at the Gate Cinema HRW's Work on Israel/Palestinian Authority FORD TRANSIT London Premiere Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine 2002; 80m. Video. Documentary. In Arabic with English subtitles Director Hany Abu-Assad follows cab driver Rajai and his passengers in Ramallah and Jerusalem, as they detour around roadblocks and speed through short cuts. Rajai's passengers form a heterogeneous group of ordinary people and local celebrities — including politician Hanan Ashrawi, Azmi Bishara (Citizen Bishara, HRWIFF 2002) and filmmaker B.Z. Goldberg (Promises, HRWIFF 2001). With humor and sincerity they express divergent opinions about the situation in Palestine and views of the conflict with Israel while being driven around. Interwoven with these powerful interviews is Rajai's commentary on his own life and dreams: we hear about his family; his sideline pursuit of smuggling illegal CDs; his view of the political situation and solutions for it; and his dreams of a future abroad. Winner of the 2003 HRWIFF Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking; Best Documentary, 'The Spirit of Freedom', Jerusalem Film Festival 2003. Distributed by Cinephil. Contact philippa@cinephil.co.il. Fri Mar 19: 21.30; Wed Mar 24: 16.30 THE WORLD STOPPED WATCHING Peter Raymont and Harold Crooks, Canada 2003; 82m. Video. Documentary. What happens to a country's people when the media spotlight is turned off? As the last battleground of the Cold War the Sandinista/Contra conflict was one of the biggest news stories of the 80s. *Following Tuesday night's screening, Channel Four news presenter Jon Snow and writer and broadcaster Isabel Hilton will attend a discussion and question-and-answer session chaired by Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch, on the issues raised by the film. Distributed by The National Film Board of Canada. Contact festivals@nfb.ca. Sat Mar 20: 13.30; Tues Mar 23: 19.00 at the Other Cinema IN RWANDA WE SAY: THE FAMILY THAT DOESN'T SPEAK DIES World Premiere Anne Aghion, USA/France 2004; 57m. Video. Documentary. In Kinyarwanda with English subtitles Award-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion's influential 2002 film, Gacaca, Living Together Again in Rwanda? (HRWIFF 2003) captured the feelings of both survivors and alleged killers in the remote community of Ntongwe, Rwanda just as the government was announcing the Gacaca (ga-CHA-cha), a new system of citizen-based Distributed by Doc & Co. Contact catleclef@doc-co.com. Preceded by: AFTER YEARS OF WALKING U.K. Premiere Sarah Vanagt, U.K. 2003; 37m. Video. Documentary. After the genocide of 1994, the Rwandan government temporarily suspended history from the school curriculum. The characters in After Years of Walking — children, teachers, genocidal killers, students and historians — all find themselves in an uncertain zone between the grip of history and the need to forge new beginnings. The filmmaker discovered an historical film made in 1959 by Belgian missionaries and took this film back to Rwanda in 2002, using it to probe contemporary Rwandan understandings of the country's tumultuous and tragic past. Her film captures their reactions and the complexities of collective memory. Distributed by National Film & TV School. Contact festivals@nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk. Sat Mar 20: 15.30, filmmaker present; Wed Mar 24: 18.30, filmmaker present HRW's Work on Israel/Palestinian Authority PARADISE LOST U.K. Premiere Ebtisam Mara'ana, Israel 2003; 56m. Video. Documentary. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles Paradise, a picturesque fishermen's village overlooking the Mediterranean, is one of the few Palestinian villages Distributed by Zygote Films Ltd.. Contact duki@zygotefilms.com. Preceded by: LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES U.K. Premiere Annemarie Jacir-Palestine 2003; 17m. 35mm. Drama. In Hebrew, Arabic and English with English subtitles In a landscape now interrupted by military checkpoints, a group of Palestinian filmmakers attempt to reach Jerusalem. When they decide to avoid a closed checkpoint by taking an unused side road, the landscape unravels, and the passengers certainties are slowly taken apart by the mundane brutality of military occupation. Like Twenty Impossibles is both a visual poem and a narrative film, questioning the politics of art and resistance and the space between fiction and reality. 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Distributed by Philistine Films. Contact philistinefilms@hotmail.com. Sat Mar 20: 18.30, filmmaker present; Mon 22 Mar: 21.00, filmmaker present CARANDIRU Hector Babenco, Argentina 2003; 145m. 35mm. Drama. On October 2, 1992, a row after a Sunday soccer game at the infamous São Paulo penitentiary escalated into what is now known as the Carandiru massacre. One hundred and eleven inmates were murdered, eighty-five of them in their cells by police firing at close range. This tragedy inspired Drauzio Varella, who worked for twelve years as a doctor in the prison, to document the story — and his broader experiences working in Latin America's largest prison — in the best-selling book Carandiru Station. Now, acclaimed director Hector Babenco has brought Varella's account to the screen with courage, honesty, and a devotion to revealing the horrific nature of the violence perpetrated in the name of the authorities. Carandiru is an extremely tender film, as Babenco focuses on the prisoners' back stories from the point of view of the doctor (played by Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos). He wants us to understand why these men are in jail and the difficult lives they lead, faced with overcrowding, rampant disease, and little access to medical care or legal assistance — as well as the injustices they suffer. The result is an episodic film: the prisoners relate their stories in flashbacks as we get to know their daily routines within Carandiru's walls. The film marks Babenco's return to prison drama nearly twenty years after the incredible success of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Distributed by Columbia TriStar Films (UK). Contact press_office@spe.sony.com . Sat 20 Mar: 19.00 at The Phoenix Cinema; Mon 22 Mar: 19.00 WAR TAKES/TOMAS DE GUERRA U.K. Premiere Patricia Castano and Adelaida Trujillo, Colombia/England 2002; 78m. Video. Documentary. In Spanish and English with English subtitles For more than four years, three Colombian filmmakers turned their cameras on themselves, using personal stories to expose the tough reality in their violent, war-ravaged country. According to these filmmakers, Colombia has been functioning for many years in the gray area between legalism and lawlessness. Their portrayal does not aim to confirm the outside world's image of Colombia as a hotbed of excessive political violence and drug traffic, but instead draws out the beauty and warmth amidst the larger turmoil within their homeland. The humor borders on surreal as the film moves between conversations in the jungle with guerrillas to elegant dinner parties with society's elite. War Takes allows the real lives of its heroes, forever changed by war, to break through the stereotypes. It forces us to rethink our own conceptions, or misconceptions, of the beliefs and values by which these Colombians live. Distributed by Faction Films. Contact sstevens@factionfilms.co.uk. Sat Mar 20: 19.00 at the Other Cinema, filmmaker present; Mon Mar 22: 18.45 PERSONS OF INTEREST U.K. Premiere Alison Maclean and Tobias Perse-USA 2003; 63m. Video. Documentary. In English After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5000 people, mainly non-US nationals of South Asian or Middle Eastern origin, were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and held indefinitely on grounds of national security. Muslim immigrants were subject to arbitrary arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. Many were denied access to legal representation and communication with their families. During a period when the State Department has made every effort to depersonalize these detentions, refusing to reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices of those affected — their testimonials and experiences — become our only window into the human costs of post September 11th immigration policies. Following an unconventional format, Persons of Interest presents a series of encounters between former detainees and directors Maclean and Perse in an empty room which serves both visually and symbolically as an interrogation room, home, and prison cell. Through interviews, family photographs, and letters from prison, the directors have fashioned a compelling and poignant film, allowing these victims a chance to tell their own stories. Distributed by The Documentary Campaign . Contact Emily@documentarycampaign.org. Preceded by: ASYLUM U.K. Premiere Sandy McLeod and Gini Reticker, US 2003; 20m. 35mm. Documentary. In English Baba, a young Ghanian woman, goes in search of her father for his blessing on her impending marriage to the young man she loves. Her joy at finding him turns into a nightmare as he insists she submit to his choice of marriage to an old man, and that she undergo female genital mutilation as is the custom in his tribe. She is forced to flee her father's village, seeking refugee status in the United States. Instead of liberation, she finds herself in detention, enmeshed in the U.S. immigration system. Nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Distribution: contact Gini Reticker, reticker@aol.com . Preceded on Sat Mar 20 by the short play from the Royal Court Theatre's 4th International Playwrights Season: FOUL PLAY Tanya Barfield, USA. Dilan and Kyle are two foster brothers divided by race, both dreaming of escape from their mountain home. Then a child's game gets out of hand and an accident threatens to destroy both their hopes of freedom. *Sat Mar 20: 21.00, filmmakers present; Tues 23 Mar: 19.00, filmmakers present HRW's Work on Israel/Palestinian Authority ROUTE 181: FRAGMENTS OF A JOURNEY IN PALESTINE-ISREAL Eyal Sivan & Michel Khleifi France/Belgium/UK/Germany 2003; 270m. Documentary. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles Route 181, fragments of a journey in Palestine-Israel follows the borders drawn up by the UN in 1947 to separate Palestine into two states — one Jewish and one Arab. The film is divided into three chapters, THE SOUTH, from the port city of Ashdod to the frontiers of the Gaza Strip; THE CENTRE, from the Jewish-Arab city of Lod to Jerusalem; and THE NORTH, from Rosh Ha'ayn, near the new separation wall, to the Lebanese borders. Renowned filmmakers Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan are convinced that the situation in the Middle East is an ideological/pathological construct made by men, which can therefore be unmade by them. No appointments were organised beforehand, no personalities contacted, no official interlocutors. Armed only with authorizations to film, they stopped and filmed anonymous Israelis and Palestinians who speak of their lives, their experiences, their situations, their personal memories and understandings of what is happening around them today. Distributed by MOMENTO!. Contact momento@wanadoo.fr. Sun Mar 21: 13.00 at the Other Cinema, filmmakers present BORN INTO BROTHELS U.K. Premiere Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, USA 2003; 85m. Video. Documentary. Bengali and English with English subtitles The most stigmatized people in Calcutta's red light district, are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother's fate or creating another type of life. In Born into Brothels, directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting the latent sparks of artistic creativity within them. Devoid of sentimentality, the film defies the typical tear-stained, tourist snapshot of the global underbelly. Briski spends years with the children and becomes part of their lives. The children's photographs are prisms into their souls, not anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery. This film is a true testimony to the power of the indelible creative spirit. Winner of the Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival 2004. *Preceded on Sunday, 21st Mar by the short play from the Royal Court Theatre's fourth International Playwrights Season KABADDI KABADDI Anupama Chandrasekhar, India In a remote village in Tamil Nadu, Paandi and Sudalai are two teenage boys born into a world of Kabaddi and caste. Will they overcome the prejudice of their fathers, or be caught in the cycle of violence? Distributed by Red Light Films. Contact rosskauffman@earthlink.net. *Sun Mar 21: 16.00,Tues Mar 23: 18.30 AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran/France 2003; 105m. 35mm. Drama. In Dari and Farsi with English Subtitles
Distributed by Artificial Eye Film Company Ltd.. Contact catherine.woodman@artificial-eye.com. Sun Mar 21: 18.15 at the Gate Cinema; Wed Mar 24: 19.00 at the Gate Cinema HRW's Work on Israel/Palestinian Authority ONE SHOT World Premiere Nurit Kedar, Israel 2004; 56m. Video. Documentary. Filmmaker Nurit Kedar spent a year convincing the military authorities in Israel to allow her to interview Israel Defense Force snipers. After five weeks of training an Israeli soldier can become a sniper if he chooses to. Snipers are part of every combat unit. Since the last Intifada Israeli snipers have been used for targeted killing. The sniper doesn't perform a different job than the pilot, the tanker, or gunman. But there is something in the image of the sniper, which makes him seem more of a murderer. The sniper is the only soldier who sees the "whites of his victim's eyes." This is what separates these soldiers from the other fighters. The image is of the gun, and the man behind it who waits patiently and calmly in the quiet darkness in order to fulfill the command and shoot one single shot. To some, this image makes the sniper appear as a heroic fighter, to others a cold-blooded murderer. One Shot focuses on snipers still serving in the Israeli Army. For the first time ever they speak about their killings, their feelings confronting their memories, and their morality. Distributed by Doc&Co. Contact catleclef@doc-co.com. Preceded by: DETAIL U.K. Premiere Avi Mograbi, Israel 2004; 8m. Video. Documentary. In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles An armoured vehicle, a cloud of dust, a bleeding woman, a megaphone, an ambulance, a woman with two children, another ambulance, a weeping girl, a man with white hair, a burst of wind, a reporter, an armoured vehicle, a detail of a bigger picture. Distribution: contact Avi Mograbi, contact mograbi@netvision.net.il. Sun Mar 21: 18.45, filmmaker present; Tues Mar 23: 21.00, filmmaker present WHAT THE EYE DOESN'T SEE/OJOS QUE NO VEN Francisco J. Lombardi, Peru 2003; 149m. Video. Documentary. Acclaimed filmmaker Francisco J. Lombardi (La Boca del Lobo; Tinta Roja; Don't Tell Anyone) delivers his most ambitious project to date with the political psychodrama What the Eye Doesn't See. Set in the final days of Alberto Fujimori's presidency in Peru, the film explores the corruption plaguing many Latin American governments as seen through the eyes of everyday people. What the Eye Doesn't See focuses on the scandal caused by the release of the infamous "Vladi videos" — hidden camera tapes of presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos blackmailing high-level government officials — which eventually led to the end of Fujimori's presidency. But rather than recreate true stories, Lombardi uses a colorful array of fictional characters to show the ramifications of dishonest government on individual lives. Six interweaving stories give us a picture of Peru's social reality as its citizens attempt to cope during a critical juncture in their history. In Competition, San Sebastian Film Festival 2003. Mon 22 Mar: 18.30 at the Other Cinema; Thurs Mar 25: 20.30 HRW's Work on HIV/AIDs and South Africa STATE OF DENIAL U.K. Premiere Elaine Epstein, USA 2002; 86m. Video. Documentary. In English "Does HIV cause AIDS? How can a virus cause a syndrome? It can't!" — South African President Thabo Mbeki, August 2000. Through six intimate and powerful portraits, State of Denial takes an unprecedented look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by President Mbeki's administration. Revealing conversations with dozens of South Africans adds context to these portraits, capturing the unbreakable spirit of a people determined to conduct their lives with dignity, grace, and humor. Producer/Director Elaine Epstein, a native South African who has worked extensively on AIDS and in public health, offers a unique insider's look at the complex issues affecting the nearly five million South Africans living with HIV and AIDS. A film of quiet outrage, State of Denial weaves the personal with the political to create an uplifting portrait of ordinary people in an extraordinary struggle to survive. Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival, 2003. Distributed by California Newsreel. Contact contact@newsreel.org. Sun Mar 21: 13:30; Tues Mar 23: 21.00 SMILE AND WAVE U.K. Premiere Marijka Jongbloed, Netherlands 2003; 91m. 35mm. Documentary. In English, Dari and Dutch with English subtitles
Distributed by RNTV. Contact rntv@rnw.nl. Wed Mar 24: 21.15; Thurs 25 Mar: 18.30 Advance Democracy! A Brief History of British Film and Video Activism Various filmmakers, U.K 1936-2003; 107m. 35mm/video. Documentaries. With the advent of digital technology, "video activism" has become a prominent feature of our political and visual culture: just look at all the demonstrators carrying video cameras at last year's anti-war marches. Yet these activists are in fact part of a long tradition, following in the footsteps of filmmakers who protested against unemployment, poverty, and Fascism in the 1930s. This special programme of rare material from the bfi National Film and Television Archive will bring together over seventy years of British activist filmmaking, juxtaposing the technologies of past and present. Contrasting approaches will be illustrated by the avant-garde inventiveness of Norman McLaren's Hell Unltd (1936) and the engaging realism of Advance Democracy! (1938), as well as the differing strategies adopted by the many film and video workshops which emerged with the new radicalism of the 60s and 70s. The programme will conclude with a look at the way in which the digital revolution has changed the face of contemporary activism. Distributed by British Film Institute. Thurs Mar 25: 18.15, presented by Jez Stewart of the British Film Institute and selected filmmakers Home | Current Events | News | Publications | About HRW | Documents by Country | Global Issues | Campaigns | Contribute | What You Can Do | Community | Book Store | Film Festival | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | Privacy Policy © Copyright 2004, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA |
At that time director Peter Raymont made the award-winning The World is Watching which documented the media circus in 1987 in Managua, Nicaragua. In The World Stopped Watching, Raymont returns, sixteen years on, with two American journalists who appeared in that first documentary. They seek out the subjects of their old photographs and news stories to find out how their lives have changed over the years, and how Nicaragua has changed around them They discover a country no longer torn apart by armed conflict, but still struggling with the aftermath of desperate poverty and endemic corruption, both of which go tragically unreported in the international press. The World Stopped Watching includes interviews with several seasoned journalists including Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow who also appeared in The World is Watching.
justice intended to handle the cases of over 100,000 genocide suspects languishing in detention. In Rwanda We Say… returns two years later as several thousands of these suspects, still untried, are released across the country: having confessed to their crimes, and served the maximum sentence the Gacaca could impose, these perpetrators are sent home to plough fields and fetch water alongside the people they are accused of victimizing. In Rwanda We Say… focuses on the release of one suspect, and the effect of his return on one tiny hillside hamlet. While the government's message of a "united Rwandan family" infiltrates the language of the community, reactions to this imposed co-existence reel from numb acceptance to repressed rage. Violence seems to lurk just below the surface. What unfolds, however, is an astonishing testament to the liberating power of speech: little by little, people begin to talk in a profound and articulate way — first to the camera, and then to each other — as these neighbors negotiate the emotional task of accepting life side by side. 
remaining on Israel's coastline after the war in 1948. When the director sets out to investigate the secrets of her village, she is warned to be careful, lest her fate be that of Suaad — the mythical "bad girl" who broke the village's political norms, became a PLO activist, served a long prison sentence, and after her release, left the country. The film follows the director to the UK, where she finds Mrs. Suaad George, a Doctor of Law, who despite her self-fulfillment is still haunted by her village and her past. The encounter with Suaad causes the director to wonder whether in spite of the generational gap between them, their destiny is one outside of Paradise. This is a story about recreating a lost history and about defining modern womanhood within a traditional Arab village.
"A brave and intelligent girl can make her own decisions," argues one of the characters in At Five in the Afternoon, a statement that becomes a question as the film unfolds. In her third feature, awarded the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes last year, Samira Makhmalbaf chooses the setting of post-Taliban Afghanistan, and tells the story of Noqreh, a young woman who believes passionately that her gender should be no bar to her becoming the president of her country. Each day, contrary to her fundamentalist father's wishes, Noqreh ditches her burka and slippers for uniform and white heels, and attends a new secular school. Starting small, by campaigning to be school president, her initial optimism and determination are uplifting to observe, but the realities and harshness of contemporary Afghanistan begin to bear down upon her spirit. Makhmalbaf's style, developed over her three features, skillfully combines social and political analysis with dramatic and poetic visuals, laying bare the contradictions facing not just one young woman, but an entire country. Screenings courtesy of Artificial Eye Film Company. 
Smile and Wave is a cinematographic journey through post-war Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of the Dutch peacekeeping force there. Without any prior war experience, the young peacekeepers are cast into a chaotic post-war setting featuring rocket-propelled missile attacks, a successful suicide assault, and a student demonstration in which the local police fire on and kill at least seven Afghan contemporaries. The Second-in-Command of the peacekeeping brigade, Colonel Oude Lohuis, is confronted with an extremely shadowy situation: "We know that quite a number of the daily threats (including rocket-propelled missile attacks) are initiated by the Afghan security community itself — the secret services, the police and the army — for no other reason than to commit ISAF to staying here." Through it all, some of the peacekeepers reach out to the community, with the filmmakers capturing some beautiful and surprising moments of friendship and understanding.