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All films are preceded by short introductions only; there are no trailers. Latecomers will be allowed entry at the manager's discretion. The programme may be subject to last minute alteration; please check with the box office. These films represent many points of view, not necessarily those of Human Rights Watch.
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Robert Edwards—U.K.—2006—101m—HD—drama
In English
LAND OF THE BLIND is a satirical political drama about terrorism, revolution, and the power of memory. Two-time Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes plays Joe, an idealistic soldier in an unnamed time and place who befriends a high-profile political prisoner named Thorne, played by Donald Sutherland. In the high-security military prison where Thorne is held, the two men strike up an illicit friendship, during which Thorne slowly causes Joe to question his beliefs and his allegiance to the country's brutal but clownish dictator played by Tom Hollander and the dictator’s Machiavellian wife played by Lara Flynn Boyle. Eventually Thorne succeeds in recruiting Joe over to the revolutionary cause, culminating in a bloody coup d'etat in which Thorne seizes power. But in the post-revolutionary world, what Thorne asks of Joe leads the two men into bitter conflict, spiraling downward into madness until Joe's erstwhile co-conspirators conclude that they must erase him from history.
Featuring searing performances, provocative subject matter, and cutting satire, LAND OF THE BLIND is a film of ideas that is also visually stunning and highly entertaining. With echoes of countless tyrannies, revolutions, and counter-revolutions throughout history – and unavoidable parallels to today's headlines – LAND OF THE BLIND is unlike anything else on screen in cinemas today, and promises to ignite ferocious political debate.
Land of the Blind apears courtesy of Bauer Martinez Distribution www.bauermartinez.com
10th Anniversary Benefit Gala
Wednesday, 15th March
18.15 for 18:45 at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema
38 Curzon Street West End, London W1
Filmmaker and film participants present
Question and Answer session following screening
Reception to follow at Dartmouth House
37 Charles Street, London W1
For Benefit Gala tickets or more information please contact Erin Rattazzi on 020 7713 2773 or at erin.rattazzi@hrw.org or download the invitation as a pdf file (2 pages, 672 Kb)
Opening Night and Reception
Thursday 16th March
19.00 at The Ritzy
Filmmaker and film participants present
Question and Answer session to follow screening
Reception for all ticket holders to follow Q&A session
Featuring live music by the Andres Garcia Trio
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» See HRW’s work on India
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Amu (U.K. premiere)
Shonali Bose—India—2005—102m—35mm—drama
In English, Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi with English subtitles
AMU begins with the everyday dilemmas of a young Indian-American, Kaju, returning to the “foreignness” of her Indian homeland. Like an approaching thunderstorm, the film gathers a potent political charge as Kaju begins to question her past and realizes how her own privileged life in America was born out of communal violence in India. After Prime Minister Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards in 1984, carnage erupted in the streets of Delhi. More than four thousand Sikhs were killed in three days.
Writer-director Shonali Bose was a student in Delhi during those days. She worked in the relief camps set up after the massacre, writing down the stories of those who survived. Bose brings to the flashback scenes in AMU the intense impact of first-hand experience. AMU is powered by a sense of outrage still felt today. The film makes a strong case that this massacre was not spontaneous but planned, and depicts politicians and police who were involved but went unpunished. Kaju’s questions produce difficult answers that force her to face the truth of India’s history - and her own. [For more information on this film's Education Screening, please visit our Special Events page.]
Distributor: Emerging Pictures www.emergingpictures.com
SHOWTIMES:
Friday, 17 March 21.00, Ritzy, filmmaker present (tbc)
Sunday, 19 March 18.30, Greenwich
Saturday, 25 March 18.30, Clapham
Co-presented with Tongues on Fire Film Festival www.tonguesonfire.com
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» See HRW’s work on South Africa
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Khalo Matabane—South Africa—2005—80m— video—drama
In English, French, Zulu and Swahili with English subtitles
Composed of an artful blend of documentary and dramatic elements, CONVERSATIONS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON is a revolutionary film for South Africa. Matabane breaks with the hard-hitting historical dramas his country has turned out lately and charges right into the world of ideas. On a lovely Sunday afternoon in Johannesburg, Keniloe (Tony Kgoroge) wanders in a park. He meets Fatima (Fatima Hersi), a Somali woman brought to tears as she tells him of the suffering that led her to seek refuge in South Africa. Just as he’s getting to know his new friend, she disappears.
Shaken by her story, Keniloe goes looking for her through Johannesburg’s migrant neighbourhoods. But his quest soon takes on a life of its own, as he asks further questions of the people he meets. Why did you leave Kenya? Can you ever go home to Congo? Where is your home? Simply by asking questions with his work, Matabane adds some fascinating new avenues of thought to South Africa’s national conversation. The struggle for reconciliation is nudged aside to reveal a country coming to terms with its new status as a promised land. What does a richer African nation owe to its poorer neighbours? How does political crisis shape personal identity? And is the war over now?
Filmmaker: Khalo Matabane matabanek@yahoo.com
SHOWTIMES:
Saturday, 18 March 16.00, Ritzy
Tuesday, 21 March 18.30, Ritzy
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» See HRW’s work on Argentina
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Fernando Solanas—Argentina—2005—120m—35mm—doc
In Spanish with English subtitles
One of Argentina’s best political filmmakers, Fernando Solanas (La Hora de los Hornos (Hour of the Furnaces), Tangos: El Exilio de Gardel (Tangos: The Exile of Gardel), El Viaje (The Journey)) latest documentary examines the desperate socio-economic conditions in Argentina that led to the December 2001 rebellions and the consequent social chaos. Through intimate interviews with his country’s “nobodies”—those living in Buenos Aires’ poorest shantytowns, those working in the crumbling hospitals, and women farmers fighting multi-national banks shamelessly appropriating their farmlands—Solanas provides gripping on-the-ground perspective on this pivotal moment in Argentina’s political history. Solanas achieves a strong bond of trust with his subjects—which is further enhanced by his use of small format cameras—creating a remarkable film that breathes new life into the social documentary format and gives back to his subjects their dignity and strength in the face of a daunting socio-economic struggle.
Distributor: CINESUR, S.A. www.pinosolanas.com
SHOWTIMES:
Sunday, 19 March 18.30, Clapham
Tuesday, 21 March 21.00, ICA
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» See HRW’s work on Iran
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Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini—U.K.—1998—80m—video—doc
In Farsi with English subtitles
Hilarious, tragic, stirring, this fly-on-the-wall look at several weeks in an Iranian divorce court provides a unique window into the intimate circumstances of Iranian women’s lives. Following Jamileh, whose husband beats her; Ziba, a 16-year-old trying to divorce her 38-year-old husband; and Maryam, who is desperately fighting to gain custody of her daughters, this deadpan chronicle showcases the strength, ingenuity, and guile with which Iranian women confront biased laws, a Kafkaesque administrative system, and their husbands’ and families’ rage. *Screening as part of the Salute to Filmmaker Kim Longinotto
Distributor: Vixen Films tg@tgraham.demon.co.uk
SHOWTIMES:
Tuesday, 21 March 21.30, Ritzy, filmmakers present
Co-presented with Dochouse www.dochouse.org
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» See HRW’s work on China and Tibet
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Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam—India/U.K.—2005—90m—35mm—drama
In Tibetan with English subtitles and English
Karma, a Tibetan filmmaker from New York, comes to Dharamsala – a small town in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, home to the exiled Dalai Lama and the spiritual and political focus of the Tibetan diaspora. Escaping from a deteriorating relationship back home, she is here to make a film about former political prisoners who have escaped from Tibet. Their harrowing stories of courage and suffering heighten her own sense of cultural alienation. One of Karma’s interviewees is Dhondup, an enigmatic ex-monk who has recently escaped from Tibet after spending four years in prison for his role in anti-Chinese activities. Dhondup confides in Karma that his real reason for coming to India is to fulfill his dying mother’s last wish, to deliver a gahu – a charm box that Tibetans use as a protection amulet – to a man named Loga. He appeals to her for help in finding him. As they set out to find Loga, Karma finds herself unwittingly falling in love with Dhondup even as she is sucked into the vortex of his quest, which becomes a journey into Tibet’s fractured past and a voyage of self-discovery.
Distributor: HanWay Films www.hanwayfilms.com
SHOWTIMES:
Sunday, 19 March 18.30, Ritzy
Wednesday, 22 March 18.30, Gate Cinema
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» See HRW’s work on Women's Human Rights
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Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto—U.K.—1989—60m—video—doc
In Japanese with English subtitles
A brilliant profile of Hanayagi Genshu, a Japanese feminist and avant-garde dancer and performer, who has spent her life defying her conservative culture’s contempt for independence and unconventionality. She denounced Emperor Hirohito as a war criminal, and dismissed death threats made against her by right-wing groups. “You mustn’t be eaten by the kimono,” says Genshu, making reference to the traditional Japanese dress designed, among other things, to restrict movement for women, “You must eat the kimono, and gobble it up.” *Screening as part of the Salute to Filmmaker Kim Longinotto
Followed by:
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» See HRW’s work on Women's Human Rights
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Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto—U.K.—1990—52m—video—doc
In Arabic with English subtitles
Originally intended as a film about internationally renowned feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi, HIDDEN FACES develops into a fascinating portrayal of Egyptian women’s lives. In this collaborative documentary, Safaa Fathay, a young Egyptian woman living in Paris, returns home to interview the famed writer and activist, but becomes disillusioned with her. Illuminated by passages from El Saadawi’s work, the film follows Fathay as she journeys to her family home and discovers complex frictions between modernity and tradition that parallel those in El Saadawi’s writings. Her mother’s decision to return to the veil after twenty years and her cousins’ clitoridectomies reveal a disturbing renewal of fundamentalism. This absorbing documentary delves into the contradictions of feminism in a Muslim environment and presents a startling, unforgettable picture of contemporary women in the Arab world. *Screening as part of the Salute to Filmmaker Kim Longinotto
Distributor: Vixen Films tg@tgraham.demon.co.uk
SHOWTIMES:
Wednesday, 22 March 20.30, ICA, filmmaker present
Co-presented with Dochouse www.dochouse.org
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» See HRW’s work on Iraq
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James Longley—USA—2006—96m—35mm—doc
In Arabic and Kurdish with English subtitles
Triple award-winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival (Documentary Directing, Cinematography and Editing Awards), IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS is more than a singularly accomplished documentary film - it is an astonishing work of art. Culled from 300 hours of footage taken over a two-year period, and presented without scripted voice-over, the film is at once expansive and intimate, harrowing and transcendent. Filmmaker James Longley's (Gaza Strip) documentary feature shadows ordinary Iraqi citizens in three crucial yet fractured regions - Baghdad; the Shiite south; the Kurdish north - as they struggle through a chaotic present and face a distant, uncertain future. In old Baghdad, buildings burn, U.S. tanks patrol, and an 11-year-old mechanic scurries amid the rubble to please his intimidating boss as neighborhood men angrily indict the Americans. Then, guided by a young leader in Moqtada Sadr's Shiite revolutionary movement, the film proceeds south, where political arguments ricochet across cafés and meeting halls, and young Shiite men take to the streets to enforce religious laws and stage an anti-U.S. uprising. In the northern Kurdish countryside, where smoke from brick ovens billows in the sky, a farmer, grateful to America for removing Saddam, ruminates on the future of his family and people while his teenage son tirelessly tends sheep and dreams of becoming a doctor. These indelible portraits, painted with strikingly beautiful vérité immediacy and poetic visual juxtapositions, humanize the conflict and illuminate the textures and tensions of a country wrenched by occupation and pulled in disparate directions by religion and ethnicity.
Print Source: Typecast Pictures Website: www.typecastfilms.com Film's website: www.iraqinfragments.com
SHOWTIMES:
Friday, 17 March 18.30, ICA, filmmaker present
Sunday, 19 March 14.00, Ritzy, filmmaker present
Co-presented with The Frontline Club www.thefrontlineclub.com
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» See HRW’s work on Guatemala
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Director-Giselle Portenier; Producer-Giselle Portenier; Reporter-Olenka Frenkiel; Editor-Cathy Gulkin; Executive Producers-Karen O'Connor, BBC, Silvia Basmajan, NFB—U.K./Canada—2006—59m—video—doc
In Spanish and English with English subtitles
In this powerful film, the award-winning team of Olenka Frenkiel and Giselle Portenier (Murder in Purdah, Israel’s Secret Weapon) document the story of the brutal killings of women in Guatemala. Since 1999, more than 2,000 women have been murdered there, with the numbers rising every year. In 2005 alone, 640 women, nearly two a day, were killed. That’s one woman in every twelve thousand murdered last year, almost ten times as many, per capita, as in Britain. And in Guatemala, the murders are rarely investigated. Few statistics are kept, details rarely are logged, potential forensic evidence is often ignored or contaminated, so the killers invariably go free and no one, not even the country’s president, has any idea who they are or why so many women are murdered. The answer, at least in part, is the failure of Guatemalan authorities to pursue justice for perpetrators of abuses during a civil war which killed 200,000 people. Three generations of killers have gone free; though the country is trying to show it has changed, old habits die hard. KILLER’S PARADISE documents the story of Claudina Isabel Velasquez, a 19 year old law student murdered in summer 2005, as her family urges the authorities to investigate who killed her.
Followed by:
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» See HRW’s work on Azerbaijan
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Director-Ivan O'Mahoney; Producer-Shahida Tulaganova; Editor-Richard Guard; Executive Producers-Karen O'Connor—U.K./Azerbaijan—2006—59m—video—doc
In English, Russian and Azeri with English subtitles
HOW TO PLAN A REVOLUTION is the story of two young Azerbaijani activists; political advisor to the opposition Murad Gassanly, 26, recently returned to Baku from London with an LSE degree and British passport in hand, and economics student Emin Husseinov, 27, founder of the Azeri youth movement, Magam (“It’s Time”). These two hope to stage a peaceful “Orange” revolution in Azerbaijan. They are inspired by the recent revolts in Ukraine and in neighbouring Georgia where mass protests following rigged elections removed corrupt and repressive regimes from power. The opposition in these countries had broad Western support. Azerbaijan is a Muslim ally in the U.S.-led war on terror. It has troops in Iraq and has oil. Stability, not revolution, is what the West is after here. This is a bitter pill for Murad and Emin. They feel the Azeri government is as authoritarian as those deposed in Georgia and the Ukraine. The US State Department itself acknowledges Azerbaijan has a dismal human rights record and the Council of Europe recently reported that Azerbaijan tortures political prisoners. Without support from the West, can Murad and Emin succeed?
Distributor: BBC Worldwide www.bbcworldwidetv.com
SHOWTIMES:
Monday, 20 March 18.00, Ritzy, all filmmakers present
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» See HRW’s work on Sri Lanka
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Helene Klodawsky—Canada—2004—80m—video—doc
In English
A story of love, revolution and betrayal, NO MORE TEARS SISTER explores the price of truth in times of war. Set during the violent ethnic conflict that has enveloped Sri Lanka over decades, the film beautifully renders the courageous and vibrant life of renowned human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama. Wartime mother, university professor, wife, activist, and symbol of hope, Rajani was assassinated at the young age of thirty-five in 1989. Fifteen years after Rajani’s death, her older sister Nirmala, a former Tamil militant and political prisoner, journeys back to Sri Lanka. She has decided to break her long silence about Rajani’s passionate life and her brutal slaying. Joining her are Rajani’s husband, sisters, and grown daughters, as well as fellow activists forced underground. Superbly filmed, using rare archival footage and intimate correspondence, the story of Rajani and her family delves into rarely explored themes—revolutionary women and their dangerous pursuit of justice.
Distributor: National Film Board of Canada www.nfb.ca
SHOWTIMES:
Wednesday, 22 March 19.00, Ritzy, filmmaker and film participants present
Thursday, 23 March 20.30, ICA, filmmaker and film participants present
Co-presented with Dochouse www.dochouse.org and docspace www.docspace.org.uk
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» See HRW’s work on Israel and the Palestinian Authority
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Hany Abu-Assad—Netherlands/Germany/France—2005—90m—35mm—drama
In Arabic with English subtitles
CENTREPIECE SCREENING
Nominated for an Oscar and winner of the 2006 Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film, PARADISE NOW follows Khaled and Saïd, two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv. Acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad (Nazareth 2000; Rana’s Wedding; Ford Transit) focuses the plot of his film on Khaled and Saïd’s last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions. The film gives voice to the Palestinian condemnation of violence while offering insights into the individuals behind such heinous crimes.
Courtesy of Warner Brothers UK charlotte.day@warnerbros.com
SHOWTIMES:
Saturday, 18 March 21.00, Ritzy
Sunday, 19 March 18.00, ICA
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» See HRW’s work on the U.K.
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Adrian Shergold—U.K.—2005—90m—35mm—drama
In English
PIERREPOINT is the devastating, true-life story of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most notorious hangman. Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle before him, Albert joins the “family business” in 1934. He rises through the ranks to become the most feared and respected executioner in the country, hanging over 600 people before his sudden resignation in 1956. Living a double life as a master hangman and humble grocery deliveryman/loyal husband, Pierrepoint's obsession to become the “Number One” executioner in the land results in him executing some of Britain's most infamous murderers and Nazi war criminals. But this also shatters Pierrepoint's jealously guarded anonymity, turning him into a minor celebrity. As his two lives collide and 1950's public opinion turns against capital punishment, Pierrepoint is troubled by his notoriety and ready to give it all up— but fate has other plans in store for him. Featuring an outstanding performance by Timothy Spall as the executioner struggling with his work, duty, and conscience, this is a gripping tale of crime, punishment, and redemption.
Courtesy of Redbus Film Distribution www.redbus.co.uk
SHOWTIMES:
Sunday, 19 March 19.30, Ritzy
Monday, 20 March 18.30, Greenwich
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» See HRW’s work on Women's Human Rights
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Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi— U.K./Cameroon—2005—106m—35mm—doc
In Pidgin English with English subtitles and English
"I'm afraid [the accused] has missed a century. This is the century where women's rights are respected," observes Judge Hortense Bam in her courthouse in Kumba, Cameroon. The only documentary selected for the 2005 Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, SISTERS IN LAW is a fascinating, often hilarious look at the work of one small courthouse in Cameroon. The tough-minded state prosecutor Vera Ngassa and court president Beatrice Ntuba are helping women in their Muslim village find the courage to fight often difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. With fierce compassion, they dispense wisdom, wisecracks, and justice in equal measure—handing down stiff sentences to those convicted. In signature style, veteran doc fimmaker Longinotto’s unobtrusive camera captures an abundance of colorful characters, allowing their powerful stories to unfold effortlessly without need for narration. Both insightful and uplifting, SISTERS IN LAW presents a rare strong and positive view of African women—and captures the emerging spirit of courage, hope and possibility for change. *Screening as part of the Salute to Filmmaker Kim Longinotto
Distributor: Vixen Films tg@tgraham.demon.co.uk
SHOWTIMES:
Sunday, 19 March 16.30, Ritzy - Filmmaker Kim Longinotto in conversation with special guest Lizzie Francke, Film Consultant
Co-presented with Dochouse www.dochouse.org
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» See HRW’s work on Women's Human Rights
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Simone Aaberg Kærn and Magnus Bejmar—Denmark/Sweden/Germany/Finland—2005—78m—35mm—doc
In Danish with English subtitles and English
"Things do look different from above, it becomes easier to navigate in life, when you have seen the larger picture" – Simone Aaberg Kærn.
Artist, pilot, and filmmaker Simone Aaberg Kærn has been obsessed with female fighter pilots since she was little. These fearless women, the first generation of whom flew fighter planes in World War II, inspired and challenged her to become a pilot. When she reads one day in her local Danish newspaper about a young Afghan girl, Farial, whose dream is to become a fighter pilot, Simone decides right then to launch a remarkable art project. Buying the only plane she can afford, a 40-year old “Donald Duck” Piper-Colt—a tiny, slow moving plane made out of canvas that needs gas every three hours—she maps out a 6000km flight plan from Denmark to Afghanistan. The geography of her journey requires flying through a number of former war zones where the airspace is heavily restricted. Since 9/11 and the war on terror, the world’s unrestricted airspace has been shrinking rapidly, but Simone feels the skies “should be liberated and free, like the oceans." Along her journey Simone must rise to one challenge after another—rejections from Bosnia and Iran to fly over their airspace causes her to creatively re-route her flight. She challenges every military authority she comes across and, in a truly remarkable scene, defies the American military’s refusal to allow her entry into Afghanistan, and flies illegally to her meeting with Farial. Joyful moments abound—a visit with an adventurous female fighter pilot squadron in Turkey, the faces of incredulous Afghan airport workers on the tarmac in Kabul, and the incredible beauty of low-level flight. [For more information on this film's Education Screening, please visit our Special Events page.]
Distributor: Films Transit International, Inc. www.filmstransit.com
SHOWTIMES:
Tuesday, 21 March 18.30, Gate Cinema, filmmakers present
Thursday, 23 March 18.30, Ritzy, filmmakers present
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» See HRW’s work on Azerbaijan
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Martin Mareček and Martin Skalský—Czech Republic—2005—75m—video—doc
In Czech, Russian, English and Azerbaijani with English subtitles
Azerbaijan is ranked one of the world’s most corrupt countries, where a reigning ruling family is in its second generation of power. Baku in Azerbaijan, is also the site of the world’s first oil well, and is once again becoming a focus for foreign investors as the origin of a major oil, gas, and pipeline project developed by an international consortium led by BP. In SOURCE, a small, mobile and highly inventive Czech film crew travels around the country to investigate and record the impact of this most recent energy boom. They film the surrealist Soviet-era oil fields around Baku, with locals oblivious to the environmental dangers, striking images of cows grazing on polluted land and children playing in toxic sludge. With startling access and more then a little black humour, the filmmakers interview a fascinating cross section of people involved with and affected by the oil boom - allegedly corrupt politicians, oil company employees, businessmen, angry women whose husbands and sons work for very little money in shockingly polluted conditions in this industry. SOURCE also cleverly examines the links from commuter highways in the West back to energy development in Azerbaijan. With the majority of the population living under the poverty line, the country’s post-Soviet government is promising oil will bring widespread economic benefits to all, but could this “liquid gold” be more of a curse than a blessing for this troubled country?
Distributor: Bionaut Films www.bionaut.cz
SHOWTIMES:
*Tuesday, 21 March 18.15, ICA, filmmaker present
Thursday, 23 March 20.45, Ritzy, filmmaker present
*Preceded on Tuesday, 21 March by a short play from the Royal Court Theatre’s International Playwrights Programme: WHAT DO YOU WANT, A UKRAINIAN GOD? by Natasha Vorozhbit (Ukraine)
Co-presented with The Frontline Club www.thefrontlineclub.com
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» See HRW’s work on Peru
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Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy—USA/Perú—2005—94m—video—doc
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? STATE OF FEAR dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a “war” against terror, a “war” potentially without end, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders seeking personal political gain. The film follows events in Perú, yet it serves as a cautionary tale for all nations. Filmmakers Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy masterfully blend personal testimony, history, and archival footage to tell the story of escalating violence in the Andean nation and how the fear of terror undermined democracy, making Perú a virtual dictatorship where official corruption replaced the rule of law. Terrorist attacks by Shining Path insurgents provoked a military occupation of the countryside. Military justice replaced civil authority. Widespread abuses by the Peruvian Army went unpunished. Terrorism continued to spread. Nearly 70,000 civilians eventually died at the hands of Shining Path and the Peruvian military.
Distributor: Films Transit International, Inc. www.filmstransit.com
SHOWTIMES:
Friday, 17 March 18.30, Ritzy, filmmakers present
Sunday, 19 March 13.00, ICA, filmmakers present
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» See HRW’s work on Chile
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Manel Mayol—Spain—2005—87m—35mm—doc
In Spanish and Mapudungun with English subtitles
The Pehuenche-Mapuche people live above the Bíobío River, in Ralco valley, Chile. For over four centuries they have fought off all invaders who tried to enter the valley, from the Incas to the Spanish conquistadors. In 2004, amongst the scenic beauty of the Chilean Andes, Spain's largest hydroelectric company, Endesa, constructed the world’s third largest dam. This dam flooded the Ralco valley and forced the “exchange” of whole villages to much higher ground. Despite protections for indigenous people enshrined in the Chilean constitution, the government has shown little inclination to enforce their rights against the wealthy Spanish multinational. Protestors—including activists, journalists, and lawyers—have found themselves arrested under Pinochet’s anti-terrorist laws, facing anonymous witnesses whose identities are concealed from even the court.
Contact: Andoliado Producciones natalia@andoliadoproducciones.org Film's website: www.switchoffthemovie.com
SHOWTIMES:
*Saturday, 18 March 20.30, ICA
Monday, 20 March 21.15, Ritzy
*Preceded on Saturday, 18 March by a short play from the Royal Court Theatre’s International Playwrights Programme
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» See HRW’s work on Italy
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Sabina Guzzanti—Italy—2005—80m—35mm—doc
In Italian with English subtitles
November 2003: episode one of Sabina Guzzanti's political satire RAIOT is broadcast on RAI Television in Italy to record-breaking audiences. Political and media figures are impersonated, pilloried, and mercilessly lampooned. Targets include the President of RAI Television and, of course, Silvio Berlusconi. Immediately, Berlusconi-owned Mediaset sues the programme makers for defamation. RAI Television pulls the plug. But RAIOT refuses to die. Broadcasting live on satellite from an auditorium in Rome, the RAIOT cast is swelled by a host of major Italian talent. 15,000 spectators queue outside the sold-out auditorium. It's a phenomenon. The hit of the 2005 Venice Film Festival, VIVA ZAPATERO! deftly interweaves politically charged performance footage, interviews with leading European comedians, including satirist Rory Bremner, artists, and journalists, as well as on the street interviews with key politicians and power brokers, delivering a searing, hilarious, and vital blow against censorship and the enemies of free speech world-wide.
Distributor: Wild Bunch www.wildbunch.biz
SHOWTIMES:
Saturday, 18 March 18.15, Ritzy
Sunday, 19 March 15.45, ICA
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» See HRW’s work on Brazil
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Sérgio Bianchi—Brazil—2005—110m—35mm—drama
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Latin America’s leading purveyor of politically engaged cinema is back: Sérgio Bianchi returns with a caustic, at times humorous, and always highly provocative look at two hot button subjects in his native Brazil: race relations and economic inequality. Bianchi’s film deftly weaves together two time periods in Brazil—the slave society of the 1700s and the modern day. Employing his expert storytelling combined with strong direction of a group of actors—who re-appear in each time period in varying positions of economic and social power—Bianchi engages the viewer directly in proposing that little has changed since slave days, even if some of the outward appearances have. This is filmmaking in its most daring and politically charged form.
Distributor: One Eyed Films www.oneeyedfilms.com
SHOWTIMES:
Saturday, 18 March 20.45, Ritzy
*Monday, 20 March 18.30, Gate Cinema
*Preceded on Monday, 20 March by a new play from Newton Moreno of Brazil from the Royal Court Theatre’s International Playwrights Programme
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» See HRW’s work on Iraq
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Javier Corcuera—Spain—2005—78m—video—doc
In Arabic with English subtitles
Hitting just the right notes, filmmaker Javier Corcuera brings his gift of storytelling to this beautifully crafted film, allowing the viewer to integrate the political with the personal in the tragedy of Iraq that has unfolded since the war began in spring 2003. Corcuera spent several months in Baghdad in the winter of 2004 getting to know Iraqi families who were trying to carry on with daily life despite the constant violence, black outs, and lack of basic necessities. The filmmaker became especially close to a group of young, enterprising, and highly resilient teenage boys who despite the obstacles still managed to make it to school, hold down part-time jobs—which were not always strictly legal jobs due to constantly shifting U.S. regulations—and hang out with their friends in this forbidding environment. WINTER IN BAGHDAD is as beautiful visually as it is deep emotionally—a rich tapestry of life in Baghdad today which counterbalances the simplistic and repetitive images of this once great city that are presented by the vast majority of mainstream news media.
Distributor: Elias Querejeta www.eliasquerejeta.com
SHOWTIMES:
Monday, 20 March 18.15, ICA, filmmaker present
Wednesday, 22 March 21.15, Ritzy, filmmaker present
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