Selections
from the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
April 23 – 27, 2003
Presented by International House, The Solomon Asch Center for
the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict and the Greenfield Intercultural
Centers at the University of Pennsylvania, in Conjunction with
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
For seventeen years, the Human Rights Watch has presented a
film festival whose purpose is stated as follows: “Through the
eyes of committed and courageous filmmakers, we showcase the
heroic stories of activists and survivors from all over the
world. The works we feature help to put a human face on threats
to individual freedom and dignity, and celebrate the power of
the human spirit and intellect to prevail. We seek to empower
everyone with the knowledge that personal commitment can make
a very real difference.”
Andrea Holley, director of the Human Rights Watch Traveling
Film Festival will be present to introduce programs and to moderate
discussions. On Friday, April 25, three Chileans, Rosemary Barbera,
Eduardo Villegas and Roberto Castillo will participate in a
Panel along with the screening of The Pinochet Case. The Film
Festival concludes on Sunday evening, April 27, with filmmaker
Jon Osman, along with parent/activist Margarita Rosario introducing
Justifiable Homicide and facilitating a discussion after the
screening.
Along with the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical
Conflict and the Greenfield Intercultural Centers and the University
of Pennsylvania, we present a group of films that make powerful
statements. All films in this series are Philadelphia Premieres.
Wednesday, April 23 at 8pm
War
Photographer
dir. Christian Frei, Switzerland, 2001, 35mm, 96 mins, color,
German w/ English subtitles
 “Every
minute I was there, I wanted to flee. I did not want to see
this. Would I cut and run, or would I deal with the responsibility
of being there with a camera?" In one of the world's countless
crisis areas, surrounded by suffering, death, and chaos, award-winning
photographer James Nachtwey searches for the picture he thinks
can be published. For more than two decades, he has traveled
to places devastated by war, famine and poverty and documented
the cruelty and suffering he has found with a devastating, eloquent
clarity. 2002 Academy Award nominee, best feature-length documentary
film.
Thursday, April 24 at 8pm
The
Eye of the Day
dir. Leonard Retel Helmrich, The Netherlands, 2001, Beta
SP, 92 mins, color, Bahasa, Indonesian and Javanese w/ English
subtitles
In 1998, a deep political and economic crisis forced President
Suharto to resign after 32 years in power. This was the beginning
of the tumultuous period known in Indonesia as the Reformasi.
With a population of 200 million, Indonesia has seen ongoing
political change, accompanied by protests, poverty and general
insecurity. The Eye of the Day documents these conflicts as
they play out in the lives of the people of the island of Java.
In the lyrical tradition of Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran,
Eye of the Day evokes the sights, sounds and rhythms
of an island and its denizens.
followed by
Profit
and Nothing But!
dir. Raoul Peck, France, 2001, Beta SP, 57 mins, color &
b/w, English, French and Haitian w/ English subtitles
Who said the economy serves mankind? What is this world where
one third of the population, or more precisely the wealthiest
two percent in the world, control everything? A world where
the economy is law, where this law of the strongest is imposed
on the rest of humanity? These are the questions Profit and
Nothing But! asks. Raoul Peck (director of Lumumba) contrasts
this illumination of the capitalist system with the devastating
reality in his native land, Haiti "a country that doesn't exist,
where intellectual discussion has become a luxury."
Friday, April 25 at 8pm
The
Pinochet Case
dir. Patricio Guzman, Belgium/Chile/France/Spain, 2001,
35mm, 110 mins, color, English and Spanish w/ English
subtitles
 The
Pinochet Case will include a Panel featuring Rosemary Barbera,
Eduardo Villegas and Roberto Castillo on "The Memory of the
Victims Towards
the Future in the
Chilean Case".
Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, and for many
years his name has been associated with human rights violations.
Director Patricio Guzmán's film documents the proceedings prior
to the Chilean ex-dictator's arrest in January of this year,
covering the events from the moment Pinochet's plane touches
down on English soil, to when he is placed under house arrest
in Chile. Pinochet's Chilean victims give harrowing accounts
of how they were subjected to horrific torture and interrogation
and of the way loved ones mysteriously disappeared. The Pinochet
Case is a powerful insight into human suffering and survival.
Saturday, April 26 at 8pm
The
Last Just Man
dir. Steven Silver, Canada, 2001, Beta SP, 70 mins, color,
English and French
w/ English subtitles
It was the worst massacre since the Second World War. In just
100 days, 800,000 Rwandans were killed by machete and machinegun
-- and it all happened on the watch of Canadian General Romeo
Dallaire. The Last Just Man shows a haunted Dallaire still questioning
if he could have done more to try to stop the 1994 genocide.
Using a combination of intense interview footage and subtle
scenes from Rwanda, director Steven Silver succeeds in recreating
the tension of those months and the emotions that flooded Dallaire's
mind as he attempted to stop a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.
Sunday, April 27 at 7pm
Justifiable
Homicide
dir. Jon Osman and Jonathan Stack, US, 2001, Beta SP, 86
mins, color
Director Jon Osman and Margarita Rosario in person.
Academy Award nominee Jonathan Stack (Angola Prison Rodeo; The
Farm) teams up with filmmaker Jon Osman to create this documentary,
based on the brutal murder of two Puerto Rican young men, shot
by two NYPD detectives in the Bronx in early 1995. The film
builds a steady, powerful argument for a cover-up at the highest
levels. The story follows Margarita Rosario as she is transformed
from a mourning mother and aunt to a powerful community activist.
"I will never stop fighting until I see these two detectives
behind bars," she says. "I fight not only for my son, but for
all our sons."
We thank these Penn sponsors for their generous support ~
African American Resource Center, Center for Africana Studies,
Penn Chapter of Amnesty International, Asian Studies, Latin
American and Latino Studies, The Living Cultures Program at
Spruce College House, Office of International Programs, United
Minorities Council, W.E.B DuBois College House, Women's Center,
Women's Studies Program and SPEC Connaissance; as well as the
White Dog Cafe and The Liberty Center for Survivors of Torture.
Links:
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org
Solomon Asch Center http://psych.upenn.edu/sacsec/
Greenfield Intercultural Center http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~gic/
|
