Sponsored by PEACE ACTION MAINE
Sunday, November 16th, 7p | Monday, November 17th, 3p
Directed by Norman Cowie | Produced in US, 2002
A humorous and biting experimental documentary on militarism, globalization, and the "war against terrorism." Part meditation, part commentary, SCENES employs recontextualized commercial images, rewritten news crawls, and original footage and interviews to question received wisdom and common sense assumptions about current American policies. Running Time:32m
Sponsored by HEALTHCARE INSIGHTS
Sunday, November 16th, 7pm | Monday, November 17th, 3pm
Directed by Ramón Gieling | Produced in The Netherlands, 2002
In Welcome to Hadassah Hospital director Ramón Gieling takes a startling, close-up look at the individuals who make up the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Filmmaker Gieling cleverly exposes the pulse of his film when he chooses as his main character the charismatic, controversial and bluntly philosophical Dr. Avi Rivkind who, along with his staff, must regularly treat those affected by, and sometimes those involved in the planning of the numerous suicide attacks which take place in Israel. In a tangible twist of irony, victims and offenders are often treated side by side. The doctors take the situation for granted and make no distinction between their patients; for the patients, the situation is more difficult to swallow. A powerful film about integrity and humanity set against the violence in Israel today. Running Time: 50m.
Sponsored by Fetch
Monday, November 17th, 7p | Tuesday, November 18th, 3p
Directed by Patricia Castano and Adelaida Trujillo | Produced in Colombia/England, 2002
For over 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 image the outside world has 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, forcing us to rethink our own conceptions, or misconceptions, of the beliefs and values by which these Colombians live. Running Time: 78m.
Sponsored by Asia West
Tuesday, November 18th, 7p | Wednesday, November 19th, 3p
Directed by Elaine Epstein | Produced in US, 2002
"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 in AIDS and 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. Sundance Film Festival, 2003. Running Time: 86m.
Sponsored by Anonymous
Wednesday, November 19th, 7pm | Thursday, November 20th, 3pm
Directed by Jos de Putter | Produced in The Netherlands, 2002
After The Making of a New Empire (1999), director Jos de Putter returns to Chechnya to follow a traditional youth dance group as they prepare for and embark on a European tour. De Putter creates a transcendent portrait of the group and their mentor revealing how dancing quickly becomes their life, despite the ubiquitous trauma of growing up in a country at war. Through insightful interviews, keen observations, and expert storytelling, which skillfully intercut between the children's home town in Grozny and their exuberance on tour in Europe, De Putter reveals how these young people discover comfort, confidence and dignity through dance, and the acknowledgement of their cultural identity and unquestionable talent. A half-torn poster found in their former, now destroyed practice space in Grozny reads: "They who dance lightly and beautifully bring joy to others and themselves". Running Time: 75m.
Sponsored by VIDEOPORT
Thursday, November 20th, 7p | Friday, November 21st, 3p
Directed by Paul Devlin | Produced in US/Republic of Georgia, 2003
AES, an American global power company, has purchased Telasi, the ailing electricity distribution company in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, from the current government. Under Soviet communism, the government paid for electricity or the cost was negligible. Local AES manager Piers Lewis must now train the entire population that in the new market economy, customers have to pay for their electricity. This means the people of Tbilisi must face the painful reality that a significant portion of their already meager income will have to go to paying their power bills. Most Georgian citizens, large companies and even the Energy Minister choose not to comply and devise ever more clever ways to obtain electricity for free. Led by Lewis, AES now decides it must teach its clients a harsh lesson by disconnecting nonpaying customers from their electricity. In an environment of confrontation, hot tempers, street rioting, pervasive corruption, and even assassination, POWER TRIP takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride as AES struggles to help build a modern nation from the rubble of the Soviet collapse.
Sponsored by Waynflete Human Rights Organization
Friday, November 21st, 7p | Saturday, November 22nd, 3p
Directed by Francois Verster | Produced in South Africa, 2002
"Killing an enemy is nothing here. I would just do it, go home and sleep peacefully." - Marlon, former BMW militant. WHEN THE WAR IS OVER deals with the after-effects of the South African Struggle against Apartheid, as experienced by survivors from the Bonteheuwel Military Wing (BMW), a militant teenage self-defense unit from the mid-1980s and a guerrilla branch of the ANC. Focusing on two ex-activists, Gori and Marlon, this documentary reveals the scars left among what has become the country's lost generation. Gori has become an army captain, Marlon a gang member. Both are having problems finding their path in life: the battle is won against Apartheid, but what now? The documentary is dedicated to seven BMW comrades who were unfortunate casualties during this time and to the mothers who supported these teenagers during the anti-apartheid struggle. With his unadorned style, filmmaker Francois Verster presents an apt, and sometimes frightening, depiction of life in Bonteheuvel. Running Time: 52m.
Sponsored by Studio Mnemnosyne
Saturday, November 22nd, 7p | Sunday, November 23rd, 3p
Directed by Paula Rodríguez | Produced in Germany, 2002
German Film and Television Academy Alejandro Goic was sixteen, Enrique Paris, twelve, and Carolina Tohá, eight years old, when General Pinochet seized power in Chile on September 11, 1973. During the coup Alejandro and Carolina lost their fathers, and all three lost their innocence and their youth. And eventually all went on to become powerful student leaders in the tumultuous eighties. With thoughtful, emotional interviews and rich archival footage, Pinochet's Children is a remarkable film that beautifully renders three people's course of life against the background of the socio-political developments in their homeland. Running Time: 83m.
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