SPACE | Human Rights Watch Film Festival



2005 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TRAVELING FILM FESTIVAL — PORTLAND November 13th - 20th Sponsorship opportunities currently available for this year's festival. If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring the festival or a film, please contact Festival Organizer, Jon Courtney at jonscourtney@gmail.com to discuss. We are finalizing film selections for this year's festival. Please check back soon for the 2005 film list and schedule. Below are the films from the 2004 festival.
Sunday, November 14th, 6:30p LOST BOYS OF SUDAN Sponsored by THE WAYNFLETE HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP Directed by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk \| US, 2003 \| 87 min Lost Boys of Sudan follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.
Monday, November 15th, 7p \| Tuesday, November 16th, 3p SMILE & WAVE Sponsored by FETCH Directed by Marijke Jongbloed \| Netherlands, 2003 \| 91 min 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.
Tuesday, November 16th, 7p \| Wednesday, November 17th, 3p DEADLINE Sponsored by PEACE ACTION MAINE Directed by Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnston \| US, 2004 \| 90 min On the eve of his departure from office, George Ryan - longtime conservative Republican, supporter of the death penalty, and governor of Illinois-surprised the nation by commuting the sentences of all 167 prisoners on Death Row. DEADLINE brings us directly into the debate and the legal process that is set into motion when a group of Northwestern University journalism students uncover evidence that many people on Illinois' Death Row are innocent, undermining the credibility of the state's entire capital justice system. In the wake of this evidence, Ryan orders special clemency hearings for every prisoner awaiting execution. Within these courtrooms is human drama in its most distilled form. Using unique access to the hearings, prisoners on Death Row, and Governor Ryan, DEADLINE delivers a measured sense of justice for all its subjects and contributes reason and passion to the ongoing debate about whether nations should employ the ultimate punishment and how justly it is administered.
Wednesday, November 17th, 7p \| Thursday, November 18th, 3p PERSONS OF INTEREST Sponsored by ANGELA ADAMS DESIGNS Directed by Alison Maclean and Tobias Perse \| US, 2004 \| 63 min After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5000 people, mainly non-U.S. 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 those affected a chance to tell their own stories.
Thursday, November 18th, 7p \| Friday, November 19th, 3p SAINTS AND SINNERS Sponsored by BLACKSTONES Directed by Abigail Honor \| US, 2004 \| 71 min SAINTS AND SINNERS follows the challenging and emotional journey of a devoutly Catholic gay couple determined to marry in a Catholic church. Caring more about formalizing their seven-year union within the Catholic tradition than with legal recognition by the state, Edward DeBonis and Vincent Maniscalco pursue their dream, despite the expected rejection from the local church hierarchy. Even as previously supportive family members express their reservations about receiving communion from a gay Catholic priest, Edward and Vincent audaciously seek to become the first gay couple to have their wedding announcement published in the New York Times. SAINTS AND SINNERS is a highly timely vision of love and commitment, which demonstrates that the struggle for equal rights is not just about legal benefits, but the aspiration to find acceptance and affirmation, rather than rejection, from one's chosen religion.
Friday, November 19th, 7p \| Saturday, November 20th, 3p DISCORDIA Sponsored by STUDIO MNEMOSYNE Directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal \| Canada, 2004 \| 71 min On the campus of Montreal's Concordia University, an announcement is made that Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel, will speak, and it has sparked heated debate among the students, some of whom are Pro-Palestine, others Pro-Israel, and still others non-aligned free speech advocates. By the end of the day, the debate has exploded into violent confrontation — and the riot has made international news, from CNN to Al-Jazeera. Charting the turbulent progress of three young campus activists — Samer, the son of Palestinians who lost their ancestral lands in 1967; Noah, the co-president of Hillel, the Jewish students' association co-sponsoring Netanyahu's visit; and Aaron, VP of the student council who identifies strongly as a Jew and has inherited his father's sympathies with the Palestinian cause — this rousing documentary asks what role international politics, religion and culture can and should play in the lives of our college students. Q & A with filmmaker Ben Addelman after screening.
Saturday, November 20th, 7p \| Sunday, November 21st, 3p BORN INTO BROTHELS Sponsored by the BAKERY PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIVE Directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski \| US, 2003 \| 80 min 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. Born into Brothels chronicles the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Zana Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting the latent spark 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.


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2005 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TRAVELING FILM FESTIVAL — PORTLAND November 13th - 20th Sponsorship opportunities currently available for this year's festival. If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring the festival or a film, please contact Festival Organizer, Jon Courtney at jonscourtney@gmail.com to discuss. We are finalizing film selections for this year's festival. Please check back soon for the 2005 film list and schedule. Below are the films from the 2004 festival.
Sunday, November 14th, 6:30p LOST BOYS OF SUDAN Sponsored by THE WAYNFLETE HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP Directed by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk \| US, 2003 \| 87 min Lost Boys of Sudan follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.
Monday, November 15th, 7p \| Tuesday, November 16th, 3p SMILE & WAVE Sponsored by FETCH Directed by Marijke Jongbloed \| Netherlands, 2003 \| 91 min 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.
Tuesday, November 16th, 7p \| Wednesday, November 17th, 3p DEADLINE Sponsored by PEACE ACTION MAINE Directed by Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnston \| US, 2004 \| 90 min On the eve of his departure from office, George Ryan - longtime conservative Republican, supporter of the death penalty, and governor of Illinois-surprised the nation by commuting the sentences of all 167 prisoners on Death Row. DEADLINE brings us directly into the debate and the legal process that is set into motion when a group of Northwestern University journalism students uncover evidence that many people on Illinois' Death Row are innocent, undermining the credibility of the state's entire capital justice system. In the wake of this evidence, Ryan orders special clemency hearings for every prisoner awaiting execution. Within these courtrooms is human drama in its most distilled form. Using unique access to the hearings, prisoners on Death Row, and Governor Ryan, DEADLINE delivers a measured sense of justice for all its subjects and contributes reason and passion to the ongoing debate about whether nations should employ the ultimate punishment and how justly it is administered.
Wednesday, November 17th, 7p \| Thursday, November 18th, 3p PERSONS OF INTEREST Sponsored by ANGELA ADAMS DESIGNS Directed by Alison Maclean and Tobias Perse \| US, 2004 \| 63 min After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5000 people, mainly non-U.S. 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 those affected a chance to tell their own stories.
Thursday, November 18th, 7p \| Friday, November 19th, 3p SAINTS AND SINNERS Sponsored by BLACKSTONES Directed by Abigail Honor \| US, 2004 \| 71 min SAINTS AND SINNERS follows the challenging and emotional journey of a devoutly Catholic gay couple determined to marry in a Catholic church. Caring more about formalizing their seven-year union within the Catholic tradition than with legal recognition by the state, Edward DeBonis and Vincent Maniscalco pursue their dream, despite the expected rejection from the local church hierarchy. Even as previously supportive family members express their reservations about receiving communion from a gay Catholic priest, Edward and Vincent audaciously seek to become the first gay couple to have their wedding announcement published in the New York Times. SAINTS AND SINNERS is a highly timely vision of love and commitment, which demonstrates that the struggle for equal rights is not just about legal benefits, but the aspiration to find acceptance and affirmation, rather than rejection, from one's chosen religion.
Friday, November 19th, 7p \| Saturday, November 20th, 3p DISCORDIA Sponsored by STUDIO MNEMOSYNE Directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal \| Canada, 2004 \| 71 min On the campus of Montreal's Concordia University, an announcement is made that Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel, will speak, and it has sparked heated debate among the students, some of whom are Pro-Palestine, others Pro-Israel, and still others non-aligned free speech advocates. By the end of the day, the debate has exploded into violent confrontation — and the riot has made international news, from CNN to Al-Jazeera. Charting the turbulent progress of three young campus activists — Samer, the son of Palestinians who lost their ancestral lands in 1967; Noah, the co-president of Hillel, the Jewish students' association co-sponsoring Netanyahu's visit; and Aaron, VP of the student council who identifies strongly as a Jew and has inherited his father's sympathies with the Palestinian cause — this rousing documentary asks what role international politics, religion and culture can and should play in the lives of our college students. Q & A with filmmaker Ben Addelman after screening.
Saturday, November 20th, 7p \| Sunday, November 21st, 3p BORN INTO BROTHELS Sponsored by the BAKERY PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIVE Directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski \| US, 2003 \| 80 min 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. Born into Brothels chronicles the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Zana Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting the latent spark 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.


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