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THE 2004 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

June 11 - 24, 2004

left: What the Eye Doesn't See

Since its inception in 1978, Human Rights Watch has become a real force in the human rights movement. And since its start in 1988 the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival has become a leading venue for powerful fiction and documentary films that focus on human rights themes. The American justice system comes under the microscope in a number of films this year - from juveniles in prison to innocent men on death row to Muslim immigrants held by the U.S. for "national security" reasons, filmmakers explore the travesties going on here at home. Through the lens of courageous filmmakers, the ongoing Palestinian crisis is explored in individual terms - through the eyes of Israeli snipers - and political ones - tempers explode on a Canadian college campus when Netanyahu comes to town. As always the festival highlights many seldom heard voices in the program; this year they include North Koreans imprisoned in South Korea for decades on spying charges; Liberian citizens and soldiers caught in the escalating conflict in the summer of 2003; and Nicaraguans dealing with their impoverished and endemically corrupt country long after the international spotlight has moved on. Most of all, the festival showcases the strength and perseverance of individuals around the globe, working to make a difference in their world.

Organized by Bruni Burres, John Anderson, and Andrea Holley of Human Rights Watch and Marian Masone of the Film Society. Special thanks to Jane Olson, Chair, and Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch; and Richard Peña, Program Director, Film Society. Thanks to the African Film Festival, Cinema Tropical, Latinbeat, Rafael Jimenez, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, Keefe Murren, NewFest, Susan Norget, Magali Rochat and Time Out New York.

MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL
Corporate accountability, culture-jamming, sustainable agriculture, and immigration - these topics and more are tackled by MediaRights' fourth annual Media That Matters Film Festival. The jury-selected film and video shorts tour the country through community screenings, and stream online at www.mediathatmattersfest.org. From June 11 to 13, 2004, HRWIFF will present the Media That Matters Film Festival in the Walter Reade Theater's Furman Gallery.

PHOTO EXHIBIT June 11-24 in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at the Walter Reade Theater
In Open Wound: Chechnya 1994 to 2003, an exhibition of images taken from his recently published book of the same title (Trolley), Stanley Greene chronicles the ongoing brutal campaign against the people of Chechnya.

With generous support by the National Endowment for the Arts.

THE KITE
Randa Chahal-Sabbag, France/Lebanon, 2003, 80m, 35mm, drama
From acclaimed filmmaker Randa Chahal-Sabbag (Civilisées, winner of the HRWIFF 2001 Nestor Almendros Award) comes this beautifully rendered drama set in her native Lebanon. Lebanon's official selection for this year's foreign Oscar nomination, THE KITE tells the story of 16-year-old Lamia, who on her wedding day must cross over the barbed wire barrier that separates her Lebanese village from that of her cousin and fiancé Samy, whose village has been annexed by Israel. Between the villages, the border is heavily patrolled. The checkpoint, controlled by both sides, permits newlyweds and corpses to return to their home villages. Lamia reaches the family of her fiancé, abandoning her younger brother, her school, her kite, her mother, her past. Little by little, she falls in love with a soldier who has been watching her since the day she crossed the border for the first time….
Fri June 11: 1; Sat June 12: 4; Mon June 14: 9 Thurs June 17: 1

JUVIES
Leslie Neale, U.S., 2004, 66m, video, doc
From award-winning documentary filmmaker Leslie Neale (Road to Return) comes a riveting look at juvenile offenders who are serving incomprehensibly long prison sentences for crimes they either did not commit or were only marginally involved in. For two years, Neale taught a video production class at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall to 12 youths who were being tried as adults, and JUVIES is the result. The film builds a powerful argument, questioning what in our American culture has caused us to demonize our youth and allow the collapse of the juvenile justice system, which has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now sends over 200,000 kids through the adult system each year.
preceded by
THREE POEMS BY SPOON JACKSON
Michel Wenzer, Sweden, 2003, 14m, 35mm, doc
Spoon Jackson has spent the last 25 years in U.S. prisons writing poetry to survive. Over the years Swedish filmmaker Michel Wenzer has formed a collaboration with Mr. Jackson through long distance calls from Sweden. In this short film in three parts, Wenzer asks Spoon to recite some of his poetry over the phone.
Fri June 11: 3:30; Sat June 12: 1:30 Wed June 16: 8:45

PERSONS OF INTEREST
Alison Maclean and Tobias Perse, U.S., 2003, 63m, video, doc
After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5,000 people, mainly 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. At a time when the State Department has made every effort to not reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices of those affected become our only window into the human costs of post-September 11th immigration policies. 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.
preceded by
DOWN THE WIRE
Pip Starr, Australia, 2004, 10m, video, doc
Put 1,000 of Australia's most committed activists at the gates of the country's most notorious refugee concentration camp. Leave the cops in the pub. Something is bound to happen. DOWN THE WIRE proves that fences and razor wire is no match for the will for freedom.
Fri June 11: 6:15; Sun June 13: 1:30; Wed June 16: 1

WHAT THE EYE DOESN'T SEE / OJOS QUE NO VEN
Francisco J. Lombardi, Peru, 2003, 149m, 35mm, drama
Acclaimed filmmaker Francisco J. Lombardi (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 hidden camera recordings of presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos blackmailing high-level government officials - which eventually led to the end of Fujimori's presidency. But rather than re-create 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.
Francisco Lombardi is the recipient of HRWIFF's 2004 Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award. WHAT THE EYE DOESN'T SEE is selected to show at the Film Society's Latinbeat festival in September.
Fri June 11: 8:30

DEADLINE
Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson, U.S., 2003, 90m, video, doc
On the eve of his departure from office as the governor of Illinois, George Ryan surprised the nation by commuting the sentences of all 167 prisoners on Death Row. The filmmakers bring 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. In the wake of this evidence, Ryan orders special clemency hearings for every prisoner awaiting execution. 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.
Sat June 12: 6:30; Tue June 15: 3 Mon June 21: 8:45

SAINTS AND SINNERS
Abigail Honor and Yan Vizinberg, U.S., 2004, 71m, video, doc
Abigail Honor and Yan Vizinberg's documentary 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. The film is a very 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.
Sat June 12: 9:15; Mon June 14: 1:30

THE CORPORATION
Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, Canada, 2003, 145m, 35mm, doc
This most timely inquiry invites players, pawns, and pundits on an eye-opening journey to reveal the corporate world's inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts, and possible futures. 150 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, 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. 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 seemingly invincible force.
Official selection, Sundance Film Festival 2004.
Sun June 13: 4

BORN INTO BROTHELS
Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, U.S., 2003, 85m, video, doc
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 mothers' fates or creating another type of life. In BORN INTO BROTHELS, the directors 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 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.
Winner of the 2004 HRWIFF Nestor Almendros Prize.
Winner of the Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival 2004.
Sun June 13: 8, Mon June 14: 6:30 Tue June 15: 1

PARADISE LOST
Ebtisam Mra'ana, Israel, 2003, 56m, video, doc
Paradise, a picturesque fishermen's village overlooking the Mediterranean, is one of the few Palestinian villages 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 U.K., 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 filmmaker re-creates a lost history and at the same time defines modern womanhood within a traditional Arab village.
preceded by
LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES
Annemarie Jacir, Palestine, 2003, 17m, 35mm, drama
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.
Official selection, Cannes Film Festival 2003.
Mon June 14: 4; Wed June 16: 6:30 Thurs June 17: 9:15

LEILA
Dariush Mehrjui, Iran, 1999, 129m, 35mm, drama
Human Rights Watch and First Run Features are proud to announce the beginning of a film distribution collaboration to bring films with human rights themes to a larger audience. To celebrate this collaboration, HRWIFF is proud to present LEILA, a penetrating look at Iranian society. Called "the most interesting and accomplished filmmaker the U.S. has never heard of" by Godfrey Cheshire in The New York Press, Dariush Mehrjui has become more familiar to audiences with the critical and box office success of LEILA. Reza and Leila, an attractive and affluent young couple deeply in love and recently married, discover that Leila is unable to conceive. Invoking tradition, Reza's mother convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must, out of necessity, take a second wife to produce an heir. With beautiful cinematography and powerful acting, Mehrjui delivers the heartbreak that follows in this deeply moving and socially astute film.
Wed June 16: 3:30; Thurs June 17: 6:30

GOODBYE HUNGARIA
Jon Nealon, U.S./Hungary, 56m, video, doc
Jon Nealon's cinema verité documentary is set in a refugee camp in Hungary. It chronicles the lives of Abed Al-Sahli, a Palestinian refugee who acts as advocate and de facto translator for the camp's Arab population, and Charu Newhouse, an American volunteer. As both Abed and Charu struggle to make life better for the refugees caught in red tape and subject to the vagaries of international politics, their fates become connected. The film traces their unlikely love story from the hopelessness of the camp, to a dramatic arrival in New York City where they come to start a new life together.
preceded by
THE SIXTH SECTION
Alex Rivera, U.S., 2003, 26m, video, doc
THE SIXTH SECTION tells the touching story of Grupo Union, an extraordinary transnational union created by a community of Mexican immigrants living and working in upstate New York. Through their collective efforts they have raised tens of thousands of American dollars to bring electricity, an ambulance and, most dramatically, a 2,000-seat baseball stadium to their Mexican hometown, Boqueron.
Thurs June 17: 3:30; Fri June 18: 9:15 Wed June 23: 9; Thurs June 24: 1:30

ONE SHOT
Nurit Kedar, Israel, 2004, 60m, video, doc
Filmmaker Nurit Kedar (Borders, HRWIFF 2002); (Lebanon Dream, HRWIFF 2003) spent a year convincing the military authorities in Israel to allow her to interview Israel Defense Force snipers. Since the last Intifada Israeli snipers have been used for targeted killing. 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. To some the sniper is 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, and their morality.
preceded by
DETAIL
Avi Mograbi, Israel, 2004, 9m, video, doc
An armored vehicle, a cloud of dust, a bleeding woman, an ambulance, a weeping girl, a burst of wind - these and other images provide the minute details of the big picture.
Fri June 18: 1:30 & 6:30; Sat June 19: 10 Sun June 20: 9:15 Wed June 23: 4

DEATH SQUADRONS: THE FRENCH SCHOOL
Mari-Monique Robin, France, 2003, 60m, video, doc
Little is known about the involvement of the French military in Operation Condor, established in 1975 by the autocratic governments of South America. Its mission was the extermination of political opponents, both in their own countries and abroad. For the first time ever, South American generals describe the interrogation torture techniques taught by French officers in the 60s and 70s, and the flights over the Atlantic where many victims were dropped. With Argentina's Supreme Court about to decide whether generals are to be judged in Argentina or extradited to Europe, this firsthand evidence of their involvement, as well as the evidence implicating the French government, is explosively relevant to the ongoing battle for human rights.
followed by
THE WORLD STOPPED WATCHING
Peter Raymont and Harold Crooks, Canada, 2003, 56m, video, doc
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. 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.
Fri June 18: 3:30; Sat June 19: 4:30 Sun June 20: 6:30

REPATRIATION
Dong-won Kim, South Korea, 2003, 149m, 35mm, doc
In the spring of 1992 documentary filmmaker Dong-won Kim met Cho Chang-son and Kim Seak-hyoung, two North Koreans arrested by South Korean authorities years before. Convicted of spying for the North, they were incarcerated for thirty years as political prisoners. These men, and many others like them, underwent conversion schemes in prison that involved torture: those who renounced their communist beliefs were released from prison early. The others, known as "the unconverted," served their full terms. None could return home to the North, however, until the turn of this century, when tensions between North and South eased significantly. Director Dong-won Kim followed these men for ten years, documenting how they survived - both physically and psychologically - the dehumanizing time spent in prison, and their quest, once released, to finally go home. Winner of the Freedom of Expression Award, Sundance Film Festival 2004.
Sat June 19: 1; Mon June 21: 1; Tue June 22: 8

LIBERIA: AN UNCIVIL WAR
Jonathan Stack, U.S., 2004, 90m, video, doc
Liberia, the summer of 2003: two armies are in the final stage of a decade-long civil war, holding the capital under siege while thousands die from mortar shells launched from afar. As the soldiers fight a bloody urban battle, the nation prays that American forces show up to put an end to the violence. Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves, has a long intertwined history with America. While the rebel army, the LURD, attempts to overthrow the Liberian government, President Charles Taylor and his army maintain a strong grip on the city. Acclaimed filmmaker Jonathan Stack (The Farm; Justifiable Homicide (HRWIFF 2002)) journeys to the heart of the conflict, filming the LURD rebels as they fight their way closer to the capital and covering the defense of the capital from the inside. The film situates the fighting within the larger international political context, focusing particularly on America's weak response. It completes the picture with a series of exclusive interviews with the elusive Charles Taylor, a man since indicted for war crimes for heinous abuses against civilians, sexual slavery, and the use of child soldiers.
Sat June 19: 7:30; Sun June 20: 4 Tue June 22: 1; Wed June 23: 1:30

DISCORDIA
Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, Canada, 2004, 71m, video, doc
Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel, is announced to speak at Montreal's Concordia University, sparking a 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 college students.
preceded by
A KISS IS A KISS IS A KISS
Uri Bar-On, Israel, 2003, 6m, video, doc
From the director of last year's hilarious short 72 Virgins. Four couples - an older woman and a young man; two straight men; a young right-wing male settler and a left-wing young woman from Tel-Aviv, an Israeli woman soldier and a Palestinian man - all try to conquer their kissing fears and their differences.
Sun June 20: 1; Mon June 21: 6:30 Tue June 22: 3:30; Thurs June 24: 4:30

FOR A PLACE UNDER THE HEAVENS
Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan, 2003, 53m, video, doc
Acclaimed director Sabiha Sumar offers a fresh and insightful perspective on Pakistan in this finely crafted personal film. Raised in a more secular time, she struggles to comprehend the rise of religious schools and presents chilling footage of a mother encouraging her toddler to be a martyr when he grows up. Mixing political analysis with interviews with activist colleagues, noted Islamic scholars and Pakistani women who have chosen to embrace fundamentalism, Sumar's provocative questions dramatically capture the tension between liberal and fundamentalist forces that are shaping life in contemporary Pakistan.
preceded by
WHEN THE STORM CAME
Shilpi Gupta, U.S., 2003, 24m, video, doc
The women of Kunnan Pushpora trek through the jungle to collect firewood for fuel in the militarized valley nestled at the foothills of the Himalayas known as Kashmir. But they are haunted by a night now deeply entrenched in their collective memory. WHEN THE STORM CAME tells their story and gives a human face to commonly used "weapon" of war - rape.
Mon June 21: 4:30; Tue June 22: 6:15 Thurs June 24: 9:30

FIGHTING TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO FIGHT
YOUTH-PRODUCED DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDUCATIONAL VIDEO CENTER ON ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY
EVC Youth Producers, U.S., 2004, 120m (incl Q & A), video, doc
In the Bronx, a group of inspired youth organizers work tirelessly to start their own school; in Brooklyn, youth battle City Hall to protect their alternative school from being closed; in Washington Heights, a recent high school graduate unable to make ends meet decides that enlisting in the military and risking his life is his best option for survival. In a year when reports of global fear and violence dominate the mainstream media, youth documentary makers from the EVC tell the forgotten stories of young Americans working to improve their lives here at home. This evening of youth-produced documentaries will benefit the Educational Video Center, an internationally renowned media arts center celebrating its 20th anniversary year. Please note that a limited number of tickets for the screening are available at regular ticket prices through the Walter Reade Theater box office. Donation-level tickets to both the screening and the benefit reception may be purchased directly through EVC. For more information, visit www.evc.org or call 212-465-9366, ext. 12.
Wed June 23: 6 Meet the filmmakers and staff of EVC and enjoy complimentary refreshments
Wed June 23: 6:30 Screening begins, followed by discussion with EVC youth producers
Wed June 23: 8:30 Benefit reception (for donation-level ticket holders only)

THE YES MEN
Dan Ollman, Sarah Price, Chris Smith, U.S., 2003, 80m, video, doc
A "genderless, loose-knit association of some three hundred imposters worldwide," the Yes Men perpetrate an elaborate and elegant form of culture jamming that has duped accountants in Australia, professors in Finland, and lawyers in Austria. After launching a deadpan replica of the World Trade Organization website, the Yes Men received invitations requesting that Mike Moore, the WTO's Director-General, speak at conferences. They accepted on his behalf, sending covert Yes Men representatives to clarify the positions of the WTO, promulgating such subversive absurdities as the voluntary dissolution of the World Trade Organization.
Thurs June 24: 7

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