Human Rights Watch International Film Festival 2008
June 13 – 26, 2008
The films in this year’s edition of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival reflect struggles throughout the world—the buying and selling of children in China; the continuing animosity between Pakistan and India; the story behind the murder of a courageous Russian journalist—as well as those right here at home. While many films raise questions, these begin to provide answers as brave filmmakers work on the front lines of international crises to show us the toll of war, the horrors of ongoing conflicts, and the human faces at the heart of it all (including the residents of a Palestinian senior citizens’ home).
Within many of these works is a quest: A filmmaker traces her ancestors’ involvement in the slave trade, human rights activists spend their lives trying to bring dictators to justice, and others bear witness to their crimes. Finally, there are the children: we get a glimpse of the overwhelmed juvenile justice system in Brazil, while from around the world, young people armed with cameras are asking questions and, perhaps, showing us the way to a better future.
For a listing of the films in the series go to Program Overview. For the screening schedule and descriptions of the five films from the Human Rights Watch Collection, a collaboration with First Run Features, click here.
Click on
Calendar to view the schedule & purchase tickets online. Admission: $11 public; $8 seniors (62+); $7 Film Society members & students (with ID) and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult). Please note: there is a $1.25 service charge per ticket ordered online.
Human Rights Watch Series Pass: admits one person to five titles in the series including the films screening in the Human Rights Watch Collection; $40 public/$30 Film Society members, available only at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only).
The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival is organized by John Biaggi, Andrea Holley, Jennifer Nedbalsky and Nickole Miller of Human Rights Watch and Marian Masone of the Film Society. Thanks to Jane Olson, Chair, and Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch; Richard Peña, Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Marina Pinto Kaufman, HRWIFF Chair. All non-English language films in the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival are subtitled in English.
The Eighth Media That Matters Film Festival
The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival once again partners with Arts Engine to present twelve innovative shorts by independent and young filmmakers from around both the United States and the world. Watch the films, discover more of your world, take action and create change in year-long activities around the best Media That Matters.
