Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2012 At Lincoln Center

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 22 June 2012 15:55

Written by Renzo Adler

A perennial favorite on the New York film festival calendar, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center (70 Lincoln Center Plaza) June 14 - 28, 2012. Developed and sponsored by The Human Rights Watch, the international non-governmental organization conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

This year's festival organized around several themes:

• health, development, and the environment
• lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and migrants’ rights
• personal testimony and witnessing
• reporting in crises
• women’s rights

A mix of dramatic and documentary films, HRWFF a traveling film festival that focuses on creating “…a forum for courageous individuals on both sides of the lens to empower audiences with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a difference”

Many fine award-winning films are in the fest's collection among this list of the daring and thought-provoking films are:

• Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
  dir. Alison Klayman
  (United States)
  (New York Premiere) 
• In this unprecedented look at Ai Weiwei and those close to him, filmmaker Alison Klayman captures the artist's forthright and unequivocal stance against China's oppression, painting a picture of the artist as an individual and as a powerful voice for human rights. 
  
  Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry chronicles the complexities of Ai's life for three years, beginning with his rise to public prominence via blog and Twitter after he questioned the deaths of more than 5,000 students in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Screening followed by discussion with Alison Klayman, Filmmaker; Sophie Richardson, China Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch; and Tong Yi, former activist in China, licensed attorney in the US. 

• Salaam Dunk
  dir. David Fine
  (United States)
  (New York premiere) 
• With plenty of pop music and 'girl power', Salaam Dunk delivers a tale of hope and inspiration, courtesy of one winning group of Iraqi women basketball players at the American University in Sulaimani, Iraq.Bidder 70 (New York Premiere)

• Bidder 70
  dir. Beth and George Gage
  (United States)
  Bidder 70 tells the story of Tim DeChristopher and his stunning act of civil disobedience in a time of global climate chaos. On December 19, 2008, DeChristopher, as Bidder #70, derailed the Bush administration's last minute, widely disputed Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oil and Gas lease auction, acting to safeguard thousands of acres of Utah land.
  
  Bidding $1.7 million, Tim won 22,000 acres of land with no intention to pay for it or drill there. For his disruption of the auction, DeChristopher was indicted on two federal charges. 

• Bitter Seeds
  dir. Micha X. Peled
  (U.S./India)
  (New York Premiere)
  Manjusha Amberwar, a young journalist, examines the causes of an epidemic of farmer suicides in India — one every 30 minutes — that includes her own father. She hopes that by drawing attention to their plight, she can bring an end to this tragedy. But it won't be easy. 

• War Witch
  dir. Kim Nguyen
  (Canada)
  At 14, Komona has lived through horrors that eclipse an adult's worst nightmares. In this mesmerizing, otherworldly drama, shot entirely in the Democratic Republic of Congo, comes a story of incredible human resilience. 
  
  The screening will be followed by discussion with Jo Becker, Advocacy Director, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch and Grace Akallo, former child soldier and co-author of Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children. 

The HRWFF is also active in cities in the US and Europe, including Chicago, London, Toronto, San Diego, Washington DC, and more.

Said Film Society of Lincoln Center executive director Rose Kuo, “For over 20 years, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival has provided a forum for the creative community to share stories that bear witness to the human condition.”

To learn more, go to: www.hrw.org

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival
June 14 – 28, 2012

The Walter Reade Theater
70 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023