Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

February 25, 2009 - February 27, 2009

The Sari Soldiers, February 27

Since its inception in 1988, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival has become the leading showcase for committed and courageous films that open our eyes to a range of human rights issues around the globe. Intended to inspire informed and passionate dialogue, this year’s program assesses the human costs of war and economic development and considers the meanings of freedom and justice in the relations between governments and their citizens.

The festival is only one tool that Human Rights Watch uses to engage concerned individuals and encourage action. The organization is, of course, best known for its decades-long history of timely investigations and policy recommendations, and its ability to generate intense pressure to confront human rights abusers and defend basic freedoms. For further information, please visit hrw.org.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
6:30 p.m. To See If I’m Smiling
Israeli women soldiers examine their actions in this powerful exploration of gender and moral responsibility in war. With short Deadly Playground.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
8:30 p.m. Secrecy
If knowledge is power, who should possess it? This doc is “an incisive examination of some of the key issues of our time.”—L.A. Times

Thursday, February 26, 2009
6:30 p.m. Behave
Maria Ramos’s look at juvenile courts in Brazil. “No overwrought exposé, Behave exerts its power thanks to Ramos’s clarity of vision.”—Variety

Thursday, February 26, 2009
8:30 p.m. Up the Yangtze
A tour of physical and social terrain about to be transformed by the Three Gorges Dam. “Lucid, beautifully observed.”—Village Voice

Friday, February 27, 2009
6:30 p.m. The Sari Soldiers
Following six brave women in Nepal’s recent civil war, this beautifully balanced film “gives new meaning to the words courage and resilience.”—N.Y. Times

Friday, February 27, 2009
8:30 p.m. Our Disappeared
Juan Mandelbaum and Kathy Sloane in Person. A sensitive, personal memorial to Argentina’s disappeared also offers “essential context for what was a vicious civil war.”—Variety. With short Witness to Hiroshima.

PFA wishes to thank the following individuals and institutions for making this series possible: John Biaggi, Andrea Holley, and Jennifer Nedbalsky, Human Rights Watch International Film Festival; Libby Marsh and Leah Albert, Human Rights Watch California North; UC Berkeley Graduate Film Working Group; and all participating filmmakers and distributors.

At PFA, the festival is curated by Kathy Geritz and Jason Alley, and co-presented by the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, with thanks to Eric Stover and Rachel Shigekane.

Select screenings will be introduced by faculty from the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley and members of the Human Rights Watch Bay Area Network. Prints from Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, and part of their touring program, unless otherwise indicated.