Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2013
The 24th edition of the Human Rights Film Festival returns with a selection of films that bring human rights abuses to life through storytelling—challenging each individual to empathize and demand justice for all. One of the striking themes in this year’s festival is the tension between “traditional values” and human rights.
Note: Grayed-out screenings are currently standby only. A standby line will form at the box office one hour prior to showtime. Available tickets will be released on a first come, first served basis. Additional screenings take place at the IFC Center, visit ff.hrw.org/new-york for more information.
Lineup
Anita
Opening Night!
New York premiere! Director Freida Mock and subject Anita Hill in person for Q&A!
Anita crystallizes the sexist power dynamics experienced by Anita Hill when she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and unravels the impact of that lightning-rod moment on Hill’s life and the broader discussion of gender inequality in America.
Camera/Woman
A female wedding videographer talks candidly about the issues she faces and the competing forces at play in the lives of women in Morocco.
Pussy Riot—A Punk Prayer
New York festival premiere! Q&A with filmmakers!
A group of young, radical-feminist punk rockers known as Pussy Riot took a stand against the direction Vladimir Putin was taking Russia. Putting a personal face on rebellion, filmmakers Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin follow these three women prepared to defend their actions no matter what it may cost them.
Rafea: Solar Mama
Q&A with filmmakers!
Rafea is selected for a program where she joins 30 illiterate women from different countries to train to become solar engineers over the course of six months. A tumultuous struggle with her husband threatens to put an end to her dreams, yet Rafea remains determined. Will she be able to empower the other women in the village to join her in rewiring the Bedouin community traditions that stand in their way?
Salma
New York premiere!
Forced into seclusion upon reaching puberty, forbidden by her family to study, and pushed into marriage, words became salvation for Salma, a young Muslim girl in India.
In the Shadow of the Sun
U.S. premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
Filmed over six years, In the Shadow of the Sun tells the story of two men with albinism in Tanzania pursuing their dreams in the face of virulent prejudice.
Born This Way
New York premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
A group of activists and friends fight for gay rights in Cameroon, where homosexual relations are subject to punishment by up to five years in prison and threats and harassment are common.
The New Black
New York premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
The New Black tells the story of how the African American community is grappling with LGBT rights in light of the marriage equality movement and the fight over civil rights. The film examines homophobia in the black community’s institutional pillar—the black church.
The Parade
Mickey and Radmilo embark on a road trip across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo as Mickey attempts to assemble a fearsome security team for a Gay Pride parade. As they gather Mickey’s old friends from the war, it becomes clear to all that so-called enemies are often your greatest allies.
Fatal Assistance
Festival Centerpiece!
U.S. premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
Award-winning Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a two-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory, and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti.
My Afghanistan—Life in the Forbidden Zone
U.S. premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
A Danish journalist of Afghan origin has a trick up his sleeve that allows him to travel to rural Afghanistan and gain unprecedented access to the civilian population there.
The Undocumented
New York premiere & Q&A with filmmaker!
Expertly weaves Marcos Hernandez's search for his father in Arizona's Sonora Desert with efforts by humanitarians and Border Patrol agents to prevent migrant deaths and the work of medical investigators to identify remains.
Camp 14—Total Control Zone
U.S. premiere! Q&A with filmmaker!
Born inside a North Korean prison camp, Shin Dong-Huyk escapes and becomes a human rights “celebrity,” but his life outside the camp is often just as challenging as it was inside it.
99%—The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
New York premiere! Q&A with filmmakers!
An unprecedented collaboration of almost 100 filmmakers across the country, the production process of this feature film offers a diverse way of bringing meaning and context to the movement that swept up America, and much of the world, with its story.
An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story
New York premiere! Q&A with filmmaker and Michael Morton!
Michael Morton’s wife Christine was brutally murdered, and Michael was convicted of the crime. During his years of imprisonment, a team of dedicated attorneys fought to test DNA evidence found at the murder scene. Their discoveries ultimately reveal that the price of a wrongful conviction goes well beyond one man’s loss of freedom.
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