Belllingcat:Truth in a Post Truth World (2019) Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019

BELLING CAT TRUTH IN A POST TRUTH WORLD is one of the best I’ve seen in 2019. Not only is it vitally important but it is also a damn good film it is the story of the citizen reporters who run the Bellingcat website. The group of people comb through modern technology to get to the heart of the important news stories such as revealing who the Nazi like marchers in Charlotte were or working out that the Russians were the ones who downed a civilian plane in Ukraine. We see their methods and come to understand why what they do is so important.

If you have any interest in what is going on or how it is portrayed in the media you must see this film. In a world where every detail of anyone’s life is spun to the point of death this film makes it clear that you cannot trust anything that isn’t verified. And in an age where everything can be manipulated and mislabeled this film shows us how you have to take everything with a grain of salt as footage is faked, video game images are passed off as real and cover stories forget that social media posts tell a different story. In the film we see how the Bellingcat crew broke open the downing of the airliner via social media and Google Earth or that a sharp eyed member realized that Russian evidence of the US working with Isis consisted of video game maps. It will all spin your head.

Forget whether you are Republican or Democrat what this film shows will shock you. It will change how you see the news. It changed how I see the world.

And before you ask why we should take the word of groups like Bellingcat, the answer is simple, and revealed in the film. Where places like the New York Times or Washington Post have the weight of their reputations behind it, the groups like Bellingcat have the weight of evidence. They do not report unless they have the data and facts to back it up. In an age where journalists not being trained and there is less and less investigative work, it is the people like Bellingcat who do what no one else can or will.

This film is a stunner. It is one of the great films of 2019 and a must see for anyone who wants to consider themselves informed about the state of the world.

The film plays June 20th at Human Rights Watch FIlm Festival New York and is a must see. For tickets go here.

Human Rights Watch Capsules: Está todo bien (It's all good), In Search...., Everything Must Fall, When We Walk and Born in Evin

Está todo bien (It's all good)
This examination of the health care situation in Venezuela is a mixed bag. A vitally important film that highlights the insanity in the country (the financial and political instability has driven most of the doctors from the country and made it nigh impossible to get any sort of prescription drugs) the presentation, a discussion with various people caught in the mess, doesn’t quite work. Yes the horrible plight is showcased but I couldn’t help but think I would have liked this as something more straight forward- it didn’t need to guild the lily.

In Search....
Beryl Magoko's film looks at the practice of female genital mutilation which she was subjected to when she was a child. The film follows Magoko's look at the practice and at the lives of women, such as herself, who were scarred as children, as she considers the surgery which will correct damage done to her. It is a moving film that isn't just about the physical practice but about the emotional lives of the women traumatized.  You will forgive the brevity of the review but I feel unqualified to really discuss the film, other than to say it will move you.

Everything must Fall
Portrait of the perfect storm of protests that erupted in South Africa when the colleges and universities began to raise their tuition and fees at an unprecedented rate in the years after the government stopped subsidizing the schools. The students protested seeing the raises not as part of life but a means of bringing back Apartheid. It resulted in clashes with school officials and police across the country. Good look at events I had known nothing about. While I couldn't really connect to some of the details of what was happening (I don't have a grasp of all of the ups and downs of South African politics/society) I could see how the students choice to fight made a difference. Worth a look.

Born in Evin
Director Maryam Zaree attempts to fill in holes in her past concerning the fact that she was born in Evin Prison in Iran where political prisoners, like her parents were held. A good portrait of Iranian society that most people are not aware of the film is also a good look at how we need to know our whole story if we are going to get on with our lives and understand the people around us as well as ourselves.

When We Walk
Follow up to Jason DaSilva's When I Walk, the film follows DaSilva's struggle to remain in contact with his son after his ex takes the boy and moves to Austin Texas. DaSilva is suffering from MS and can not move to Texas without losing the health care he needs to remain alive. This is heartfelt and moving portrait of what one man has to do in order to not only remain alive but also remain connected to the one person who means anything to him, his young son. Definitely worth a look.

For tickets or more information to these or any Human Rights Watch Film Festival films go here

Accept the Call (2019) Human Rights Watch 2019

ACCEPT THE CALL is a chilling film. The story of a father whose son who became radicalized and tried to join Isis will rock your world.

The film is the story of Somali born Yusuf Abdurahman who moved to the US, met a nice girl and raised his family. When his eldest son Zacharia hit his teens he was rocked by the divorce of his parents, the struggles of being a teen as well as the difficulties of being feeling an outsider as a Somali. He ended up being recruited by Isis and he attempted to fly to Turkey in the hope of crossing the border to Syria. However he was arrested and sent to prison. Abdurahman was rocked and the film charts his struggle to understand how this could have happened and what can be done to prevent it in the future.

What is so devastating about ACCEPT THE CALL is how matter of fact and low key it is. Abdurahman is a good man who has accepted what happened but is desperate to understand why it did. We follow along as he tells his story and explores the recruiting practices of the terrorist organization. What I love is that not only is Abdurahman‘s other children involved but also Zachariahimself who tells his story his dad via frequent phone calls. One of the calls brings a kind of crushing moment when Zacharia tells his dad that in away despite being a great dad who was always being there for him, the path to temporary radicalization was paved with other factors his dad couldn’t control.

I was rocked. The fact that the film makes clear that the radicalization of our children is not what we think it is makes it terrifying. It is not simply a black and white path or a flipping of a switch, rather it is a slow process that catches those around the radical unaware.

This film is one of the most important films of the year and a must see.

For more information and ticket go here

On the President's Orders (2019) Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019

All the more chilling for looking like a well-made thriller On The President's Orders is a warning to the world and the future of what can happen when madness rules a country.

Beginning with a speech from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte where he compares himself favorably to Hitler saying that he would massacre all of the drug addicts in the country like Hitler killed the Jews, the film then shifts to follow a command of police officers who have been tasked with changing the way they are doing things. The public is not happy with a police force that seemed to be out of control and highly corrupt. There are too many people dying in police involved shootings. So a new man is brought in. The film then follows as the police try to change their image and old ways begin to creep back (The higher ups are happy the number of police related deaths are down but unhappy it didn’t bring instant change) and talk of death squads begins to surface.

Slow boiling film makes you think that perhaps we are going to see some sort of change in the madness but as time goes on it becomes clear that any hope for change is not going to come easily. Watching the film I thought it was going to go one way but then I slowly began to realize that we really are in film noir territory and the darkness of men’s souls are still wandering around. There is a reason that one of the people we follow is a man responsible for picking up the bodies of those killed in the madness.

Having watched the film several hours ago I find I am still in a dark place. I feel slightly brutalized. Not from what is shown in the film so much as what the film doesn’t show but implies. As much as I would love to believe that all is skittle and beer and that the people who are tasked with trying to protect us have our best interests at heart. However this film makes clear that isn’t the case.

For me the scariest thing is it shows the dark side of humanity that here in America Trump is trying to harness. Trump has all but called for the same sort of treatment of illegal immigrants and those who aren’t white. He would gladly allow people to kill each other if he knew it would keep him in power and never come back to hurt him. On the other hand I don’t think Duterte really cares and he simply wants those he deems expendable removed.

This film is a stunner. Highly recommended when it plays June 15 and 17 at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. For tickets and more information go here

Human Rights Watch Film Festival Announces Full Line Up, June 13-20 in New York

New York, May 3, 2019 — The Human Rights Watch Film Festival presents 13 timely and provocative films, from June 13-20, 2019, that shine a bright light on bravery and resilience in challenging times, with incisive perspectives on human rights issues affecting people around the world. As racism and xenophobia continue to rise within the highest echelons of power, this year’s festival presents cinematic works that expose and humanize cases of legalized and legitimized oppression of the disenfranchised that demand the world’s attention.

Now celebrating its 30th year, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival truly reflects its ethos of celebrating diversity of content and perspective, providing a public cinematic forum for voices that are either silenced or marginalized in the media. Half of the films in this year’s edition are by filmmakers with roots in the region they are covering, half were directed or co-directed by women, and the majority of this year’s selection were directed by filmmakers of color.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival is co-presented by Film at Lincoln Center and the IFC Center. All screenings will be followed by in-depth panels with filmmakers, film subjects, Human Rights Watch researchers and special guests.

“People’s ability to show resilience and courage in the face of fear, oppression, and even violence is sometimes overshadowed by the regimes and prejudice they are fighting against,” said John Biaggi, Director of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. “This year’s film festival shines a light on people around the world who continue to resist both extreme political movements and individual cases of discrimination. They stand against world leaders stoking fear and hatred, and they stand against people in their own communities who balk at the notion of diversity. We should not only celebrate the voices of these brave individuals, but also recognize their courage and dignity.”

“Together we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Film at Lincoln Center and 30 years of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in 2019," said Lesli Klainberg, Executive Director of FLC. “We're so proud to continue partnering on this essential showcase of human rights films, which have been such an integral part of our organization's history and mission, and give a platform to spread the word about these important issues.”

“IFC Center is honored to continue working with HRWFF to bring this important and inspiring group of films to New Yorkers,” said John Vanco, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IFC Center.

With intense focus on the rise of tyranny and oppression, often politically sanctioned, around the world, the HRWFF presents stories from the frontlines of human rights battles in Venezuela, China, the Philippines, Palestine, South Africa, the United States and elsewhere. Opening Night features Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche’s Advocate, which documents the challenges faced by Jewish Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel and her colleagues in their efforts to represent Palestinian clients — from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants — in an increasingly conservative Israel where the government, courts and media seem stacked against them. This year’s edition also features Eunice Lau’s Accept the Call, which charts the struggles of Muslim youth growing up in the U.S. where they confront racism, prejudice and FBI counterintelligence operations; James Jones and Olivier Sarbil’s On the President’s Orders, a shocking and illuminating investigation with stunning access into the inner workings of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal “war on drugs” in the Philippines; and Bassam Jarbawi’s Screwdriver(Mafak), shot entirely on location in the West Bank, which follows a young man returning home after 15 years in an Israeli prison that immerses viewers in a distinctly Palestinian story while tackling the universal trauma of reintegration after incarceration.

With over half the films in 2019’s program directed or co-directed by women, this year’s festival highlights the female directorial voice. The program intimately explores the personal experiences of women filmmakers who confront human rights issues that affect women. Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang’s One Child Nation is a personal exploration of China’s One Child Policy, including forced sterilizations and abortions, and the collective trauma and generational impact it had on Chinese citizens. In the deeply moving Born in Evin, Maryam Zaree, born inside the infamous Evin prison in Iran, explores the lifelong effects of incarceration on a generation of former political prisoners and their children. Filmmaker Beryl Magoko embarks on a journey towards self-acceptance in In Search…, winner of the festival’s Nestor Almendros Award, in her work about the role of societally imposed shame in the practice of female genital mutilation. Other works by women filmmakers include Accept the Call, Advocate, No Box for Me and The Sweet Requiem.

Extending the festival’s broad span of global films made by filmmakers with roots in the regions they are focusing on, Rehad Desai’s Everything Must Fall challenges the presence of deep-seated discrimination in South Africa. The film is a detailed examination of student protests that coalesce into a national movement, calling for an end to exclusion in the higher education system. Tuki Jencquel’s Está Todo Bien is an incisive look at the current collapse of Venezuelan institutions, and how failing healthcare systems reflect the long-term challenges of a population fighting to survive.

The festival closes with Hans Pool’s explosive and riveting Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World, which follows the rise of the controversial “citizen investigative journalist” collective known as Bellingcat, dedicated to redefining breaking news by exploiting open-source investigation to expose the truth behind global news stories.

The HRWFF is proud to continue its exciting partnership with MUBI, a curated online cinema streaming the best films from around the globe. MUBI presents a new hand-picked film every day — whether its an acclaimed masterpiece, a cult classic or a festival-fresh gem. MUBI will be streaming select films from Human Rights Watch Film Festival during the New York 2019 event. Learn more at https://mubi.com.

The complete line up is as follows.

Advocate, Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche, Israel,-Canada-Switzerland
Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World, Hans Pool, Netherlands
Accept the Call, Eunice Lau, U.S.
Born in Evin, Maryam Zaree, Germany-Austria
Está Todo Bien – It’s All Good, Tuki Jencquel, Venezuela-Germany
Everything Must Fall, Rehad Desai, South Africa
In Search…, Beryl Magoko, Germany
No Box for Me. An Intersex Story (Ni d’Ève ni d’Adam. Une histoire intersexe) Floriane Devigne, France
On the President’s Orders, James Jones and Olivier Sarbil, UK and U.S.
One Child Nation, Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, U.S. and China
Screwdriver (Mafak), Bassam Jarbawi, Palestine, U.S. and Qatar
The Sweet Requiem, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, India and U.S.
When We Walk, Jason DaSilva, U.S.

Public screenings and special programs will take place at Film at Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, (144 W. 65th St) (FLC) and at the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas (IFC). The opening night film, Advocate, will screen at Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St. (WRT) (between Amsterdam and Broadway).

 

Program and Public Screening Schedule
All screenings will be followed by a Q&A session