The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival is dedicated to bringing public awareness to social and political issues around the world through the medium of film. The 2010 festival, scheduled in New York at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater from June 10 to 24, presents 30 films from 25 countries. The festival program was also presented in London from March 17 to 26.
2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival Program
- 12th & Delaware (USA, 2010, NY premiere) - At the intersection of 12th & Delaware, on opposite sides of the street in a Florida town, stand two centers that represent opposite sides of the abortion issues. On one corner there's an abortion clinic. And, on another corner is a pro-life center that's often mistaken for the clinic it seeks to shut down. The film takes us inside both buildings and shows us how the personnel treats women who are seeking solutions for unwanted pregnancies. It also chronicles the 24/7 picketing that pro-lifers conduct outside the abortion clinic, taunting the clinic's personnel and trying to dissuade prospective clients from entering. Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
- Backyard (USA/Mexico, 2009, NY premiere) - Actors Jimmy Smits and Ana de la Reguera deliver commanding performances in this astonishing fictional account of the unending series of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Director: Carloa Carrera
- Camp Victory, Afghanistan - (Afghanistan, 2010, NY premiere) - Drawing from nearly 300 hours of vérité footage shot between 2005 and 2008, the film follows American soldiers who are trying to build a functioning Afghan military. Director: Carol Dysinger
- Enemies of the People (Cambodia, 2009, NY premiere) - Filmmaker Thet Sambath uncovers terrifying personal explanations for the Cambodian genocide by allowing the perpetrators to speak for themselves. - Directors: Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath
- Honeymoons (Europe, 2009, NY premiere) - Two young couples leave their respective countries-Albania and Serbia-to realise all their dreams in Western Europe, but their dreams quickly disappear in the face of the harsh realities. Director: Goran Paskaljevic
- In the Land of the Free (USA, 2009, NY premiere) - Targeted by prison officials for being members of the Black Panther Party and for fighting against prison conditions, the Angola 3 were convicted of the murder of a prison guard-with no physical evidence and no credible eyewitnesses. Director: Vadim Jean
- Iran: Voices of the Unheard (Iran, 2009, US premiere) - The untold story of Iranian secularists through three fascinating characters-each from a distinct social, economic and educational background but all sharing a love for their motherland and a need for a country free from political repression and theocracy. - Director: Davoud Geramifard
- Last Best Chance (USA, 2010, NY premiere) - A moral tale of modern American politics, the film presents Senator Edward Kennedy in his final battle for comprehensive immigration reform in the US, as he seeks to provide greater security and dignity to many of the 20 million people currently living in the shadows. Directors: Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson
- Moloch Tropical (Haiti, 2009) - At a hilltop fortress in Haiti, we watch the nation's President disintegrate before our eyes-destroyed by a combination of his own paranoia and an increasingly absurd political situation. Director: Raoul Peck
- Mountains and Clouds (USA, 2010, NY premiere) - With unprecedented access to powerful members of the US Congress, the filmmakers reveal a seminal moment in the push for immigration reform, with implications for the immigration battle currently brewing for the Obama administration and Congress. Director : Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson
- Nero's Guests (India, 2009, US premiere) Journalist P. Sainath writes about thousands of farmers who commit suicide each year due to poverty and the inability to repay debts. Director: Deepa Bhatia
- Out in the Silence (USA, 2009, NY premiere) - The film illustrates the challenges of negotiating the morally charged issue of sexual orientation and the potential for building bridges when people with differing opinions approach each other with openness and respect. Directors: Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer
- Presumed Guilty (Mexico, 2009, NY premiere) - In 2005, Toño Zuniga was picked up off the street in Mexico City, and sentenced to 20 years for a murder he knew nothing about. Directors: Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith
- Pushing the Elephant (USA, 2010, NY premiere) - A view of refugee life in the US, via the story of Rose Mapendo and her five-year-old daughter. Directors: Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel
- Restrepo (Afghanistan, 2010, NY premiere) - Chronicles the deployment of US Army platoon 2/503 Battle Company, of the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous postings in the US military. This is war seen from the front lines. Directors: Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
- The Balibo Conspiracy (East Timor, 2009, NY premiere) - The Balibo Conspiracy dramatizes the importance of bearing witness, no matter the risk. Set in 1975 East Timor, The Balibo Conspiracy tells the true story of crimes that have been covered up for over 30 years. Director: Robert Connolly
- The Unreturned (Iraq, 2010,NY premiere) - With an unflinching eye, powerfully candid dialogue and a touch of humor, The Unreturned brings us into the lives of five Iraqis from diverse ethnicities and religions displaced by the ongoing war in their country. Director: Nathan Fisher
- War Don Don (Sierra Leone, 2010, NY Premiere) - The story of the trial of Issa Sesay at Special Court for Sierra Leone - a case that illustrates both the complexities of achieving justice and addressing a nation's traumatic past. Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
- Youth Producing Change (World premiere) Youth Producing Change presents stories from teen filmmakers across the globe as they turn the camera on their own lives and invite audiences to experience the world as they do every day.
