The 19th annual festival runs from June 13 to 26, presenting documentaries covering a wide range of current political and social issues, including injustice in Brazil's juvenile courts, child trafficking in China, rape in the Congo, the U.S. health insurance crisis, the murder of a crusading journalist and a human rights lawyer's battle to bring a killer dictator to trial. Several of the films focus on women who're trying to cope with the realities and hardships of war in Kashmir, Nepal and Palestine, and make a difference. As indicated, some of the films are set for TV broadcast. So, mark your calendars.
American Outrage (2007)
The documentary tells the story of Carrie and Mary Dann, two elderly Shoshone sisters, and their legal battle against the U.S. government, which has tried to prevent them from grazing their cattle on traditional tribal lands in the Nevada desert. Since their case was iniiated in 1974, the Danns have been before the Supreme Court and to the United Nations. Why has the U.S. government spent millions in prosecuting this case? Because the grazing land, recognized by the U.S. as Shoshone territory in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, is the world's second largest gold producing area. Directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, 56 mins.Behave (2006)
The film takes us into Brazil's juvenile court and detention centers. In order to follow several youths as they are processed through the system, director Maria Ramos shoots actual trials showing the children's backs, but she shows the faces of other children--whom she found in Rio's favellas--simply reading their responses to questions about the lives that landed them in detention. Judge Luciana Fiala tries to match the punishment to the child and the crime, but there seems to be little hope of finding a real solution to the enormous problem of crime among children. In Portuguese with English subtitles, 80 minutes.The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (2008)
Director Ellen Kuras has followed Thavisouk Phrasavath and his family for 23 years, as they struggled to survive in war-town Laos and then faced the hardships of immigrant life in New York City. The film is a impressionistic compilation of beauifully shot verite footage with voice over commentary and revealingly personal interviews. Kuras is an acclaimed cinematorgrapher, and this film is her directorial debut. In English and Lao with English subtitles, 100 minutes.Calle Santa Fe (2007)
In 1974, Carmen Castillo and her husband, Miguel Enriquez, both rebels against the Chilean dictator Pinohet, were the victims victims in a shoot out with the secret police on Calle Santa Fe, in Santiago. Enriquez was killed. Castillo was wounded but survived and went into exile. In this film, Castillo, now a filmmaker, documents her return to Chile, as she revisits Calle Santa Fe and her past, meeting with family, friends and the neighbor who saved her life, and taking a hard look at the hardships of the struggle for freedom and justice. In Spanish with English subtitles, 163 minutes. The film will air on PBS in 2009.China's Stolen Children (2007)
China's one-child policy, which makes it beneficial to have a boy, has created a triving market for boy children. Approximately 70,000 boys are kidnapped each year, and sold. This film follows the parents of Chen Jie, a five year old, who was snatched from a market where his grandmother was selling vegeables, as they continue to try to find their son. It also presents cases where parents who don't have permits to have children are forced pay fines they cannot afford and, so, must sell their children to traffickers. Director Jezza Neumann, in English, 87 minutes. The film will air on HBO on July 14.Critical Condition (2008)
As we all find out at some point or another, it's extremely difficult enough to cope with the critical illness of a family member. But, as director Roger Weisberg's film shows us, when the family is uninsured, the experience is absolutely harrowing. Focusing attention on this ongoing crisis plaguing America's health care system, the film presents a timely challenge to presidential wannabes and nominees. The film will air on PBS on September 30. In English, 83 minutes.The Dictator Hunter (2007)
Human Rights activist and lawyer Reed Brody, known as Human Rights Watch's Dictator Hunter, is relentless in his efforts to bring Hissene Habre, the former ruler of Chad, to trial for murders and other crimes he committed while in power. Brody, who has prosecuted against other dictators, including Pinochet, feels this case may be a benchmark because of the participation of Souleymane Guengueng, a former Chadian civil servant and Habre victim, who documented hundreds of incidents of torture during the two years he spent in prison. Directed by Klaartje Quirijns, in English, French and Arabic with English subtitles, 75 minutes.The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (2007)
Traveling throughout civil war-torn Congo, director Lisa Jackson, interviewed women who survived rape, physicians, peacekeepers, activists and the rapists themselves, to show us the shocking reality of what happens to women who are caught in war zones. In English, French, Swahili, Lingala and Mashi with English subtitles, 76 minutes. The film will be broadcast on HBO throughout 2008.Letter to Anna (2008)
Susan Sarandon narrates this requium for Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist famous for criticising Russian military actions in Chechnya, and who was murdered in 2006. Director Eric Bergkraut intertwines interviews with the outspoken reporter with investigative measures to discover her killers. In English and Russian with English subtitles, 84 minutes.Project Kashmir (2008)
Two American women friends, one a Hindu of Indian descent and the other a Muslim with Pakistani roots, travel together to Kashmir, the region from which both of their families migrated to the United States. India and Pakistan have battled over supremacy in Kashmir for 60 years. The purpose of the womens' trip is to investigate and try to understand the reasons why their two cultures and religions have such enmity towards each other, and try to bring some resolution through that understanding. Directed by Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel, in English,Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi with English subtitles, 89 minutes.
