Human Rights Watch International Film Festival 2010

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2010

Cinematheque Ontario and the Human Right Watch Canada Committee present 10 films dealing with human rights themes.  This is the 7th year and the list includes two yet to be released acclaimed films Danis Tanovic’s TRIAGE with Colin Farrel and Philippe Lioret’s WELCOME.  The opening is Canada’s own LAST TRAIN HOME, a riveting documentary about the plight of Chinese workers in rural China.

For complete information of program, showtimes, venue and ticket pricing, check the cinematheque Ontario website at:

http://www.cinemathequeontario.ca

or specifically:

http://www.cinemathequeontario.ca/programme.aspx?programmeId=301

The program runs from Wednesday Feb 24th Wednesday to March the 6th 2010/

The full list of 19 films:-
Reviewed (capsule reviews) are three of them.

BACK HOME TOMORROW
BACKYARD
BE LIKE OTHERS
LAST TRAIN HOME
MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER
PRESUMED GUILTY
TAPOLOGO
THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
TRIAGE
WELCOME

BE LIKE OTHERS (Iran 2008) ***
Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian

The titles at the start of the film tell of the film’s message.  Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death while sex change by transsexuals are not only allowed but provided by social services as outlined by Islamic law of the country.  Director Tanaz Eshaghian’s film is primarily an information piece that reflects the views of a few subjects – a physician; Vida a post-ops woman, one yet to undergo a sex-change and his boyfriend.  One would necessarily assume that most gays would by choice pick the operation.  But BE LIKE OTHERS show otherwise, through interviews and talking heads.  Though most much oppression and prejudice are graphically shown on screen - most are just described – Eshaghian still convinces the audience of the plight of decent souls who just want to love and live a normal life within their boundaries without any hate or prejudice.

(Screening Fri Feb 26th at 9 pm)

LAST TRAIN HOME (Canada 2009) ***
Directed by LiXin Fan

The Zhangs (Yang Zhang playing himself and Suquin as herself) have left their village in China and their newborn daughter to find work in the Guangzhou province garment factory for 16 long years.  They see her only once a year during the Lunar New Year taking THE LAST TRAIN HOME in a disturbing filmed sequence.  Now their daughter (Played by Qin Zhang) is 17, bitter and rebellious and quits school.  She travels to Guangzhou to become a young migrant worker. The mother pledges to reunite the family and to get the daughter back to school.  The documentary style of story telling in this case of the real story of the Zhangs creates more authenticity and emotion for the audience.  The film begins with the bold statement that 130 million Chinese migrate every year to visit their villages and hometowns to visit their families. They take the train or whatever other means of transportation possible.  Fan’s film the goes on to show the plight of one particular family, taken to accurately represent the 130 million.  Emotionally riveting!

(Opening Night Screening: Feb 24th Wednesday 6.30 pm)

MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER (USA 2009) ***
Directed by Anne Aghion

Genocide in Rwanda in which more than half a million Tutsis were brutally murdered!  The responsible are in prisons but too many with insufficient labor to keep the economy thriving.  The government’s solution is to free the prisoners with ‘gacacas’, open air hearings where citizen judges try and convict the guilty.  The majority would live besides the existing Tutsis.  Survivors are asked by the government (as in a lawyer’s speech in the film) to work with those who have killed member of the family.  Aghion’s film demonstrates that this is an impossible state – for obvious reasons.  If you had your baby’s head bashed by a club, would you let the killer walk quietly by you?  Aghion shoots many court scenes allowing the victims to tell their testimony.  Riveting primarily from the stories told.  Aghion need not use any camera techniques to get her message across!

(Screening Sun 28th at 8 pm)