Stills from two of the films in this year’s Human Rights Film Festival
The brings a line-up of critically acclaimed films addressing social justice issues around the globe to Central New York Sept. 26-28.
Now in its 11th year, the festival is part of 黑料不打烊 Symposium 2013: Listening, and is presented by the SU Humanities Center and the .
The films will be screened at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3 and at the Life Sciences Complex Auditorium. All screenings are free and open to the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available during all of the screenings.
Public parking will be available for $5 on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the University Avenue Garage (Harrison Street between Walnut Place and University Avenue); and for free on Friday evening, Sept. 27, and all day Saturday, Sept. 28, in the 聽Q4 parking lot (College Place).
Tula Goenka, associate professor of television-radio-film in the Newhouse School and co-director of the festival, comments, 鈥淎t a time of intense international debate over the continuing atrocities in Syria and other places around the world, human rights media remain a critical source for discussion of how we can realize our most fundamental values of equality for all, respect for difference and protection from violence.鈥
Goenka and festival co-director Roger Hallas, associate professor of English, are dedicating this year鈥檚 festival to Liberian journalist Rodney Sieh and Canadian filmmaker John Greyson, who are currently imprisoned in Liberia and Egypt, respectively.
Sieh visited 黑料不打烊 in 2002-03 and wrote for The Post-Standard, and he has maintained direct connections with the Newhouse School and 黑料不打烊 since then. His newspaper, FrontPage Africa, was shut down for its controversial news coverage, and he was imprisoned on Aug. 23 for being unable to pay the $1.5 million damages for libeling a government minister.
Greyson, whose film 鈥淩ex vs. Singh鈥 was shown in the 2010 festival, was arrested in Cairo on Aug. 16 with Canadian doctor Tarek Loubani on their way to Gaza, where Loubani was pursuing humanitarian work.
The festival joins the international campaigns to free these respected human rights activists. More information campaign can be found on their websites: and .
The festival opens on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium at Newhouse 3 with a screening of 鈥淩afea: Solar Mama,鈥 directed by Mona Eldaief and Jehane Noujaim (鈥淭he Control Room鈥 and 鈥淪tartup.com鈥). The film follows the empowering journey of Rafea, a Bedouin mother of four, as she travels from one of Jordan鈥檚 poorest desert villages to the Barefoot College in rural India, where illiterate women from around the world are trained in six months to become solar engineers.
鈥淭his inspiring documentary offers a refreshing perspective on empowering women in the global South,鈥 notes Hallas, 鈥渇or the film breaks with our media鈥檚 conventional narrative of the global North being the one to bring ideas and capital to rescue the global South. 鈥楻afea鈥 affirms the reality of women鈥檚 empowerment and solidarity across the developing world.鈥 Co-director Eldaief will be present to introduce and discuss the film.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m., the festival presents the Central New York premiere of 鈥淭he Act of Killing,鈥 Joshua Oppenheimer鈥檚 critically lauded documentary that uncovers the surreal culture of impunity in Indonesia, where veterans of the country鈥檚 1960s death squads are celebrated on TV chat shows.
When Oppenheimer tried to find surviving victims, most were unwilling to speak for fear of retaliation. He thus turned the tables and asked the unrepentant perpetrators to re-enact their atrocities in their own style, which turned out to be Hollywood gangster films. A rough cut of the film so impressed acclaimed directors Werner Herzog and Errol Morris that they agreed to serve as executive producers. Herzog commented, 鈥淚 have not seen a film as powerful, surreal and frightening in at least a decade 鈥 unprecedented in the history of cinema.鈥
The screening will be introduced by Professor Thomas Pepinsky of Cornell University and will be followed by a Skype question-and-answer session with Oppenheimer.
Major co-sponsors of the festival are the , the Disability Cultural Center, the Office of Disability Services, the Department of History, 黑料不打烊 Libraries, the South Asia Center at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs and SASSE: Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment.
The festival schedule includes:
Thursday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3
鈥淩afea: Solar Mama鈥
Mona Eldaief and Jehane Noujaim
(75 minutes, USA/Denmark/Egypt, 2012, Arabic and English with English subtitles)
A strong-minded Bedouin woman struggles against tradition and social norms as she seeks to become Jordan鈥檚 first solar engineer and to empower the women in her village.
Co-director Mona Eldaief will introduce the film and participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening. A reception will follow.
The screening is co-sponsored by the Department of International Relations and the Middle Eastern Studies Program at SU and the Department of Environmental Resources Engineering聽at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.
Auditorium, Life Sciences Building
鈥淥ff Label鈥
Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri
(80 minutes, USA, 2011, closed-captioned in English)
From human guinea pigs testing drugs to veterans battling for PTSD treatment, 鈥淥ff Label鈥 examines the medicated margins of American society through the moving stories of eight lives haunted by the commercialization of medicine. Co-director Michael Palmieri will introduce the film and participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening.
Saturday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m.
Auditorium, Life Sciences Building
鈥淭he Act of Killing鈥
Joshua Oppenheimer
(115 minutes, Denmark/Norway/UK, 2012, Indonesian with English subtitles)
A chilling and inventive expose of Indonesia鈥檚 culture of impunity,where former death squad leaders are heralded as national heroes as they re-enact their atrocities in the style of the Hollywood movies they love. The film will be introduced by Professor Thomas Pepinsky of Cornell University. A Skype question-and-answer session with the director, Joshua Oppenheimer, will follow.
The screening is co-sponsored by the departments of Anthropology and Communication and Rhetorical Studies.
Saturday, Sept. 28, 4 p.m.
Auditorium, Life Sciences Building
鈥泪苍迟别谤蝉别虫颈辞苍鈥
Grant Lahood
(68 minutes, New Zealand, 2012, closed-captioned in English)
Mani Bruce Mitchell, New Zealand鈥檚 first 鈥榦ut鈥 intersex person, takes us around the world to meet members of the growing intersex community who have fought for the right to bodily self-determination beyond the gender binary. A Skype question-and answer session with Mitchell and director Grant Lahood will follow.
The screening is co-sponsored by the LGBT Studies Program, the LGBT Resource Center and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Saturday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m. (Closing Night)
Auditorium, Life Sciences Building
鈥沦丑补丑颈诲鈥
Hansal Mehta
(123 minutes, India, 2012, Hindi with English subtitles)
Based on the life of Shahid Azmi, Mehta鈥檚 feature charts Azmi鈥檚 remarkable journey from religious radicalization as an impoverished Muslim youth through false imprisonment to becoming one of India’s most important human rights lawyers. A Skype question-and-answer session with Mehta will follow.
The screening is co-sponsored by the .
