Human Rights Watch Traveling Festival - Power Trip by Paul Devlin

Synopsis Program Notes Press and Outreach Viewers Guide Return to Titles

Introduction Tips and Program Notes

When introducing films at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, we generally follow a three part theme: Human Rights Watch, the Film Festival, and the film screening as it relates to both the organization and the festival. We have elaborated on these points below and we hope that you will feel free to incorporate this information into your own introductions.

Human Rights Watch and the International Film Festival

Since its inception in 1978, Human Rights Watch has become a real force in the human rights movement, widely respected for its accurate research and creative advocacy. Our staff works in more than seventy countries worldwide, publishing dozens of reports every year and shining a bright light on those who abuse human rights. Through rigorous investigation, expert analysis, strategic advocacy, and persistent pressure, we have led the way in building support and protection for internationally recognized human rights.

Our capacity to engage the public has always been critical to our ability to influence policy and stop human rights abusers. Fourteen years ago, we created the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in recognition of the power of film to educate and galvanize a broad cross-section of concerned supporters.

Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a distinctive human rights theme. Through the eyes of committed and courageous filmmakers, we showcase the heroic stories of activists and survivors from all over the world. The works we feature help to put a human face on threats to individual freedom and dignity, and celebrate the power of the human spirit and intellect to prevail. We seek to empower everyone with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a very real difference.

Power Trip

The privatization of electricity is a complex but common issue in many parts of the world. For societies coming out of the communist system of the former Soviet Union, the cultural clash with private Western companies illustrates a set of human rights values that are in conflict. In the past, rights such as the rights to housing, education, and labor were valued in the Republic of Georgia. Whereas in the West, things such as the right to freedom of association, freedom of speech and freedom of religion took priority. Therefore, when the economic values shift in a country like Georgia, it means that values are obliged to shift in both the social and the political system. It is this tension between systems that gives rise to individual struggles, both to succeed and to survive.