Now in its 24th year, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival marks its third year in Nairobi, Kenya with an extraordinary program of films set to inspire, inform and spark debate.
The five films that will be screened at the 2013 Human Rights Watch Film Festival address social, economic, and political systems that operate against the interests of ordinary people. They tell the stories of champions, real and imagined, who are fighting for justice against all odds.
“We are delighted to bring to Nairobi a thought-provoking array of films that interrogate oppressive systems – ranging from arranged marriage to global capitalism – and give voice to affected citizens,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch and coordinator of the Nairobi screenings. “And some of these citizens are undertaking extraordinary acts in their courageous quests to right wrongs.”
The festival will run over 5 days from November 18 to 22, 2013 at the Alliance Française de Nairobi.
On opening night, the festival kicks off with “In the Shadow of the Sun,”the story of two men with albinism in Tanzania, who pursue their dreams in the face of virulent prejudice,discrimination and violence. As Josephat Torner, one of the film’s protagonists, puts it, "One of the many things we have had to learn is to live in danger." Josephat Turner, High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi, and Kenyan Member of Parliament Hon. Isaac Mwaura, founder of the Albinism Society of Kenya, will join us as guests of honor at an opening reception beginning at 6:30 pm on November 18.
On November 19, the documentary “Fatal Assistance” by acclaimed director Raoul Peck, addresses the political aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Interviews with aid workers, government officials and ordinary Haitians expose the rotten underbelly of corruption, complicity and guile that underlie development aid.
The third night, November 20, we will screen “Tall as the Baobab Tree,” a feature film from Senegal dealing with child marriages, a widespread practice with a devastating effect on girls’ lives. When their father decides to sell 11-year-old Debo into an arranged marriage, Debo, her older sister, and a friend conspire to outwit a patriarchal system and overcome the odds.
On November 21, we feature “The Act of Killing,” which interrogates torture and genocide of alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectualsin Indonesia by the military regime that overthrew Indonesia’s president Sukarno in 1965. Decades later, a film director asks former perpetrators to re-enact the crimes they committed. Will these “acts” result in remorse, in a context of ongoing impunity?
The festival will end on a celebratory note with “99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film” on Friday, November 22. An unprecedented collaboration of almost 100 filmmakers, the film explores how the “Occupy” movement ignited the world’s imagination by positing radical alternatives to a political and financial system that only benefits a small minority. The film seeks to provide a reflective platform for activism for meaningful change.
Each film will be followed by a panel discussion or a Q & A session featuring civil society activists, who will engage the audience in debating the film’s relevance to our situation in Kenya, and the possible solutions and engagements that might contribute to a more just and rights-respecting world.
Film Summaries and Discussants
Monday 18 November 2013, 7:30 p.m: In the Shadow of the Sun (Tanzania, 85 minutes)
Filmed over six years, In the Shadow of the Sun tells the story of two men with albinism in Tanzania pursuing their dreams in the face of virulent prejudice. In the midst of an escalation in brutal murders of people with albinism, we meet Josephat Torner. Josephat decides to confront the communities where the killings are taking place saying, "I need to change society so it can accept me." Along the way, he visits Ukerewe Island. He finds 62 people with albinism living there, including 15-year-old Vedastus. Vedastus, whose mother was told to kill him when he was born, has been bullied out of school and rejected by his community. But Vedastus dreams of returning to get an education. Dedicating his life to campaigning against this sort of discrimination against people with albinism–segregated from society and deprived of education–Josephat becomes a mentor to Vedastus. Through his intimate portrait of Vedastus and Josephat, filmmaker Harry Freeland reveals a story of deep-rooted superstition, heartfelt suffering, and incredible strength. Official Selection International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2012
Co-Sponsor: The Albinism Society of Kenya
Discussants: Josephat Torner, Tanzanian activist; Harry Freeland, director; Hon. Isaac Mwaura, nominated member of parliament and founder of the Albinism Society of Kenya; High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi; and Bella Rhoda Kisiang'ani of Positive Exposure.
Tuesday 19 November 2013, 6:30 p.m: Fatal Assistance (Haiti, 100 minutes)
Award-winning Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a two-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory, and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti. Through its provocative and radical point of view, Fatal Assistance offers a devastating indictment of the international community's post-disaster idealism. The film dives headlong into the complexity of the reconstruction process and the practice and impact of worldwide humanitarian and development aid, revealing the disturbing extent of a general failure. We learn that a major portion of the money pledged to Haiti was never disbursed, nor made it into the actual reconstruction. Fatal Assistance leads us to one clear conclusion: current aid policies and practices in Haiti need to stop immediately. Official Selection Berlin Film Festival 2013
Discussants: Mohamed Khaled and Fiona Terry, experts on working in humanitarian emergencies.
Wednesday 20 November 2013, 6:30 p.m.: Tall as the Baobab Tree (Senegal, 82 minutes)
Tall as the Baobab Treepoignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing on the edge of the modern world fraught with tensions between tradition and modernity. Coumba and her little sister Debo are the first to leave their family's remote African village, where meals are prepared over open fires and water is drawn from wells, to attend school in the bustling city. But when an accident suddenly threatens their family's survival, their father decides to sell 11-year-old Debo into an arranged marriage. Torn between loyalty to her elders and her dreams for the future, Coumba hatches a secret plan to rescue her younger sister from a future she did not choose.
Co-sponsor: Rural Education and Economic Enhancement Programme Program (REEP)
Discussants: Mary Makokha, director of REEP, and Agnes Odhiambo, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Thursday 21 November 2013: The Act of Killing (Indonesia, 116 minutes)
A true cinematic experiment, The Act of Killing explores a chapter of Indonesia's history in a way bound to stir debate—by enlisting a group of former killers, including Indonesian paramilitary leader Anwar Congo, to re-enact their lives in the style of the films they love. When the government of President Sukarno was overthrown by the military in 1965, Anwar and his cohorts joined in the mass murder of more than one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals. Now, Anwar and his team perform detailed re-enactments of their crimes with pride, holding numerous discussions about sets, costumes, and pyrotechnics. Their fixation on style rather than substance—despite the ghastly nature of the scenes—makes them mesmerising to watch. But as movie violence and real-life violence begin to overlap, Anwar's pride gradually gives way to regret. And we see a man overwhelmed by the horrific acts he has chosen to share with the world. Official Selection 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and Winner 2013 Berlin Film Festival Panorama Audience Award – documentary film.
Co-sponsor:Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Discussant:Ann Kamau, programme officer, IMLU.
Friday 22 November 2013: 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film (United States, 97 minutes)
In September 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement propelled issues of economic inequality into the spotlight. 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film goes behind the scenes of the movement, revealing what happened and why. Personal stories imbue analysis of big picture issues with the real-world struggles of those compelled to take action, speak up, march, and risk arrest and brutality by police forces around the country. Supporters, participants, and critics shed light on why and how this movement took off with such explosive force, and ask what the next phase of the movement might encompass. An unprecedented collaboration of almost 100 filmmakers across the country, the production process of this feature film offers a diverse way of bringing meaning and context to the movement that swept up America, and much of the world, with its story.
Co-sponsor:Pamoja Trust
Discussants: Boniface Mwangi, award-winning photographer and Team Leader at PAWA 254; Dinah Awuor, Bunge la Mwananchi; Salma Sheba: Deputy Executive Director & Programs Coordinator, Pamoja Trust; and Ezekiel Rema, President, Muungano wa Wanavijiji.
