Los Angeles

On Sunday, January 28th, our Film Club hosted a special screening of THE BLOOD IS AT THE DOORSTEP, a powerful documentary looking at the killing of Dontre Hamilton by a police officer in Milwaukee, and the unrest and reactions that came after. The movie was followed by a conversation with director Erik Ljung, Dontre's brother Nate Hamilton, and US Program senior researcher John Raphling.

Human Rights Watch is excited to co-present a Special Screening of TICKLING GIANTS on Thursday, October 12th at 7:30pm at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. A discussion with Director Sara Taksler and Comedian Bassen Youssef will follow the movie. Tickets are available here.

Dubbed, “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” Bassem Youssef hosts the most popular television programme in the Middle East. In the midst of the Egyptian Arab Spring, Youssef left his job as a heart surgeon to become a full-time comedian, and his show ‘Al-Bernameg’ (The Show) now brings in 30 million viewers per episode. In a country where freedom of speech is becoming increasingly restricted with each regime change, Youssef and his courageous staff of young writers develop creative methods to non-violently challenge abuses of power. Enduring physical threats, protests, and legal action, the team test how far they can take the joke. 

On June 2, 2017, Human Rights Watch Los Angeles and the International Criminal Court Alliance hosted a Conversation on Women's Rights in Iran with Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa Division, moderated by Asli Bali, Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and Director of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. The panelists discussed the recent presidential election in Iran, the role of women in the Iranian political scene, as well as Human Rights Watch's recent report of women in the workplace in Iran.

A recording of the conversation is available on the HRW SoCal Facebook Page and an attendee's written recap can be read here. Pictures can be seen here.

On January 29, 2017, Human Rights Watch hosted its Film Club Special Screening and Discussion of When Two Worlds Collide. The movie was followed by a Q&A with HRW's Jose Miguel Vivanco, Director of the Americas Division, Atossa Soltani, Amazon Watch Founder, and Filmmaker Heidi Brandenburg, moderated by Keely Badger, Film Club Committee member.

A contemporary apocalyptic story of a man, of a people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources, the Amazonian Rainforest. In this documentary, audiences are taken into the line of fire between opposing Peruvian leaders who will stop at nothing to keep their goals intact. On one side is President Alan Garcia who begins aggressively extracting oil, minerals, and gas from untouched indigenous Amazonian land. He is met with fierce opposition from indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, whose speeches against Garcia’s actions prove a powerful rallying cry to his supporters. When Garcia continues to ignore their pleas, a tense war of words erupts into deadly violence.A contemporary apocalyptic story of a man, of a people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources, the Amazonian Rainforest. In this documentary, audiences are taken into the line of fire between opposing Peruvian leaders who will stop at nothing to keep their goals intact. On one side is President Alan Garcia who begins aggressively extracting oil, minerals, and gas from untouched indigenous Amazonian land. He is met with fierce opposition from indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, whose speeches against Garcia’s actions prove a powerful rallying cry to his supporters. When Garcia continues to ignore their pleas, a tense war of words erupts into deadly violence.