Nairobi: Celebrating Efforts to Spark Change

(Nairobi) – The fifth annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be held in Nairobi on November 16-20, 2015, with a program of five award-winning documentary films.

The films highlight the many social and legal obstacles that activists and ordinary citizens have to overcome, often at great personal cost, to obtain justice. The films will be shown in the Alliance Française de Nairobi, Monrovia/Loita Street and will feature a question-and-answer session after every screening. Admission is free.

“This year’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival in Nairobi brings an array of documentaries that highlight the journeys of determined, brave people challenging political, social, and legal status quos,” said Laetitia Bader, researcher at Human Rights Watch and coordinator of the 2015 Nairobi festival. “The thought-provoking documentaries show the immense personal risks individuals are willing to take to bring about profound change.”

The films follow the efforts for justice of, among others, the family of a murdered African-American teenager, a female singer in Iran, women activists during the Arab Spring, and lawyers drafting the constitution in Zimbabwe.

FILM SCREENINGS

3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets – November 16; 6:45 p.m. 98 minutes
The festival will kick off with 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets. In November 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida, four unarmed African-American teenagers stopped at a gas station to buy gum and cigarettes. When a middle-age white man parked beside them, an altercation began over the volume of rap music in the teens’ car. In a matter of moments, Michael Dunn fired 10 bullets into their car, killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis instantly.

The recent series of deaths of young African-Americans – Davis, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray – has galvanized the United States public and is beginning to shape national dialogue and policy. This film brings the conversation back home – to the impact on families across the US, for whom reform can’t come fast enough. The film resonates with the Black Lives Matter Movement, which tracks extrajudicial killings of black people by police and vigilantes in the US.

Special Jury Award for Social Impact, US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2015. 

An opening reception will be held at 6:15 p.m.

Discussion:
George Kegoro, director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Peter Kiama, director of the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Moderator: Otsieno Namwaya, Human Right Watch

The Trials of Spring Shorts – November 17; 6:30 p.m. 76 minutes
Women were on the front lines of the uprisings that swept the Arab world in 2011. Young and old, rich and poor, veiled and unveiled, they took to the streets beside men, their signs held high or hands cupped around their mouths to amplify their voices. But as the jubilation of revolution gave way to the convoluted process of governing – and often the chaos and blood of war – women disappeared from the mainstream story. But they continue to play vital roles – keeping schools open and mouths fed, tending to the sick and injured, keeping the world informed through blogs and social media, lobbying for human rights, running for office, building alliances, even drafting constitutions for fledgling democracies.

The Trials of Spring is a multimedia initiative that aims to elevate the stories of these women. The project includes short films profiling women from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria and an extensive outreach campaign that will bring these stories to stakeholders, educators, and grassroots organizations around the world. This program will feature a selection of the short films and discussion around the issues they raise.

Discussion:
Nanjala Nyabola, Heinrich Böll Stiftung program coordinator
Nichole Sobecki, visual journalist
Hanan Salah, Human Right Watch Libya researcher

We Were Rebels – November 18; 6:30 p.m. 93 minutes
The documentary film We Were Rebels tells the story of Agel, a former child soldier who returns to South Sudan to help build up his country. The film was shot over a period of two years – from 2011, when South Sudan gained its independence, to the renewed outbreak of civil war in December 2013.

As captain of the national basketball team of South Sudan – the youngest country in the world – Agel coaches the team through their very first international match, against Uganda. The conflicts within the team bear a striking resemblance to the political problems festering across the country. After an injury forces Agel to leave the basketball team, he forms a nongovernmental group whose work takes him into the country’s most remote areas. His journeys give him time to reflect on his country – on how it was, how it is, and how he hopes it will be one day. Today, just two years after gaining its independence, the world’s youngest nation is once again teetering on the edge of a precipice: More than half-a-million people are fleeing the country, and Agel is a soldier once again.

Discussion:
John Penn de Ngong, prominent South Sudanese journalist
Justine Fleischner, Enough Project South Sudan policy analyst
Moderator: Lane Hartill, Human Right Watch

Democrats – November 19; 6:30 p.m. 100 minutes
In the wake of Robert Mugabe’s contentious 2008 presidential win, Zimbabwe convened a bipartisan constitutional committee in an effort to create a transition from the country’s corrupt authoritarian leadership. Two men from rival political parties were appointed to the committee: Paul Mangwana of the governing ZANU-PF and Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Democrats follows these two political opponents, as they faced the gargantuan task of writing a new constitution for the country. The process was marred from the outset: sinister theatrics from ZANU-PF corrupted a nationwide consultation designed to hear the people's voice, secret police kept watchful eyes on the proceedings, and meetings descended into violent clashes. Mangwana and Mwonzora were determined to push on. But as the drama unfolded, the grave personal costs to reaching political victory became clear.

Over the course of more than three years, the director, Camilla Nielsson, gained exclusive access to the inner circles of politics in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Nielsson's observational storytelling delivers compelling insight into the political game and an engaging portrait of Zimbabweans who are fighting for change.

Discussion:
Professor Yash Ghai, Kenyan academic in constitutional law
Dewa Mavhinga, Human Rights Watch Zimbabwe researcher
Moderator: Laetitia Bader, Human Rights Watch

No Land’s Song – November 20; 6:30 p.m. 93 minutes
Ayat Najafi’s political thriller and musical journey No Land’s Song looks at the loss of the female voice in Iran. The Islamic revolution of 1979 banned female singers from appearing in public. Women are no longer allowed to perform solo, unless to an exclusively female audience, and recordings of former female icons can only be bought on the black market. But Sara Najafi Ayat’s sister was determined to revive the female voices as she courageously planned an evening of Iranian and French female soloists to rebuild shattered cultural bridges. For two-and-a-half years, Ayat Najafi followed the preparations between Tehran and Paris, which were always touch-and-go. What's still possible? What goes too far? Sara Najafi's regular meetings with the Culture Ministry shed light on the system’s logic and arbitrariness, though officials there can only be heard and not seen. Ayat Najafi will offer his thoughts via Skype following the festival screenings.

Discussion:
Skype interview with Ayat Najafi, film director
Dr. Joyce Nyairo, managing director of Santeria media limited
Moderator: Agnes Odhiambo, Human Rights Watch