Amsterdam: Films, Debates on ‘The Power of One’

(Amsterdam) – Human Rights Watch will present the fourth edition of the Amsterdam Human Rights Weekend from January 29 to January 31, 2016, in De Balie.

The weekend will include films, a play, and panel discussions with Human Rights Watch experts, film directors, photographers, and journalists. Topics include refugees, human rights and diplomacy, justice versus peace, Human Rights Watch and the media, and failed and fragile states. The event will cross the globe, from Iran to Latin America, and from Europe and the United States to North Korea.

“This year’s theme is ‘The Power of One,’ demonstrating the impact a single individual can have on people and events as well as to provoke major change,” said Anna Timmerman, senior Netherlands director at Human Rights Watch. “We want to inspire the audience and spark critical reflection with an interesting array of films, discussions, and photography about key human rights issues.”

Partners for the Human Rights Weekend are: De Balie, ASN Bank, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, De Groene Amsterdammer, and Stichting Vluchteling.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, will open the program on January 29. Xandra Schutte, chief editor at De Groene Amsterdammer, will interview him, followed by the screening of “The Diplomat,” about the late US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose career spanned 50 years of American foreign policy – from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

On January 30, the Oscar-shortlisted documentary “Cartel Land” will be presented. With unprecedented access, “Cartel Land” takes a look at the harrowing journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels. José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, will be at the screening.

Human Rights Watch will offer a master class, “The Unravelling,” on January 30, at which the Human Rights Watch emergencies director, Peter Bouckaert, and a leading photojournalist, Marcus Bleasdale, will discuss the essentials of international crisis reporting – from on-the-ground investigation methods to techniques for ensuring that stories reach the broadest audience possible.

Another master class, “Failed and Fragile States: Implications for Security and Human Rights,” on January 30, will focus on the consequences of failed and fragile states for their own citizens and for Europe. An expert discussion, “Justice Versus Peace? Colombia’s Peace Talks and Accountability,” will explore the complex relationship between reaching a peace deal and providing justice for a conflict’s victims.

On January 30, Max Christern, former journalist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and currently owner and CEO at MOC Media, will interview Roth about what he sees as the biggest challenges for human rights worldwide. The program will include short video selections and photos.

The weekend will also include January 30 showings of the documentary “Life is Sacred,” which follows an unorthodox presidential candidate, Antanas Mockus, and his enthusiastic young activist supporters as they try to reverse the vicious cycle of violence in Colombia with an imaginative and positive election campaign, and “Among the Believers,” which offers rare insights into the ideological battles shaping Pakistan and the Muslim world. In “I am Sun Mu,” to be shown January 30, an artist, Sun Mu, works under a defiant alias meaning “no boundaries” to criticize the repressive North Korean government of Kim Jong-un.

The documentary “No Land’s Song” will be shown on January 31. The Islamic revolution of 1979 banned female singers from appearing in public in Iran. Sara Najafi is determined to revive the female voice and courageously plans an evening of Iranian and French female soloists. The documentary “At Home in the World,” also planned for January 31, tells the story of young refugees at a Red Cross school in Denmark.

Another master class, “Desperate Journey: Europe’s Refugee Crisis,” will be presented on January 31. With video fragments, photos, and panel discussions, the program will show the conditions on the ground and convey the compelling individual stories inside this crisis. A January 31 panel discussion, “Iran After the Lifting of Sanctions,” will feature Iran experts, who will describe their vision for its future.

The festival will end with the screening of “Out to Win.” In this film gay and lesbian professional athletes discuss coming out, and the effect it had on their lives and careers.

As part of the weekend, De Balie is presenting a photo exhibit from January 8 to February 4, focusing on the impact of climate change in the Turkana region of Kenya. The photographer, Brent Stirton, accompanied a Human Rights Watch team of researchers to Kenya to document the challenges that the indigenous Turkana people face in accessing food, water, health, and security.

Each program will be followed by a panel discussion or question-and-answer session featuring activists, Human Rights Watch researchers, filmmakers, and journalists.

For film summaries and participant details, please see below.

Program:

Friday, January 29, 2016, 8 p.m.: Opening Night, The Diplomat

The Diplomat tells the story of the life and legacy of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose career spanned 50 years of American foreign policy – from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Told through the perspective of his eldest son, David, the documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of high stakes diplomacy, where peace is waged and wars are ended. The film was released in 2015, the 20th anniversary of Holbrooke’s crowning achievement: the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia and Hercegovina. This screening is the Dutch premiere.

Speaker: Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch
Moderator: Xandra Schutte, chief editor, De Groene Amsterdammer

Saturday, January 30, 12:30 p.m.: “Cartel Land” (USA/Mexico, 98 minutes)

With unprecedented access, “Cartel Land” is a look at the harrowing journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels. In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley--a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley--Tim "Nailer" Foley, a US military veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon that aims to stop Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across the US border.

The filmmaker, Matthew Heineman, embedded himself in the events as Nailer, El Doctor, and the cartel each vied to bring its own brutal brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. “Cartel Land” is a meditation on the breakdown of order and of what can happen when citizens take the law in their own hands.

Speaker: José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch

Saturday, January 30, 1:15 p.m.: Master Class: “The Unravelling”

The Human Rights Watch Emergencies director Peter Bouckaert and a leading photojournalist, Marcus Bleasdale, will discuss the essentials of international crisis reporting – from on-the-ground investigation methods to techniques for ensuring that stories reach the broadest audience possible. In November 2013, Bouckaert and Bleasdale began a journey to draw attention to a humanitarian crisis in a country that few people in the world even knew existed. The aim was to document the war crimes and horrific bloodshed in the Central African Republic.

Culminating in the multimedia project “The Unravelling,” their investigations have become the most important source of information on a crisis that continues today. This program includes documentary footage from The Unravelling as well as discussions on how the project was produced and disseminated. Participants will learn how Bouckaert and Bleasdale used every tool available to put the story on the map and the methods they used to capture photographs, videos and satellite imagery. They will also describe how they crafted their material into a compelling narrative for the public and policy-makers. 

Speakers: Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director; Marcus Bleasdale, one of the world’s leading photojournalists, who has collaborated with Human Rights Watch for over a decade.

Moderator: Andrea Holley, deputy director, Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Saturday, January 30, 3 p.m.: Life is Sacred (Denmark, 104 minutes)

Violence is part of everyday life in Colombia, where the military, guerrillas, paramilitaries, and drug cartels have been fighting for decades, and hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. But the unorthodox presidential candidate Antanas Mockus and his enthusiastic young activist supporters attempt to reverse the vicious cycle with an imaginative and positive election campaign.

As mayor of Bogotá, dressed in a Superman costume and with an indomitable trust in the good of his fellow citizens, he took on towering crime rates and people's bad traffic habits. But his idealism is both his strength and his weakness in an aggressive political system in which he struggles to restore people’s faith in being able to make a difference. Can good ideas and an idealistic drive alone change a political culture where violence is rampant? This is the portrait of an inspiring man and a powerful youth movement, whose stories are relevant far beyond Colombia's borders. This screening is the Dutch premiere.

Speakers: José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch; Andreas Dalsgaard, director of “Life is Sacred”

Moderator: Hansje van der Zwaan-Plagman, senior adviser, sustainability at ASN Bank

Saturday, January 30, 3:15 p.m.: Master class: “Failed and Fragile States: Implications for Security and Human Rights”

“Failed” and “fragile” states are countries with little or no state capacity, and where the government is embroiled in conflict, does not control parts of the country, or is unable to carry out basic duties, like protecting its citizens. South Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, and Libya are examples. These contexts often create immense humanitarian disasters and contribute to regional and global political instability.

Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, will speak about the situation in Somalia and the human rights implications both for its neighbors and the broader region. Peter Bouckaert, the Human Rights Watch emergencies director, will discuss the situation in Libya and its consequences, such as the arms flow that fueled other conflicts in the region. Reporter and author Bette Dam will share her expertise on Taliban, Al-Qaida and the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Herman de Groot, Head Military Strategy Department at the Ministry of Defence, will speak about the strategic advice for Dutch military missions. The panelists will also discuss the consequences of these failed and fragile states for Europe, and what role Europe can have in tackling the problems these states are facing.

Speakers: Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch; Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director; Bette Dam, journalist; Herman de Groot, head military strategy department at Ministry of Defence

Moderator: Sahar Yadegari, program manager, Adessium Foundation

Saturday, January 30, 5:15 p.m.: Justice Versus Peace? Colombia’s Peace Talks and Accountability

After years of negotiations, a breakthrough in the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas came in September 2015. They reached an initial agreement over the controversial issue of prosecuting those guilty of abuses during the conflict, making the prospects for a real peace deal to end over 50 years of conflict more likely than ever before. While those responsible for gross human rights abuses would be prosecuted, those who cooperate with the justice system will serve sentences under “special conditions,” which will not entail prison time. Human Rights Watch strongly opposes the denial of victims’ right to justice this entails. What does this future peace deal mean for Colombia? This discussion will explore the complex relationship between reaching a peace deal and providing justice for victims.

Speakers: José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch; Liesbeth Zegveld, Human Rights Watch Netherlands Committee member and partner at Prakken d’Oliveira; and Fleur Ravensbergen, assistant director of the Dialogue Advisory Group

Moderator: Doutje Lettinga, analyst at Strategic Studies and senior human rights officer at Amnesty International Netherlands

Saturday January 30, 7:15 p.m.: Everything You Need to Know about Human Rights: Exclusive Interview with Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.

Kenneth Roth has been executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993. Under his leadership it has grown from a small American organization into an international organization with over 400 full-time staff members working across the world. Roth travels the world confronting presidents, prime ministers and dictators about their human rights policies. In his keynote, Roth will reflect on the World Report 2016, which will be released on January 27. This report summarizes human rights practices of more than 90 countries around the globe.

After the keynote, Max Christern, a former journalist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and currently owner and CEO at MOC Media, will interview Roth. Who is Kenneth Roth and what inspires him? What is his vision for Human Rights Watch? What does he see as the biggest challenges for human rights worldwide? And how has this changed since 20 years ago? The program will include short video selections, photographs and a Q&A with the audience.

Speaker: Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch

Moderator: Max Christern, former journalist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and currently owner and CEO at MOC Media. HRW Netherlands Committee member

Saturday, January 30, 5:30 p.m.: Among the Believers (Pakistan, 84 minutes)

“Among the Believers” offers insights into the ideological battles shaping Pakistan and the Muslim world. During the two years after they attended the radical Red Mosque madrassah, Pakistani adolescents Zarina and Talha are on different paths. Zarina attends secular school while trying to avoid early marriage, Talha, still a madrassah student, detaches from family in preparation for jihad. Their stories personalize the ideological war between radical and moderate Muslims that impacts Islamist extremism’s future worldwide.

Speakers: Betsy Udink, journalist and writer. The filmmakers, Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi, will join the discussion on Skype.

Moderator: Andrea Holley, deputy director, Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Saturday, January 30, 8 p.m.: I Am Sun Mu (USA, 80 minutes)

After fleeing his native North Korea to defect to South Korea, the artist Sun Mu works under a defiant alias meaning “no boundaries” to criticize the repressive government of Kim Jong-un. A former propaganda artist, he subverts familiar images that once glorified the “Supreme Leader,” transforming them into satirical political pop art. Offered an unlikely solo exhibition in China, the anonymous artist prepares his show under cover, potentially risking his own freedom and safety to expose the truth through art. Introduction to the film by Human Rights Watch.

Speaker: Anna Timmerman, senior Netherlands director Human Rights Watch

Sunday, January 31, 1 p.m.: No Land’s Song (France/Germany/Iran, 93 minutes)

The Islamic revolution of 1979 banned female singers from appearing in public in Iran. They are no longer allowed to perform solo, unless to an exclusively female audience. Recordings of former female icons can only be bought on the black market. But Sara Najafi is determined to refresh the cultural memory by roaming Tehran in the footsteps of famous singers of the 1920s and 1960s. She is about to revive the female voices in the present as she courageously plans an evening of Iranian and French female soloists to rebuild shattered cultural bridges—a concert that is not allowed to take place.

For two-and-a-half years, the director, Ayat Najafi, followed the preparations between Tehran and Paris that were always touch and go. What's still possible? What goes too far?  Sara Najafi’s regular meetings with the Ministry of Culture shed light on the system's logic and arbitrariness, though officials there can only be heard and not seen. Can intercultural solidarity and the revolutionary power of music triumph? A political thriller and a musical journey, “No Land's Song” never loses sight of its real center - the female voice. This screening is the Dutch premiere.

Speaker: Ayat Najafi, director of “No Land's Song.”

Moderator: Dirk van der Straaten, creative director, Movies that Matter

Sunday, January 31, 1:30 p.m.: Master Class: Desperate Journey: Europe's Refugee Crisis

More than 800,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in Europe by sea in 2015. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, 84 percent were from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, or Iraq – all countries experiencing conflict, widespread violence and insecurity, or countries with highly repressive governments. Human Rights Watch has covered the unfolding situation in multiple European countries using research teams that include photographers and videographers to capture conditions on the ground and convey the compelling individual stories inside this crisis. Experts share their insights and images and discuss how European Union governments can effectively respond to the refugee challenge in line with their legal responsibilities and stated values. 

Speakers: Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director; Zalmai, photographer; and Tineke Ceelen, director of Stichting Vluchteling.

Moderator: Anna Timmerman, senior Netherlands director at Human Rights Watch.

Sunday January 31, 3:30 p.m.: Master class: Iran after the Lifting of Sanctions

A nuclear agreement with Iran was reached in July 2015. What will lifting sanctions mean for the country? What will it mean for the economic relation with Iran as well as the human rights situation? How much will this all affect the daily lives of Iranian citizens? And what are the consequences of this agreement for the EU relationship with Iran? Experts will offer their vision of what the nuclear deal will mean for Iran, as well as the effects the deal will have on Iran’s relationship with the EU, regional neighbors and Iranians themselves.

Speakers: Peyman Jafari, Iran expert and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam; Marietje Schaake, member of the European Parliament, D66; and Carolien Roelants, Middle East columnist at NRC Handelsblad.

Moderator: Liba Beyer, director of public advocacy and outreach at Human Rights Watch. She will also speak about the Human Rights Watch campaign #Watch4Women of Iran.

Sunday, January 31, 3:30 p.m.: At Home in the World (Denmark, 58 minutes)

“At Home in the World” is the story of young refugees at a Red Cross school in Denmark. As the students await their residence permits, teachers prepare them for integration into Danish society. Viewers are introduced to the shy Magomed, a 10-year-old boy who fled Chechnya, and follow his story and that of his classmates. Every classmate carries their own history of trauma. This film offers insight into the experience of children integrating into a foreign society while simultaneously wrestling with the ordeals they experienced in their home country.

Speaker: Dorine Manson, director at VluchtelingenWerk Nederland

Sunday, January 31, 5:30 p.m.: Out to Win (USA/Canada, 99 minutes)

In “Out to Win,” gay and lesbian professional athletes discuss coming out, and the effect it had on their lives and careers. The film offers a look into the private lives of professional and aspiring athletes, showing the problems they are confronted with all over the world. Professional LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) athletes in The Netherlands are not immune from these struggles. They often face discrimination within the sporting arena, so much so that some fear coming out will be detrimental for their career.

Speakers: Boris Dittrich, LGBT advocacy director at Human Rights Watch; and Johan Kenkhuis, Olympic-medal-winning Dutch swimmer