In this second of three postings about NYC based festivals beginning tomorrow, I’m looking at the non-fiction offerings of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. A mainstay for over twenty years, HRWIFF has separate events in NYC and London, with a selection of films from those lineups included in a traveling festival screening around the US and Canada. The NYC festival brings 18 films to the Film Society of Lincoln Center through the end of the month.
Primarily but not exclusively a non-fiction event – its closing night film LIFE, ABOVE ALL and benefit screening THE WHISTLEBLOWER are both narratives – HRWIFF includes a powerful cross-section of documentaries addressing a range of international human rights issues and exposing their abuses. Among the countries represented are Lebanon, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Afghanistan, South Africa, Iran, Palestine, Kenya, Bulgaria, and, of course, the US.
The festival opens with Pamela Yates’ GRANITO (pictured), which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. HRWIFF will also screen Yates’ 1983 film that is at this film’s core, WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE. Other special screenings include fellow Sundance alum SING YOUR SONG as the fest’s Centerpiece, and TIM HETHERINGTON: NO BOUNDARIES, a tribute to the recently killed filmmaker/photojournalist.
Additional documentaries screening that I’ve seen and recommend: BETTER THIS WORLD, IF A TREE FALLS, FAMILIA (pictured), LOVE CRIMES OF KABUL, and THE GREEN WAVE.
Finally, among the titles I’ve not yet seen, I’m most interested in THE TEAM, 12 ANGRY LEBANESE (pictured), YOU DON’T LIKE THE TRUTH, and LOST ANGELS
what (not) to doc 