The New York edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for its 23rd year this Thursday, June 14 and runs through Thursday, June 28. Sixteen films will expose audiences to pressing human rights issues around the world, providing audiences with an opportunity to engage with important issues through personal stories. Thirteen of the selections are documentary features, with programming focused around five key themes:
Personal Testimony and Witnessing includes the opening night film, Alison Klayman’s Sundance winner, AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY; Lieven Corthouts’ LITTLE HEAVEN (pictured), a portrait of an Ethiopian orphanage for children with HIV; and Annie Goldson’s BROTHER NUMBER ONE, a personal experience of the Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal against the Khmer Rouge.
Three documentaries focus on Health, Development, and the Environment: Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke’s Sundance alum ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE; Beth and George Gage’s BIDDER 70, about the man who disrupted the Bush administration’s controversial oil and gas lease auction; and Micha X Peled’s BITTER SEEDS (pictured), an investigation into Indian farmer suicides.
Women’s Rights includes Sundance Audience Award winner THE INVISIBLE WAR, by Kirby Dick; and SALAAM DUNK (pictured), by David Fine, about an Iraqi women’s college basketball team.
Reporting in Crises features Mai Iskander’s WORDS OF WITNESS (pictured), following a young Egyptian woman’s experience reporting on the revolution and its aftermath; Beate Arnestad’s SILENCED VOICES, on the murder of journalists in Sri Lanka; and Bernardo Ruiz’s REPORTERO, a portrait of a seasoned Mexican investigative reporter.
Finally, LGBT and Migrants’ Rights includes Fernand Melgar’s SPECIAL FLIGHT (pictured), exploring a Swiss detention center for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants; and the festival’s closing night film, Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s Hot Docs award winning CALL ME KUCHU.
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