Human Rights Film Festival Opens in May

Media Release

Human Rights Film Festival Opens in May.

The Human Rights Network of Aotearoa is proud to present the third annual New Zealand Human Rights Film Festival.

This years Festival showcases stories of activists and survivors through the eyes of courageous filmmakers, putting a human face on threats to individual freedom and giving voice to those who might otherwise be silenced.

Film has the power to educate and inspire and we believe the 2007 programme we be no exception. Featuring both international and local documentaries and dramatic films the HRFF brings to New Zealand audiences films that otherwise would not be available.

The theme of the 2007 festival is 'Identity '. From films in which people attempt to assert their right to be recognized as a state, to situations where expressions of identity are taken to the extreme with disastrous results for others, identity politics is an issue that underpins many of the debates that are taking place in public forums concerning the kind of society that we, as a nation, are striving to build.

The HRFF encourages dialogue. After each screening a speakers' forums will take place. The Forums are hosted by a panel who are able to speak about the film and the issues raised from an informed perspective. They are also able to respond to questions from the audience.

Highlights include:

*Carla's List
U.N. prosecutor Carla Del Ponte - a steely adversary, doggedly pursuing war criminals from the former Yugoslavia. Among the merits of Marcel Schuepbach's admirable documentary "Carla's List" is the fuller portrait that emerges, revealing the tricky diplomatic somersaults required to bring the orchestrators of genocide to justice. .

*The Iron Wall
There are more than 9,000,000 Palestinians, yet almost 6,500,000 are refugees –expatriates. The people of the land are becoming a people with no land as more and more Israeli settlements occupy the West Bank. The Palestinians are being squeezed into isolated and disconnected ghettos and enclaves as more and more of their land is seized to build the Wall.

*Goal Dreams.
How can a team without a recognized homeland, no permanent domestic league, no place to train and with players and coaches scattered around the globe or prevented from leaving their country compete in the world of modern football? Since being recognized by FIFA in 1998, the Palestinian team has risen 70 places in the international rankings, despite never having been able to play on home soil.

*Coca: The Dove from Chechnya
Her parents called Zainap Gashaeva "Coca" - the dove. Born in exile in Kasakhstan, she became a business woman and reared four children. Zainap has been documenting what have become daily events since 1994: abduction, torture, murders. The world is looking away; be it out of ignorance, helplessness or opportunism. Together with other women, Zainap has been hiding hundreds of videotapes. She is now bringing these tapes to Western Europe to serve as evidence so that the guilty - on whichever side - are punished.

*Total Denial
In an unflinching look at the human cost of the corporate, business-as-usual ethos under the Burmese dictatorship, Total Denial follows the efforts of a human rights activist to make multi-national corporates accountable for human rights abuses in Burma. In an unprecedented case of corporate accountability and human rights abuse, Ka Hsa Wa and Earth Rights International launch a lawsuit against UNOCAL, on behalf of 15 unnamed villagers, still hiding in the Burmese jungle. The result of the court case will set the standard for multinational corporate conduct worldwide.

*Breath of Peace
Featuring eight peace people of Aotearoa New Zealand - spanning some seven decades - peacewalkers, petitioners, and folk in small boats and on the surfboards sailing out into the harbours in the face of huge warships.This film tells the story of how Aotearoa New Zealand became nuclear free and anti-war. It is an inspiration for all people, young and old, and for peacemakers everywhere.

*Sign of the Times
Sign Language is the third official language of New Zealand. How did this come about? Sign of the Times is a fascinating account of the efforts of the deaf community to gain official recognition of remarkable evolution of Sign in this country and the epic journey to an official language.

*All the Invisible Children
__All the Invisible Children, is a very special cinematic project that has been put together by eight major directors – Medhi Charef, Emir Kusturica, Spike Lee, Katia Lund, Jordan Scott and Ridley Scott, Stefano Veneruso and John Woo to raise awareness about the plight of children around the world. All the Invisible Children is an anthology of short films that provide deeply moving portraits of children who face terrible adversity – deprivation, disease, violence – on a daily basis.
We hope the festival will provide the space for reflection, dialogue, awareness-building as act as catalyst to create change.
Media Screenings will take place in each centre. Please contact me on the details below if you wish to attend.

www.humanrightsfilmfest.net.nz

AUCKLAND / WELLINGTON / CHIRSTCHURCH
ACADEMY THEATRE / PARAMOUNT THEATRE / REGENT THEATRE
MAY 2-9 / MAY 9-116 / MAY 16 - 20

ENDS

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