The lineup for the 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival has been announced. According to a press release, the selected films will “serve as inspiration and motivation for the audience, from seasoned activists to those searching for a role in local and global movements” during these troubled times. Seven of the 17 films screening this year are directed or co-directed by women. That’s a solid 41 percent, though less than 2016’s lineup, which was 56 percent women-directed.
The 2017 program was curated as a response to “global advances by far-right forces into the political mainstream, assaults on the free press, and the rise of ‘citizen journalism,’” the release details. The fest will represent a haven for the many people around the world who are feeling helpless and want to make a change. “The festival highlights the outstanding work of activists at home and around the world, presenting a broad array of urgent human rights issues beyond those that command today’s headlines,” explains John Biaggi, the fest’s creative director.
One of these offerings is Tiffany Hsiung’s “The Apology,” a documentary about the mass sexual abuse the Imperial Japanese Army committed during World War II. The film focuses on three survivors — known during the war as “comfort women” — Grandma Gil of South Korea, Grandma Cao of China, and Grandma Adela of the Philippines.
Among the other women-helmed selections are the world premiere of April Hayes and Katia Maguire’s “Home Truth,” which documents Jessica Gonzales’ nine-year fight for better protection and stronger laws for domestic abuse victims and their children, and Cristina Herrera Bórquez’s “No Dress Code Required,” a story about a gay couple determined to get married in their hometown of Mexicali, Mexico despite vocal opposition.
Pamela Yates’ Resistance Saga trilogy will also screen at the festival as a special event. Filmed over 35 years, the three films expose the corruption and genocide of indigenous people in Guatemala. Comprised of 1984’s “When the Mountains Tremble,” 2011’s “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator,” and this year’s “500 Years: Life in Resistance,” the Resistance Saga is “designed to galvanize audiences to fight back when society is faced with authoritarianism and demagogues.”
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be June 9–18 in New York. Visit the festival website for screening times and tickets.
Check out all the films from women directors below. Synopses courtesy of the fest.
“The Apology”
Tiffany Hsiung, 2016, 104m, Bisaya, Mandarin, English, Japanese, Korean
Grandma Gil in South Korea, Grandma Cao in China, and Grandma Adela in the Philippines were amongst thousands of girls and young women who were sexually exploited by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, many through kidnapping, coercion and sexual slavery. Some 70 years after their imprisonment, and after decades living in silence and shame about their past, the wounds are still fresh for these three former, now elderly, “comfort women.” Despite multiple formal apologies from the Japanese government issued since the early 1990s, there has been little justice; the courageous resolve of these women moves them to fight and seize their last chance to share first-hand accounts of the truth with their families and the world to ensure this horrific chapter of history is neither repeated nor forgotten. US Premiere
“Complicit”
Heather White and Lynn Zhang, 2016, 90m, Mandarin
Shot under-the-radar, Complicit follows the journey of Chinese Foxconn factory migrant worker-turned-activist Yi Yeting, who takes his fight against the global smartphone industry from his hospital bed to the international stage. While struggling to survive his own work-induced leukemia, Yi Yeting teaches himself labor law in order to prepare a legal challenge against his former employers. But the struggle to defend the lives of millions of Chinese people from becoming terminally ill due to working conditions necessitates confrontation with some of the world’s largest brands, including Apple and Samsung. Unfortunately, neither powerful businesses nor the government are willing to have such scandals exposed. US Premiere
“The Grown-Ups”
Maite Alberdi, 2016, 82m, Spanish
For almost their entire lives a group of forty-something classmates have grown up together and are reaching the age of 50 with varying degrees of frustration. Anita, Rita, Ricardo and Andrés feel that the school they attend for people with Down syndrome is confining; they long for new challenges, greater independence, and more personal space. Director Maite Alberdi’s observational approach is warm and compassionate, allowing the characters to voice their innermost longings and aspirations. It also perfectly captures the tragic state of limbo in which they are stuck: mature enough to want the pressures and privileges of independent adulthood, yet emotionally and financially ill-equipped to pursue them alone — and ultimately failed by a system that treats them as homogeneously disabled rather than as individuals. Their engaging story is a mixture of heartache and humor, and hope for greater understanding of people with Down syndrome, or anyone whose perceptions and abilities are different from “the norm.” New York Premiere
“Home Truth”
April Hayes and Katia Maguire, 2017, 70m
Shot over the course of nine years, Home Truth chronicles one family’s incredible pursuit of justice, shedding light on how our society responds to domestic violence and how the trauma from domestic violence can linger through generations. In 1999, Colorado mother Jessica Gonzales experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when her three young daughters were killed after being abducted by their father in violation of a domestic violence restraining order. Devastated, Jessica sued her local police department for failing to adequately enforce her restraining order despite her repeated calls for help that night. Determined to make sure her daughters did not die in vain, Jessica pursues her case to the US Supreme Court and an international human rights tribunal, seeking to strengthen legal rights for domestic violence victims. Meanwhile, her relationship with her one surviving child, her son Jessie, suffers, as he struggles with the tragedy in his own way. World Premiere
“Lost in Lebanon”
Sophia and Georgia Scott, 2016, 80m, Arabic, English
As the Syrian war continues to leave entire generations without education, health care, or a state, Lost in Lebanon closely follows four Syrians during their relocation process. The resilience of this Syrian community, which currently makes up one fifth of the population in Lebanon, is astoundingly clear as its members work hard to collaborate, share resources, and advocate for themselves in a new land. With the Syrian conflict continuing to push across borders, lives are becoming increasingly desperate due to the devastating consequences of new visa laws that the Lebanese government has implemented, leaving families at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation. Despite these obstacles, the film encourages us to look beyond the staggering statistics of displaced refugees and focus on the individuals themselves. US Premiere
“Muhi — Generally Temporary”
Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander and Tamir Elterman, 2017, 87m, Arabic, Hebrew
For the past seven years Muhi, a young boy from Gaza, has been trapped in an Israeli hospital. Rushed there in his infancy with a life-threatening immune disorder, he and his doting grandfather, Abu Naim, wound up caught in an immigration limbo that made it impossible for them to leave. With Muhi’s citizenship unclear, and Abu Naim denied a work permit or visa, the pair resides solely within the constraints of the hospital walls. Caught between two states in perpetual war, Muhi is being cared for by the very same people whose government forbids his family to visit, and for him or his grandfather to travel back. Made by two filmmakers from Jerusalem, this documentary lays out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in human terms, documenting the impact these paradoxical circumstances have on individual lives. New York Premiere
“No Dress Code Required”
Cristina Herrera Bórquez, 2016, 91m, Spanish
Víctor and Fernando, a devoted, unassuming couple from Mexicali, Mexico, find themselves in the center of a legal firestorm over their desire to get married. Weighing all their options, the pair opts to stay in their hometown of Mexicali and fight for their legal rights. With the help of two committed attorneys, Víctor and Fernando withstand a seemingly interminable series of bizarre hurdles and bureaucratic nitpicking with grace and dignity. No Dress Code Required is a rallying cry for equality, a testament to the power of ordinary people to become agents of change, and above all, an unforgettable love story that touches the heart and stirs the conscience. New York Premiere
SPECIAL EVENT
The Resistance Saga
The Resistance Saga is a cinematic project designed to galvanize audiences to fight back when society is faced with authoritarianism and demagogues, and celebrate the role that the arts can play in creating, strengthening, and communicating narratives of nonviolent resistance.
All three films of the Guatemalan trilogy have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival during the past 35 years. When the Mountains Tremble (1984) introduced indigenous rights leader Rigoberta Menchú as the storyteller in her role to expose repression during Guatemala’s brutal armed conflict. Winner of the Special Jury Award at Sundance, the film was seen worldwide and translated into 10 languages. It helped put Menchú on the world stage and 10 years later she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yates’ sequel, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (2011) is a political thriller detailing international efforts to build a genocide case against Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos Montt. The case included outtakes from When the Mountains Tremble as forensic evidence in the prosecution of Montt. The third film, 500 Years: Life in Resistance (2017), picks up where Granito leaves off, providing inside access to the first trial in the history of the Americas to prosecute the genocide of indigenous people. Driven by universal themes of justice, power, and corruption, the film provides a platform for the majority indigenous Mayan population, which is now poised to reimagine their society.
“When the Mountains Tremble”
Pamela Yates and Thomas Newton Sigel, 1984, 83m, Spanish
“Granito: How to Nail a Dictator”
Pamela Yates, 2011, 104m, Spanish
“500 Years: Life in Resistance”
Pamela Yates, 2017, 108m
English, Spanish, Mayan languages. New York Premiere
(Q&A with director Pamela Yates)
