*SEVENTH ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL AT USFFEBRUARY TUE 24, WED 25, THU 26, 2009 (@ 2:00 TO 9:00 PM)
PRESENTATION THEATREFESTIVAL PROGRAM (DAY & TIME OF SCREENING TBA)
CONFIRMED FILMS:TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, 2007, 106’ USA Dir. Alex Gibney2/26 4:00 pmThrough collaboration with the Davies Forum, Director Alex Gibney will be present for both an open interview with students and a question and answer session following the screening of his film. Winner of the 2008 Oscar for documentary feature, the film is a gripping investigation into the reckless abuse of power by the Bush Administration. A documentary murder mystery that examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base, the film exposes a worldwide policy of detention and interrogation that condones torture and the abrogation of human rights. This disturbing and often brutal film is the most incisive examination to date of the Bush Administration’s willingness, in its prosecution of the “war on terror,” to undermine the essence of the rule of law. The film asks and answers a key question: what happens when a few men use the wartime powers of the executive to undermine the very principles on which the United States was founded?
DOS AMERICAS: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NEW ORLEANS, 2008, 47’ USA Dir. David Zlutnick.
2/26 6:30 pm* Comments by Professors Jorge Aquino & Ron Sundstrom, response by D. Zlutnick
Post-Katrina reconstruction is still in progress throughout the Gulf Coast, with much of the City of New Orleans still in ruins. This documentary focuses on those rebuilding this city through interviews with some of the estimated 100,000 Latino migrant laborers who have converged in this area over the past two and a half years. Despite terrible working conditions, massive fraud, a housing crisis, severe harassment by law enforcement, and very limited resources, New Orleans’ Latino community has mushroomed since the storm and is establishing an infrastructure proportional to its size. Take a look at how this community is organizing to defend itself against numerous injustices and the attempts to bridge the gap between themselves as new residents and the pre-Katrina population, all within the extremely unique and tragic context of post-Katrina New Orleans.
4 DE JULIO. LA MASACRE DE SAN PATRICIO (JULY 4TH – ST. PATRICK’S MASSACRE), 2007, 98’ Argentina Dir. Juan Pablo Young, Pablo Zubizarreta2/24 1:45 pmOn Sunday July 4th, 1976, three priests and two seminarists belonging to the Pallottine congregation were brutally murdered at Saint Patrick’s church in Buenos Aires. The military authorities developed the hypothesis of a terrorist attack. But evidence revealed the involvement of a paramilitary group linked to the de facto government. The Church refused to talk about the murders and the judicial investigation covered up the incriminating evidence of the massacre that pointed to the government as murderers. In a country where the ecclesiastical hierarchy had backed up the military coup, such an attack to the heart of the Church seemed to offer no explanation. What were the motives for the murder?
NUEVO DRAGON CITY, 2008, 12’ USA Dir. Sergio De La Torre2/24 6:30 pm* Professor Sergio De la Torre will introduce his film and lead Q&A session
The Chinese first came to Tijuana in the early 1900s. They either came because they were kicked out of the United States, or they came from Mainland China. Now, more than 100 years after their arrival, thousands of Chinese are still invisible in/to the city. Nuevo Dragon City is a reenactment of a historical event that occurred in 1927 in northern Mexico, where six Chinese were either trapped or hid inside a building. Given the unresolved relations between Chinese and Mexicans, they were never rescued or they hid forever; no one knows what really happened. There are little or no film projects (as there are just a few articles on this topic) that focus on the Chinese presence in Tijuana. Nuevo Dragon City offers an experimental alternative to mainstream media fare: it plays with invisibility from the perspectives of Chinese-Mexicans.
PROMISE TO THE DEAD, 2006, 92’ Canada Dir. Peter Raymont2/24 4:00 pm* A selection from the Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival
On September 11, 1973, Chile's military attacked its government. As the coup took hold, the democratically elected president Salvador Allende called government members to the presidential palace to stand against their attackers, facing certain death. Ariel Dorfman was Allende's cultural advisor, and should have been called too; he later discovered his name had been struck from the list so he could live to tell what happened that day. Three decades later, Dorfman is an internationally respected writer and human rights activist, winner of the Sir Laurence Olivier Award for the play "Death and the Maiden." Filmmaker Peter Raymont travels to Chile with Dorfman in late 2006, at the time when Augusto Pinochet, Allende's overthrower and Dorfman's long-time nemesis, is dying. Raymont follows Dorfman through emotional reunions with his friends and fellow resistors, to personal landmarks that are powerful both emotionally and historically. During the journey they explore exile, memory and the search for justice.
THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, 2007, 76’ USA Dir. Lisa Jackson2/25 4:30 pm* A selection from the Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival
Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film sensitively yet unflinchingly brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country's intractable conflicts. A survivor of rape herself, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Jackson travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. The film features interviews with activists, peacekeepers, physicians, and even the indifferent rapists. But the most remarkable moments of the film come as survivors the film come as survivors recount their personal stories-inspiring examples of resilience, resistance, courage and grace.
*Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2008.
FREEHELD, 2007, 38’ USA Dir. Cynthia Wade2/25 1:00 pmDetective Lieutenant Laurel Hester spent 25 years investigating tough cases in Ocean County, New Jersey, protecting the rights of victims and putting her life on the line. She had no reason to expect that in the last year of her life, after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that her final battle for justice would be for the woman she loved. The documentary film "Freeheld" chronicles Laurel's struggle to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. With less than six months to live, Laurel refuses to back down when her elected officials - the Ocean County Freeholders -deny her request to leave her pension to Stacie, an automatic option for heterosexual married couples. Alternating from packed public demonstrations at the county courthouse to quiet, tender moments of Laurel and Stacie at home, "Freeheld" combines tension-filled political drama with personal detail, creating a nuanced study of a grassroots fight for justice.
*Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2007.
* Academy Award, Best Documentary Short Subject 2008.
FILMS UNDER CONSIDERATION:
- Film addressing Environmental Issues
- Shorts produced and/or selected by USF students
- Film selected by USF GLBQT Caucus
Fax: 415-422-5680
E-mail: _kaisers@usfca.edu_
