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The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here. The 4th Annual HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Human Rights Watch is widely recognized for their in-depth investigations, informed policy recommendations, and ability to generate intense pressure to confront human rights abusers and defend basic freedoms. Through vigilant monitoring and advocacy in over seventy countries, we are dedicated to advancing the protection and promotion of human rights for all. Since its inception, The Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has embodied the power of film to make a difference. Courageous and committed filmmakers produce impressive documentary and feature films, which stimulate passionate conversations about human rights and inspire new generations of human rights activists. The Facets Cinémathèque is very proud to present The 4th Annual Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival, using the universal language of film to share individual stories of suffering and of strength across both physical and philosophical borders. Time Out Chicago Chicago Reader 
STREET FIGHT
"Extraordinary...the movie will become the inescapable referent for media coverage of the new campaign" -New Yorker "Unpretentious and absorbing" -Village Voice Recommended! "This gripping, Oscar-nominated documentary (2005) presents such a scathing portrait of the veteran Jersey pol he must have realized his days were numbered when he declined to seek another term in 2006." -Chicago Reader Called "the best American political documentary since The War Room" by the Washington Post, Street Fight tells a riveting story about the underbelly of American democracy. It chronicles the bare-knuckles race for Mayor of Newark, N.J. between Cory Booker, a 32-year-old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent and undisputed champion of New Jersey politics. Street Fight presents a rarely-seen look at a kind of electioneering that is not about spin doctors, media consultants, or photo ops. In Newark, we discover, elections are won and lost in the streets. Directed by Marshall Curry, U.S.A., BetaSP, 83 mins. PBS site Director site New Yorker Village Voice NPR Showtimes: Fri., May 26 at 7 pm JUSTICE
"Already a master of the objective eye, Ramos uses her unobtrusive camera to uncover the frustrations inherent in a vastly imbalanced society where hope is scarce and the future is dim." -Variety How and for whom does the judicial system work in Brazil? Without attempting to provide definite answers, Maria Ramos takes her camera to a place where many Brazilians have never been: a criminal courtroom in Rio de Janeiro. She observes the daily routine of several individuals, people on both sides: those who work there every day (public attorneys, judges, prosecutors), and those who are merely passing through (the accused). Justice cuts between scenes of hearings and images shot outside the closed world (in the detention centre, at some of the characters' homes), linking the courtroom with the society of which it is part and showing its impact on people's lives. Directed by Maria Ramos, The Netherlands, 2004, BetaSP, 100 mins. Official site Variety Showtimes: Fri., May 26 at 9 pm Thurs., Jun. 1 at 7 pm THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX
"A warm and accomplished piece by vet documentarians...is an argument for the continuing relevance of vérité filmmaking...Its appeal hinges on Shelby herself: whip-smart, unafraid and funny, she's a winning protagonist." -Film Comment  ½ "Well-made, often extremely funny"-Film Threat "A pungent civics lesson on what can and cannot be accomplished by one plucky, idealistic girl" -New York Times "Balanced and truthful" -Variety "It's hard not to be awed by her determination and resilience" -Chicago Reader The national debate over federally funded "abstinence-only" sex education programs plays out in full force in The Education of Shelby Knox. Fifteen-year-old Shelby Knox of Lubbock, Texas is a self-described "good Southern Baptist girl," who herself has pledged abstinence until marriage. When she finds that Lubbock has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the nation, and her county's high schools teach abstinence as the only safe sex, she becomes an unlikely advocate for comprehensive sex education, profoundly changing her political and spiritual views along the way. Directed by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt, U.S.A., 2005, BetaSP, 76 mins. Official site MySpace account PBS site Film Threat Variety Showtimes: Sat., May 27 at 1 pm NO MORE TEARS SISTER
A story of love, revolution, and betrayal, No More Tears Sister explores the price of truth in times of war. Set during the violent ethnic conflict that has enveloped Sri Lanka over decades, the film beautifully renders the courageous and vibrant life of renowned human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama. Wartime mother, university professor, wife, activist, and symbol of hope, Rajani was assassinated at the young age of thirty-five in 1989. Using rare archival footage and intimate correspondence, the story of Rajani and her family delves into rarely explored themes-revolutionary women and their dangerous pursuit of justice. Directed by Helene Klodawsky, Canada, 2004, BetaSP, 79 mins. Official site PBS site BBC Showtimes: Sat., May 27 at 3 pm Sun., May 28 at 9 pm PULLED FROM THE RUBBLE
In August 2003, Gil Loescher went to Baghdad on a humanitarian research trip. He and his colleagues were in a meeting with the head of the United Nations in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, when a truck full of explosives was driven into the side of the building. Gil was the only survivor from the most devastated section of the building. All of the other people in the meeting died. Through poignantly honest narration, and observational scenes of high emotion, his daughter records the family's recovery during the months after the bombing, as she tries to find a way of re-visiting the haunting images of the bomb site-a place of both horror and hope. Directed by Margaret Loescher, U. K., 2004, BetaSP, 63 mins. Official site NPR: director interview Showtimes: Sat., May 27 at 5 pm Mon., May 29 at 9 pm PRIVATE
"Mohammad Bakri...one of the most familiar and striking presences in the Israeli cinema" -LA Times "Private's vision of domestic dread is more raw and real than anything Hollywood fantasy can offer... -BBC Recommended! "Director Saverio Costanzo shrewdly de-emphasizes the political issues, instead charting the subtle shifts in power between the prisoners and their captors." -Chicago Reader Inspired by real events, documentary filmmaker Saverio Costanzo's feature debut is a minimalist psychological drama about a Palestinian family of seven suddenly confronted with a volatile situation in their home that in many ways reflects the larger ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. Mohammad, his wife and their five children live in a large, isolated house located halfway between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement. The house, in the crossfire of the two sides, is a strategic lookout point that the Israeli army decides to seize, confining the family to a few downstairs rooms in daytime and a single room at night. Mohammad refuses to leave this home and, reinforced by his principles against violence, decides to find a way to keep his family together in the house until the Israeli soldiers move on. Directed by Saverio Costanzo, Italy, 2004, BetaSP, 94 mins. In English, Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. Official site Director interview LA Times BBC Showtimes: Sat., May 27 at 7 pm Sun., May 28 at 1 pm MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA
Mardi Gras: Made in China tracks the "bead trail" from the factory in China to Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, poignantly exposing the inequities of globalization. Filmmaker Redmon gained unprecedented access to follow the stories of four young Chinese women working and living in the largest Mardi Gras bead factory in the world, located in Fuzhou, China. We witness their economic realities, self-sacrifice, and dreams of a better life. Redmon inter-cuts these stories with strikingly candid interviews with the factory manager and the US businessman (who owns the factory) who offer their own visions on why globalization is a success. Brilliantly interweaving factory life with Mardi Gras festivities, the film opens the blind eye of consumerism by visually introducing workers and festivalgoers to each other. Directed by David Redmon, U.S.A., 2004, BetaSP, 72 mins. In English, Cantonese, Fujianese and Mandarin with English subtitles. Official site Village Voice New York Times Showtimes: Sat., May 27 at 9 pm Wed., May 31 at 7 pm VIDEO LETTERS
Videoletters is a truly groundbreaking and emotionally uplifting series of twenty short documentary films-a selection of which will be featured in this year's festival in two independent programs (`group 1' and `group 2'). Shot over the past five years in tough and often dangerous conditions, the filmmakers act as initiators, mailmen, and recorders of a dispersed population who hardly have contact beyond the borders. In each episode, two people of different nationalities send each other a video letter, explaining how this could have happened. Directed by Katarina Rejger and Eric van den Broek, Bosnia/Herzegovina/Slovenia/Macedonia/Croatia/Serbia/Montenegro (including Kosovo), 2004/2005, BetaSP, 75 mins. In Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian with English subtitles. Winner of the 2005 HRWIFF Nestor Almendros Prize. Please note: group 1 and group 2 are distinct programs which can be seen independently of one another. Official site NY Times Showtimes: Group 1: Sun., May 28 at 3 pm Group 2: Sun., May 28 at 5 pm (separate admission for each part) COMPADRE
In 1974, the Swedish photographer and journalist Mikael Wiström traveled across Perú chronicling the lives of people who literally had nothing and were forced to live off what they could find in rubbish dumps. There, Wiström met Daniel Barrientos, a young man stricken with polio. In Compadre, Wiström documents the daily life of Daniel's family and also involves the viewer in the great dilemma of the Western filmmaker being confronted with dire poverty. Wiström may call Daniel his brother, but how far does his "fraternal" responsibility extend? Directed by Mikael Wiström, Perú/Sweden, 2004, BetaSP, 90 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles Showtimes: Sun., May 28 at 7 pm Tues., May 30 at 9 pm LIBERACE OF BAGHDAD
"A revealing heartache of a documentary" -Washington Post "Vivid, at times grotesquely funny...viscerally captures life in a state of siege" -Variety Recommended! -Chicago Reader Held up in a heavily fortified Baghdad hotel pianist Samir Peter and filmmaker Sean McAllister try to survive the "peace" of post-war Iraq. In his heyday he described himself as the "Liberace of Baghdad," but his string of western girlfriends has led his wife and two of his children to leave for the United States. Now Samir has a visa to live in America too, to find fame and fortune in what he calls his "one last adventure in life." But Sahar, his pro-Saddam daughter who remained in Iraq, hates America for what it has done to her country. She refuses to go and Samir prepares to leave alone. Will Samir now sacrifice his American dream for the sake of his family left in lawless Iraq? Directed by Sean McAllister, U.K., 2004, BetaSP, 75 mins. In English and Arabic with English subtitles. Director site Washington Post Variety Showtimes: Mon., May 29 at 7 pm Thurs., Jun. 1 at 9 pm LIVING RIGHTS
Filmmaker Duco Tellegen (whose Behind Closed Eyes featured in the 2002 HRWIFF) has made a career of exploring the rich psychological terrain of children and young adults in critical moments of change. In Living Rights, his emotionally powerful and visually striking new film, Tellegen explores dilemmas facing three young people on three different continents. His remarkable ability to relate to these youths is evident as their lives unfold before our eyes. Directed by Duco Tellegen, Japan/Kenya/Belarus, 2004, BetaSP, 83 mins. In Japanese, Maasai and Russian with English subtitles. Official site (in Dutch) Variety Showtimes: Tues., May 30 at 7 pm Wed., May 31 at 9 pm CLOSING NIGHT BENEFIT SCREENING AND RECEPTION at the MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART OMAGH CARROLL BOGERT, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH & MICHAEL GALLAGHER IN PERSON!
"Omagh serves as a companion piece to writer-producer Paul Greengrass' superb 2001 pic Bloody Sunday, but emerges as a startlingly powerful achievement in its own right." -Variety Recommended! -Chicago Reader Pete Travis's vibrant and emotionally rich drama examines the tragic events and appalling aftermath caused by the bomb that claimed 31 lives and devastated the Northern Ireland town of Omagh in August of 1998. In June of that same year all of Ireland, north and south of the border, prepared to vote for peace in the Good Friday referendum. A small group of dissident Provisional IRA members set out to create a bomb outrage so bloody and calamitous that London and Dublin would be driven apart, unionists would withdraw from the peace process, and Northern Ireland would be driven back into violent conflict. They called themselves the Real IRA and selected their target carefully: Omagh, a small market town where Catholics and Protestants had co-existed remarkably peacefully throughout the thirty years of the "Troubles." Suspenseful, moving and immensely relevant to current affairs, Omagh tells Northern Ireland's bloody history from the point of view of its true victims - ordinary people caught between the militants. It shows people who refuse to be beaten forging enduring relationships across nation, class, and religion, and standing as a living monument to those who died. Directed by Pete Travis, Ireland/U.K., 2004, 106 mins. Variety Showtime: Thurs. June 1 at 6 pm Doors Open at 5:30 pm Benefit Reception at 8:30 pm Location: Museum of Contemporary Art 200 E. Chicago Avenue Education Center entrance (parking is located on Chicago Avenue). With Special Guests: Carroll Bogert, Associate Director, Human Rights Watch and Michael Gallagher (whose personal story inspired the film). For this Closing Night Benefit, tickets must be purchased in advance. Individual Benefit tickets: $250 (Director) $150 (Screenwriter) $75 (Cinematographer) To purchase Benefit tickets or for more information, please call 212-216-1805 or visit www.hrw.org. Order tickets online:  Back to top For further information, contact our Film Program Director, Charles Coleman: charles@facets.org |
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