HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM VIDEO CATALOG
2006-7
Our Mission
Founded in 1999, the HRWIFF High School Program is a human rights media resource. Our
program offers videos and educational materials to high school and after-school teachers
across the country. Our mission is to promote the inclusion of human rights curricula in
secondary and after-school education and to inspire youth dialogue and youth media production
around issues of human rights.
This year we are happy to be able to offer more than 40 new films through our partnership with
Mediarights.org and P.O.V./American Documentary.
Please take a moment to look through our catalog and contact Program Manager Jen
Nedbalsky with all video requests at (212) 216-1247 or nedbalj@hrw.org.
Our Partners:
The Media That Matters Film Festival brings innovative shorts and take-action tools to audiences
around the country, all year long. Every year, 16 jury-selected films by independent and youth
producers stream online, tour the country through community screenings, are broadcast on TV and
are distributed as a jam-packed DVD to teachers and activists. A free Teacher's Guide is available
through the festival website: www.mediathatmattersfest.org
The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival is the Principle Partner of the Media That
Matters Film Festival. Every year, HRWIFF hosts an installation of Media That Matters at the Walter
Reade Theatre's Furman Gallery at Lincoln Center.
P.O.V./American Documentary and the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (HRWIFF)
High School Program are pleased to announce Youth Views: a joint project designed to support
youth (21 and under), educators and youth-serving community based organizations in the use of
contemporary social issue documentary by providing them with resources and training in facilitation
and media literacy that will enhance their leadership skills, programs and curricula.
Youth Views offers new models for working with youth and the media for civic engagement that can
be replicated by youth-serving and civic-minded organizations in New York City and across the
country.
Global Nomads Group dedicated to heightening children's understanding and appreciation for the
world and its people. Using interactive technologies such as videoconferencing, GNG brings young
people together face-to-face to meet across cultural and national boundaries to discuss their
differences & similarities, and the world issues that affect them. This year we will be partnering on
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 1
presenting the PULSE program with GNG, and helping HRWIFFHSP schools participate in
videoconference dialogues on human rights.
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
High School Program Film Index:
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Title
Page
90 Miles
Al Otro Lado (The Other Side)
Alienated
All That I Can Be
Amu
Another Brother
As We Sleep
Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary)
Awaiting Tomorrow
Bad Choices
Battleground Minnesota
Behind Closed Eyes
Behind the Labels: Garment
Workers on U.S. Saipan
Big Enough
Biorhythms
Book ‘Em: Undereducated,
Over Incarcerated
Books Not Bars
The Boys of Baraka
Bread
Brother Outsider
Bush for Peace
The Camden 28
The Children of Birmingham
Class Dismissed
Copwatch
Darfur Destroyed and
Night Commuters: Uganda’s
Forgotten Children of War
Day of Remembrance
Dedicated to my Family
The Devil’s Miner
Diane Wilson: A Warrior’s Tale
Discovering Dominga
Dual Injustice: Feminicide
and Torture In Ciudad Juarez
and Chihuahua
A Duty to Protect: Justice for
Child Soldiers in the D.R.C.
The Education of Shelby Knox
The Empire’s New Clothes
Esmeraldas:
Petroleum and Poverty
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4
5
26
5
6
24
27
6
26
26
7
7
8
8
27
8, 25
9
27
9
25
10
25
10
24
11
25
25
11
24
12
12
13
13
14
24
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Title
Page
Every Mother's Son
Eyes on the Fair Use
of the Prize
Face to Face: Stories
from the Aftermath of Infamy
Farmingville
Fast and Reliable
Fenced Out
The Flute Player
The Forest for the Trees
Freedom Machines
Georgie Girl
A Girl Like Me
A Girl Named Kai
Happy Ending
(Hate) Machine
Holla Back Dubai!
Homecoming
How to Make a Bird
How Wal-Mart Came
To Haslett
I Promise Africa
iThemba
ICC: A Call for Justice
In the Morning
In Transit
Invisible Revolution
Is My Neighbor Latino?
It Ain't Love
Juvies
A Kind of Childhood
Laptop
Laugh at the Fat Kid
Lean On Me
Living Rights
The Lost Boys of Sudan
Love and Diane
The Luckiest Nut in The World
Luv Me Latex
Maquilapolis: City of Factories
Mardi Gras: Made in China
Me and Rubyfruit Program
The Meatrix
14
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24
14
26
15
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16
16
17
27
26
26
27
24
26
24
27
25
25
25
27
27
18
24
18
19
19
26
25
25
20
20
21
26
21
22
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23
25
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Third Media
That Matters Film Festival
Fourth Media
That Matters Film Festival
Fifth Media
That Matters Film Festival
Sixth Media
That Matters Film Festival
A Mile Walked
Military Myths
My American Girls
My Country, My Country
My Name Girl
Neglected Sky
The News is What We Make It
Night Visions
No Child
No Escape, Prison Rape
No More Tears Sister
Not Me, Not Mine:
Adult Survivors of Foster Care
Notes from Porto Alegre
Novela, Novela
Nuyorican Dream
Of Civil Wrongs and Rights:
The Fred Korematsu Story
Omar & Pete
Outlawed
A Panther In Africa
Permission
Persons of Interest
Pizza Surveillance Feature
POPaganda: The Art and
Subversion of Ron English
Postcards From Peje
Promises
Public Enemy
Punam
Rebel
Recycle
Rights on the Line: Vigilantes
at the Border
Rosita
Rules of the Game
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26
27
28
28
29
29
30
26
26
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27
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30
31
31
25
32
32
33
33
34
27
34
26
25
35
35
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24
27
37
37
27
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Scenes From an Endless War 38
Schools: Equality Please!
38
Scout's Honor
39
Seeds of Hope
25
Seen But Not Heard
39
Silence Speaks
24
The Sixth Section
40
Slip of the Tongue
27
Soldados: Chicanos in Viet Nam 40
Something Other Than Other
26
Sonic Memorial Project
24
Spring in Awe
25
State of Denial
41
State of Fear
41
Still Standing
42
Storm
24
Street Fight
42
Struggling to Survive
25
System Failure
43
Tales from Real Life
43
Thirst
44
Toilet Training
44
Tough On Crime,
Tough On Our Kind
45
Twelve Disciples of
Nelson Mandela
45
Vicious Circle
46
Voice of the Prophet
46
Vision Test
24
Waging a Living
47
War Feels Like War
47
War Takes
48
Water Warriors
27
We Were Humans
24
Well Founded Fear
48
Who’s Streets? Our Streets!:
The True Face of Youth Activism 49
The Works of Sadie Benning
49
World on Fire
26
Yo Soy Boricua
(Pa’Que Tu Lo Sepas!)
(I’m Puerto Rican, Just so you know.)
50
Young Agrarians
26
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 3
90 MILES
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Distributor:
Juan Carlos Zaldivar
USA 2001
79 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English subtitles
Cuba, Cultural Identity: Latino, Immigration
Frameline
Synopsis:
In 1980, filmmaker Juan Carlos Zaldivar was a thirteen-year-old Communist demonstrating
against thousands of people who were deserting Cuba in the Mariel boatlift. Ironically, that same
year, Juan Carlos' father demands that he and his older sister decide whether their family
should join the overcrowded boat lifts and immigrate to the United States to rejoin their relatives
in Miami. This would mean leaving behind their homeland Cuba, possibly forever. Eight years
later, after moving to Miami, Juan Carlos is the only one of his family who is willing to go back to
visit Cuba. Shot over a period of five years, 90 MILES looks at issues of trust, pride, and
responsibility and how the complexity of these issues shape the attitudes of Cubans towards the
world and the people they love. This film puts a face to a politically charged topic and serves as
a testament to the Cuban and Cuban-American experience.
AL OTRO LADO (TO THE OTHER SIDE)
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Distributor:
Natalia Almada
USA/Mexico 2005
56 minutes
Documentary
Spanish (with English Subtitles)
Cultural Identity: Latino, Immigration
Altamura films
Synopsis:
"Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side)" tells the human story behind illegal immigration and drug
trafficking between the U.S. and Mexico through the eyes of Magdiel, a 23-year-old fisherman
and aspiring composer who dreams of a better life. For people south of the border, the "other
side" is the dream of an impossibly rich United States, where even menial jobs can support
families and whole communities that have been left behind. For people north of the border, "Al
Otro Lado" sheds light on harsh choices that their neighbors to the south often face because of
economic crisis.
As movingly chronicled in "Al Otro Lado," Natalia Almada's debut feature, the border is a place
where one people's dreams collide with another people's politics, and the 200-year-old tradition
of corrido music vibrantly chronicles it all. In fact, if you really want to understand what is
happening on the U.S./Mexico border, listen to the corridos, troubadour-like ballads that have
become the voice of people whose views are rarely heard in mainstream media.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 4
ALIENATED
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Distributor:
Educational Video Center
USA, 2006
29 minutes (8 minute Educational Version also available.)
Documentary
English
Youth Produced, Immigration
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
Alienated gives voice to undocumented youth immigrants facing the challenges of life after high
school with no options for legalized work or college. A determined young woman from St.
Vincent commutes from Brooklyn to New Jersey to work as a nanny for $4 an hour, while
another young woman from St. Lucia tells how she was detained in seven U.S. prisons between
the ages of 17 and 20. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant groups rally around lobbying efforts that seek
to impose ever harsher policies and to ‘protect our borders.’ Through interviews with legal
counselors, youth service providers, and activists on both sides of the immigration debate,
Alienated examines what it means to be young, able and ‘illegal’ in America.
AMU
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Distributor:
Shonali Bose
India, 2005
102 minutes
Drama
In English, Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi with English subtitles
Cultural Identity: Asian/Pacific Islander
Emerging Pictures
Synopsis:
Amu begins with the everyday dilemmas of a young Indian-American, Kaju, returning to the
“foreignness” of her Indian homeland. Like an approaching thunderstorm, the film gathers a
potent political charge as Kaju begins to question her past and realizes how her own privileged
life in America was born out of communal violence in India. After Prime Minister Gandhi was
assassinated by Sikh bodyguards in 1984, carnage erupted in the streets of Delhi. More than
four thousand Sikhs were killed in three days. In the film Kaju’s parents are among those
affected by the violence. Writer-director Shonali Bose was a student in Delhi during those days.
She worked in the relief camps set up after the massacre, writing down the stories of those who
survived. Bose brings to the flashback scenes in Amu the intense impact of first-hand
experience. Amu is powered by a sense of outrage still felt today. The film makes a strong case
that this massacre was not spontaneous but planned, and depicts politicians and police who
were involved but went unpunished. Kaju’s questions produce difficult answers that force her to
face the truth of India’s history - and her own.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 5
ANOTHER BROTHER
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Distributor:
Tami Gold
USA, 1998
50 minutes
Documentary
English
USA, Cultural Identity: African American, Drugs and Addiction, HIV/AIDS,
Militarism
Anderson Gold Films
Synopsis:
ANOTHER BROTHER is a moving biographical mosaic of one ordinary yet extraordinary man,
Clarence Fitch. An African American veteran of the Vietnam War, Clarence was like many
veterans in the hardships he endured – racism, poverty, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS – yet
uncommon in his ability to transform these experiences through a life of political activism. In
telling Clarence's gripping personal story, the film provides a unique window onto the Vietnam
War, racism in America, and a host of social problems which have ravaged America for the past
three decades. The film is narrated chiefly by Clarence in an audio taped interview by William
Short, a fellow Vietnam veteran, before Clarence’s death from AIDS in 1990.
AWAITING TOMORROW
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Distributor:
WITNESS with Association des Jeunes pour le Developpement IntegreKalundu (AJEDI-Ka)
USA, 2006
28 minutes
Documentary
English
HIV/AIDS, Genocide/Ethnic Conflict, Children’s Rights
WITNESS
Synopsis:
The silent storm of HIV/AIDS is ravaging communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where
over 2.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. Some one hundred thousand people have died of AIDS
and more than 700,000 children have lost one or both parents to this preventable disease that, if not
tackled directly by government policy, has the potential of evolving into a raging pandemic. To date only
3% of those needing anti-retroviral treatment are receiving it.
"Awaiting Tomorrow" tells the story people living with HIV/AIDS in the war-torn Eastern region of the DRC
and advocates for the provision of: free HIV/AIDS testing, medical care and medication, including home
based care, nutritional and psychological support; outreach on testing and prevention particularly
targeting youth; awareness raising and legislation to end discrimination against all affected people; and
the building of infrastructure to make critical medical assistance accessible.
The Congolese government, supported by the international community, must comply with their
international obligations to take all necessary measures to guarantee the rights of persons living with
HIV/AIDS, including the right to health and the right to information on prevention, testing and treatment
and the promises made through the Millenium Development Goals.
Links:
Act Now to call on President Joseph Kabila and the Congolese government to immediately address this
emerging crisis and guarantee the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the DRC.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 6
BEHIND CLOSED EYES
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Distributor:
Duco Tellegen
Holland, 2000
100 minutes
Documentary
In various languages with English subtitles
Children’s Rights, Genocide/ Ethnic Conflicts, Militarism
Dovana Films
Synopsis:
What happens when a child soldier is both a criminal and a victim of his country's war in
Liberia? How does Eranda, a 7-year-old refugee from Kosovo, adjust to her life in a Macedonian
refugee camp, in a temporary shelter in the Netherlands and then back in her war torn country
in less then two years without bitterness? A young Rwandan girl becomes a mother before her
eighteenth birthday. How does she learn to love her child and herself despite the violence that
brought about the child's birth? "BEHIND CLOSED EYES" explores how four children of war
learn to build a future, despite their past. These children develop compassion for themselves on
their journey to survival. Their stories leave you at the edge of your seat and teach us the
meaning of courage.
BEHIND THE LABELS: GARMENT WORKERS ON U.S.
SAIPAN
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Distributor:
Tia Lessin; Co-Producer: Oxygen
USA, 2001
45 minutes
Documentary
English (some subtitling)
Labor
WITNESS
Synopsis:
Lured by false promises and driven by desperation, thousands of Chinese and Filipina women
pay high fees for jobs in garment factories on the Pacific island of Saipan- which despite being a
U.S. territory is exempt from federal minimum wage and certain immigration laws. The clothing
they sew, bearing the "Made in the USA" label, is shipped duty- and quota-free to the U.S. for
sale of The Gap, J.Crew, Polo, and other retailers. Powerful hidden-camera footage, along with
the garment workers' personal stories, offers a rare and unforgettable glimpse into indentured
labor and the workings of the global sweatshop-where fourteen-hour shifts, payless paydays,
and lock-downs are routine. Behind the Labels follows the issues from the factory floor ot the
streets, where protesters worldwide wage an ongoing battle against corporate globalization.
Narrated by Susan Sarandon.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 7
BIG ENOUGH
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Distributor:
Jan Krawitz
USA, 2005
60 minutes
Documentary
English
Disability
Fanlight Productions
Synopsis:
In this intimate portrait, Jan Krawitz revisits some of the subjects who appeared in her 1982
award-winning film Little People. Through a prism of "then and now," she contrasts the youth of
these individuals affected with dwarfism with their lives 20 years later. From navigating everyday
life to dating and marrying, they confront physical and emotional challenges with humor, grace
and sometimes, frustration. "Big Enough" provides a unique perspective on a proud and active
community that many people know only from cultural stereotypes.
BIORHYTHMS
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Distributor:
Paper Tiger Television with Streetworks
USA, 2002
8 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
LGBT, Youth-Produced
Paper Tiger
Synopsis:
Biorhythms weaves direct address testimonial with the rhymes and rhythms of the street to
create a unique form of self-expression. Larry Goodwin, a client of Streetworks, a drop-in center
for homeless youth, relates how coming to terms with his sexual identity has severed some
relations in his life and yet has yielded a more self-determined voice.
BOOKS NOT BARS
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Distributor:
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights & WITNESS
USA, 2001
22 minutes
Documentary
English
Juvenile Justice
WITNESS
Synopsis:
Books Not Bars is a powerful indictment of the growing "prison industrial complex" in America, a
system in which youth of color are four to five times more likely to be incarcerated than
educated. Examples of peer activism, youth organizing, and mobilization around prison issues
provide young audiences with tangible ways to get involved with the movement to reform the
U.S. juvenile justice system. In California, young activists score a victory when they convince
the Board of Corrections to deny pre-approved state funding for Alameda County's effort to build
the biggest per capita juvenile hall in the state.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 8
THE BOYS OF BARAKA
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Distributor:
Rachel Grady
USA, 2005
84 minutes
Documentary
English
School Reform, Economic Justice
Loki Films
Synopsis:
On September 12, 2002 twenty “at risk” 12-year-old boys from the tough streets of inner-city
Baltimore left home to attend the 7th and 8th grade at Baraka, an experimental boarding school
located in Kenya, East Africa. Here, faced with a strict academic and disciplinary program, as
well as the freedom to be normal teenage boys, these brave kids began the daunting journey
towards putting their lives on a fresh path. The Boys of Baraka focuses on four boys: Devon,
Montrey, Richard, and Richard’s brother Romesh. Their humor and candor give intimate insight
into their optimism, despite the tremendous obstacles they face both at home and in school.
Through extensive time with the boys in Baltimore and in Africa, the film captures the kids’
amazing journey and how they fare when they are forced to return to the difficult realities of their
city. The Boys of Baraka zeros in on kids that society has given up on—boys with every
disadvantage but who refuse to be cast off as “throw-aways.”
BROTHER OUTSIDER: THE LIFE OF BAYARD RUSTIN
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Distributor:
Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer
USA, 2002
83 minutes
Documentary
English
Cultural Identity: African American, LGBT Racism
California Newsreel
Synopsis:
Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of
the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. Bayard Rustin’s activism for
peace, racial equality, economic justice and human rights, and how he navigated through his life
and career as an openly gay man are the themes of this portrait.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 9
CAMDEN 28
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Distributor:
Anthony Giacchino
USA, 2006
82 minutes
Documentary
In English
War on Terror, Civil Liberties
www.camden28.org
Synopsis:
How far would you go to stop a war? On August 22, 1971, twenty-eight men and women in
Camden, New Jersey, carried out a powerful act of civil disobedience against United States
involvement in the Vietnam War. The group was part of a nonviolent antiwar movement
popularly known as the “Catholic Left.” One of the most dramatic tactics utilized by this
movement was breaking into draft board offices to remove and destroy government records that
identified young men available for military service. The activists claimed that their actions were
meant to show their belief that killing—even in war—was morally indefensible. And by
conducting their raids mostly in inner cities, they hoped to call attention to war’s damaging effect
on some of America’s most vulnerable populations. The documentary tells of the activists’
covert preparations, government intrigue, a government raid and arrest of the protesters, and an
ensuing legal battle which the late Supreme Court Justice William Brennan called “one of the
great trials of the twentieth century.” Thirty-five years later, key participants openly discuss their
motives, their fears, and the tremendous personal costs of their actions. It is a story of
resistance, friendship, and betrayal played out against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent
periods in recent American history.
CLASS DISMISSED
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Distributor:
Paper Tiger Television
USA, 2004
28 minutes
Documentary
English
US History, Race, Class
Paper Tiger Television
Synopsis:
Class Dismissed explores how history is taught, what's missing and how students can become
active learners and agents for social change. The video looks at the textbook industry,
standardized testing, the lack of race and class analysis in textbooks and the teacher's role in
introducing a range of perspectives into the classroom. Featuring authors Howard Zinn (The
People's History of the United States) and James Loewen (Lies My Teacher Told Me), New
York City public high school students, textbook industry insiders and teachers.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 10
DARFUR DESTROYED & NIGHT COMMUTERS: UGANDA’S
FORGOTTEN CHILDREN OF WAR
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Distributor:
WITNESS and Human Rights Watch
USA, 2004 and 2005
6 minutes and 5 minutes
Documentary
English
War
WITNESS
Synopsis:
In the Darfur region of western Sudan the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed allies have
killed thousands of civilians, committed systematic rape, and destroyed villages, food stocks,
and other supplies essential to the civilian population. Millions of people have been internally
displaced or forced to seek refuge in neighboring Chad. Darfur Destroyed documents the
devastation, gives voice to the refugees, and calls for further intervention to end the genocide.
The United Nations has called northern Uganda "the world's worst forgotten crisis." Every night
as many as 40,000 children flee their villages to sleep in the relative safety of urban centers.
Known as "night commuters", they do so to escape abduction, forced conscription, and sexual
slavery at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army, the brutal rebel force which has waged war
against the government for almost two decades.
THE DEVIL’S MINER
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Distributor:
Kief Davidson & Richard Ladkani
USA, 2006
82 minutes
Documentary
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Children’s Rights, Labor
First Run Features
Synopsis:
Two brothers, 14-year-old Basilio and 12-year-old Bernardino, work deep inside the silver mines
of Cerro Rico, Bolivia. In the mines, which date back to the sixteenth century, it is said the devil
determines the fate of those who enter. The devil is everywhere, watching - carved statues
called "Tios" are scattered throughout the tunnels, and the miners, including the young brothers,
bring offerings to them daily.
Raised without a father and living in virtual poverty with their family on the slopes of the mine,
Basilio and his brother must work to help support their family and afford supplies vital to their
education. As we come to know them, we see their fears and hopes for their future, and
occasionally glimpse childlike souls peeking through their stoic faces. Trusting in an ancient
belief that the devil determines the fate of all those who work in the mines, Basilio believes only
the mountain devil's generosity will allow them to earn enough money to continue the new
school year - their only chance of escaping their destiny in the silver mines.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 11
DISCOVERING DOMINGA
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Patricia Flynn with Mary Jo McConahay
USA, 2004
60 minutes
Documentary
English
Genocide, Assimilation
University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning
Synopsis:
When 29-year-old Iowa housewife Denese Becker decides to return to the Guatemalan village
where she was born, she begins a journey towards finding her roots, but one filled with
harrowing revelations. Denese, born Dominga, was nine when she became her family's sole
survivor of a massacre of Maya peasants. Two years later, she was adopted by an American
family. In "Discovering Dominga," Denese's journey home is both a voyage of self-discovery and
a political awakening, bearing searing testimony to a hemispheric tragedy and a shameful
political crime.
DUAL INJUSTICE: FEMINICIDE AND TORTURE IN CIUDAD
JUAREZ AND CHIHUAUA
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WITNESS
USA/Mexico, 2005
16 minutes 30 sec
Documentary
Spanish with English Subtitles
Women’s Rights
WITNESS
Synopsis:
Since 1993, over 400 women have been violently killed in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua in northern
Mexico. Known as "feminicide," this phenomenon has become one of the most embarrassing human
rights scandals in recent Mexican history. Under fire for their inability to resolve these crimes, the police
have attempted to appease the public outcry by torturing people to confess to the murders. However,
neither the families of the disappeared nor those of the accused believe the right people are behind bars.
Dual Injustice tells the story of Neyra Cervantes, who disappeared in May 2003, and her cousin, David
Meza, who was tortured to confess to her murder.
As authorities were slow to investigate Neyra's case, her family called upon David, who traveled 1,500
miles to help search for her. As they increasingly pressured authorities to properly investigate, they were
told, "You want a culprit? You will have him very soon." One week later, David was arrested.
Dual Injustice chronicles how the families of Neyra and David have joined efforts in a remarkable struggle
to end the rampant impunity enjoyed by those authorities who have referred to the murders of women as
"hype" and have fabricated culprits.
"Dual Injustice illustrates the tragic reality of families suffering the loss of a daughter, sister or mother in
Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. We must find ways to work together to help bring an end to these
ongoing murders."
— Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-CA)
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 12
A DUTY TO PROTECT: JUSTICE FOR CHILD SOLDIERS IN
THE D.R.C.
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WITNESS with Association des Jeunes pour le Dévelopment Intégré à Kalundu
USA, 2005
14 minutes
Documentary
English
Children’s Rights, Women’s Rights
WITNESS
Synopsis:
In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where civil war has taken more than four million
lives, children as young as six are routinely recruited by militias and taught to kill. It is estimated
that children, most between 8 and 16 years old, make up 60% of combatants in the region.
A Duty to Protect tells the story of Mafille and January, two girls who were recruited into the
military at thirteen and ten years of age respectively. Mafille is a demobilized girl soldier whose
experience of violence and secual exploitation cause her deep emotional scars. January is a girl
soldier whose bravado veils her suffering, and whose characater and perceptions personify the
complexity of the conflict and the views of the local population. This unique video also looks at
the effects of the recruitment and use of child soldiers on their families and the broader
community, concluding that the people of eastern D.R.C. wish for peace and justice in their
region.
THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX
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Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt
USA, 2005
90 minutes
Documentary
English
Gender, LGBT, Youth Activism, Education, HIV/AIDS
InCite Pictures
Synopsis:
What's it like to be a Christian teenage girl today? "The Education of Shelby Knox" profiles a
young native of Lubbock, Texas, on the rocky road through high school. At 15, Shelby pledges
celibacy until marriage, but because Lubbock has one of the highest teen pregnancy and STD
rates in the state, she also spearheads a campaign for comprehensive sex education in the high
schools, opposing the established "abstinence-only" curriculum. When the campaign broadens
with a fight for a gay-straight alliance club in the high school, Shelby confronts her parents and
her faith as she begins to understand how deeply personal beliefs can inform political action.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 13
THE EMPIRE’S NEW CLOTHES
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Chris Ho & Greg Shapley & WITNESS
USA, 2001
9 minutes
Documentary
English
Labor, Economic Justice
WITNESS
Synopsis:
New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world, but few people know that up to 75% of the
city's garment factories are, in fact, sweatshops. The majority of workers in these sweatshops
are immigrants and undocumented workers, who are particularly vulnerable to unfair labor
practices, exploitation, and hazardous working conditions.
EVERY MOTHER’S SON
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Tami Gold, Kelly Anderson
USA, 2004
60 minutes
Documentary
English
Police Brutality, Activism, Racial Profiling
Transit Media Communications
Synopsis:
In the late 1990s, three victims of police brutality made headlines around the country: Amadou
Diallo, the young West African man whose killing sparked intense public protest; Anthony Baez,
killed in an illegal choke-hold, and Gary (Gidone) Busch, a Hasidic Jew shot and killed outside
his Brooklyn home. "Every Mother's Son" profiles three New York mothers who unexpectedly
find themselves united to seek justice and transform their grief into an opportunity for profound
social change.
FARMINGVILLE
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Distributor:
Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini
USA, 2004
90 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
Immigration, Hate Crime
Docurama
Synopsis:
The shocking hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapult a small Long
Island town into national headlines, unmasking a new front line in the border wars: suburbia. For
nearly a year, Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini lived and worked in Farmingville, New
York, so they could capture first-hand the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all
sides of the debate. This timely and powerful film is more than a story about illegal immigration.
Ultimately it challenges viewers to ask what the 'American dream' really means.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 14
FENCED OUT
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Paper Tiger Television with The Neutral Zone and Fierce!
USA, 2001
20 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
LGBT, Youth-Produced
Paper Tiger Television
Synopsis:
FENCED OUT documents the fight for the Christopher St. pier – one of the only places in New
York City where youth of color, low income, homeless, and LGBTQ youth can hang out. In the
summer of 2000, fences are built right on the spot where the kids have routinely congregated to
prepare for the construction of a new state park. By the summer of 2001 most of the space has
been taken over by this development. Not only are city developers interested in "fencing out" the
kids, but neighbors with apartments overlooking the water want these kids to leave as well. The
youth have noticed an increased police presence that is not intended to keep them safe but as
one officer tells the youth producers quite bluntly, "You are lowering the property value." At first,
upset that they will lose the piers, the producers of the documentary interview local queer youth
about the importance of the piers in their lives. To further explore their connection to the piers,
the producers also interview older LGBT activists about the history of the piers and its
connection to the gay liberation movement of the 60s. In turn they become more politicized and
see how their struggle to save their public space connects to a larger historical and social
movement. As the video comes to a conclusion, the young filmmakers' anger and sadness
about losing the piers develops into a plan of action to save them.
THE FLUTE PLAYER
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Jocelyn Glatzer
USA, 2003
50 minutes
Documentary
English Subtitles
Cambodia, Genocide/Ethnic Conflict
NAATA (National Asian American Telecommunications Association)
This film is available for New York City screenings only. High school
teachers and after-school educators outside of the New York metropolitan
area should contact NAATA directly: distribution@naatanet.org.
Synopsis:
From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge led a campaign of death against every Cambodian
believed to be educated. As a result, over 90 percent of the country's traditional musicians were
killed. Now, as the handful of surviving musicians grow old and fall ill, a way of life quietly slips
toward the brink of extinction. Facing this desperate situation is Arn Chorn Pond – a survivor of
Cambodia's genocide, an internationally recognized human rights leader, and a talented
musician. Today Arn is striving to heal the deep scars of his war-torn past by bringing
Cambodia's once outlawed traditional music back to his people. THE FLUTE PLAYER is a
heroic story of one man's fight against the devastating effects of war. It is a film about sorrow
and pain, dignity and freedom, and the will to survive.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 15
THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
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Bernadine Mellis
USA, 2006
53 minutes
Documentary
In English
Civil Liberties, Environment
Bullfrog Films
Synopsis:
The Forest for the Trees is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at an unlikely team of young
activists and old lefties who come together to battle the U.S. government over alleged FBI and
Police retaliation against an environmental activist. Filmmaker Bernadine Mellis is the daughter
of legendary civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, who started his career representing the
Black Panthers and the Attica Brothers. Judi Bari was a leader in Earth First. Her car was
bombed in 1990, and she was arrested as a terrorist on charges that were later dropped.
Convinced it was a ploy by the FBI to discredit her and Earth First, Judi decided to sue.
Cunningham took on Judi's case and after twelve years, Judi Bari v. the FBI finally gets a court
date. Mellis is there at strategy meetings, at breakfast, and after court, documenting her morally
driven, very tired dad, while offering us access into the life of the extraordinary Judi Bari, and a
piece of U.S. history that is disturbingly resonant.
Read more about the organization EARTH FIRST : http://www.earthfirst.org/about.htm
Learn about the COINTELPRO program to spy and infiltrate activist organizations:
Read about HRW’s work in the United States: http://hrw.org/doc/?t=usa&c=usdom
FREEDOM MACHINES
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Jamie Stobie and Janet Cole
USA, 2004
55 minutes
Documentary
English
Ability/Disability, Children’s Rights, Education, USA
Freedommachines.com
Synopsis:
"Freedom Machines" takes a new look at disability through the lens of assistive technology. The
experiences of a group of unforgettable people let us re-examine ideas about ability and
disability grounded in our culture and attitudes. Engineers, designers and users challenge
barriers inherent in our built environments, and reveal the gap between the promises of the
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and everyday reality for 54 million Americans with
disabilities. Whether mainstream technology or extraordinary inventions such as stair-climbing
wheelchairs, "Freedom Machines" reveals both the power and limitations of technology to
change lives.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 16
GEORGIE GIRL
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Annie Goldson and Peter Wells
New Zealand, 2003
56 minutes
Documentary
English
Gender, LGBT, New Zealand
Women Make Movies
Synopsis:
Born George Beyer, one-time prostitute-turned-politician, Georgina Beyer was elected to New
Zealand's Parliament in 1999, becoming the world's first transsexual to hold a national office.
Amazingly, a mostly white, conservative, rural constituency voted this former sex worker of
Maori descent into office. Chronicling Georgina's transformations from farm boy to celebrated
cabaret diva to grassroots community leader, "Georgie Girl" couples interviews and images of
Beyer's nightclub and film performances with footage showing a day in the life of this New
Zealand Member of Parliament. The film presents a remarkable account of Beyer's precedentsetting accomplishment, revealing her intelligence, charisma and humor.
ICC: A CALL FOR JUSTICE
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YO-TV (Youth Organizers Television)
USA, 2000
15 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
Chile, ICC, Youth-Produced
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Who will benefit? Why won't America ratify the
treaty? Through archival footage, spoken word poetry and interviews with survivors of torture
and ICC advocates, the Educational Video Center's Youth Organizers crew explores these and
other questions surrounding the ICC.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 17
INVISIBLE REVOLUTION
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Beverly Peterson
USA, 2000
55 minutes
Documentary
English
Racism
Working Films
Synopsis:
Peterson's extraordinary access to skinheads, gutter punks, and mainstream kids drops the
viewer into the front lines of a powerful, passionate, and very raw youth subculture. She
documents not only the young people involved in the pro-white movement, but also the countermovement that demonstrates against and often clashes with them: Anti-Racist Action (ARA).
After a decade of going unheard, these voices create a stirring and unique look at urgent and
timely issues that can be conveyed only by actually viewing the physical confrontations between
the two groups as they collide in a war of ideas. Viewers will also become aware of the extreme
danger that ARA members expose themselves to: in 1998 two members of ARA were murdered
in the Las Vegas desert. Leonard, a 21-year-old neo-Nazi skinhead sums up: "We are two
separate groups . . . There's always going to be racism. There's always going to be hate. We're
going to do whatever it takes to get the other one out of the way . . ."
IT AIN’T LOVE
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Susan Todd and Andrew Young
USA, 1997
58 minutes
Documentary
English
Domestic Violence, Gender
Nick Athas
Synopsis:
Most Americans have heard of domestic violence, but few know that it affects teen relationships.
IT AIN'T LOVE follows the young, spirited members of FACES, a gutsy improv theater
company, combining acting and therapy, known for "telling it like it is." Given three months to
create a show about abusive relationships, the kids, ages 15-24, start by boldly exploring their
own love lives. Intense reenactments bring the violence they've experienced and inflicted
dramatically to life. The process is both exhilarating and painful. A striking and alternative look
into the intense world of teenagers and violence with a focus on the importance of dialogue and
communication. The final product – the new show – is triumphant and serves as a tribute to the
honesty and courage of an inspiring group of young adults.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 18
JUVIES
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Distributor:
Leslie Neale
USA, 2004
66 min,
Documentary, Youth Media
English – Also available on DVD with Spanish Subtitles
Juvenile Justice, Prison Industrial Complex
Chance Films
Synopsis:
Four years ago, high school student Duc Ta was arrested for driving a car from which a gun was
shot. Although no one was injured, and Duc was not a member of a gang, had no priors, and
was 16 years old, he received a sentence of 35 years to life.
From award-winning documentary filmmaker Leslie Neale (Road to Return) comes a riveting
look at a world most of us will never see: the world of juvenile offenders who are serving
incomprehensibly long prison sentences for crimes they either did not commit or were only
marginally involved in. For two years, Neale taught a video production class at Los Angeles
Central Juvenile Hall to 12 juveniles who were being tried as adults. Juvies is the product of that
class. The film builds a powerful argument, questioning what in our American culture has
caused us to demonize our youth and allow the collapse of the juvenile justice system, which
has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now sends over 200,000
kids through the adult system each year.
A KIND OF CHILDHOOD
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Distributor:
Catherine Masud and Tareque Masud
UK, 2001
50 minutes
Documentary
English
Bangladesh, Children’s Rights
Xingu Films
Synopsis:
Imagine a world where the concept of childhood as we know it has no meaning, where children
support their parents, and where work is just another part of growing up – this is Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Following several children over a period of six years, this documentary tells the
stories of their childhood – a different kind of childhood.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 19
LIVING RIGHTS
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Distributor:
Duco Tellegen
Japan/Kenya/Belarus, 2004
83 minutes
Documentary
In Japanese, Maasai and Russian with English Subtitles
Gender, Disability, Education, Children’s Rights, Foster Care
Dovana Films
Synopsis:
Filmmaker Duco Tellegen (whose Behind Closed Eyes featured is also included in the
HRWIFFHSP) 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.
YOSHI tells the story of sixteen-year-old Yoshinori who has Asperger’s Syndrome—a form of
autism exposed in Mark Haddon’s extraordinary novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time. Yoshi’s dream is to attend a regular Japanese high school. With humor, wit, and
creativity Yoshi makes a strong case for all of us to believe he should.
TOTI is a Maasai girl of fourteen. When she was eleven, her mother told her that she would be
married off. The cattle her family would receive from her marriage were badly needed for the
family to survive. Toti decided to run away, so her twin sister was married off in her place. Three
years later, Toti tries to reconnect with her sister and family.
Eleven-year-old LENA lives with her foster mother Galah in a village near the nuclear reactor of
Chernobyl. Lena’s biological mother lives in Minsk, where radioactivity readings are much lower.
She is unable to take care of Lena who is exhibiting health problems, and hopes Lena will
choose to go live with an Italian family that has offered to adopt her. Pulling Lena the other way
is Galah, who hopes Lena will choose to stay with her.
THE LOST BOYS OF SUDAN
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Distributor:
Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk
USA, 2004
90 minutes
Documentary
English
Genocide, Refugees, Sudan
Lostboysfilm.com
Synopsis:
For the last 20 years, civil war has raged in Sudan, killing and displacing millions. "Lost Boys of
Sudan" follows two young refugees from the Dinka tribe, Peter and Santino, through their first
year in America. Along with 20,000 other boys, they lost their families and wandered hundreds
of miles across the desert seeking safety. After a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp, nearly
4,000 "lost boys" have come to the U.S. As Peter and Santino set out to make new lives for
themselves in Houston, their struggle asks us to rethink what it means to be an American.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 20
LOVE AND DIANE
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Distributor:
Jennifer Dworkin
USA, 2004
116 minutes
Documentary
English
Drugs and Addiction, Foster Care, Juvenile Justice
Women Make Movies
Synopsis:
"Love & Diane" is a frank and astonishingly intimate real-life drama of a mother and daughter
desperate for love and forgiveness, but caught in a devastating cycle. During the 1980's, a
crack cocaine epidemic ravaged impoverished many inner city neighborhoods. As parents like
Diane succumbed to addiction, a generation of children like Love entered the foster care
system. Shot over ten years, the film centers on Love and Diane after the family is reunited and
is struggling to reconnect. Now eighteen and a mother herself, Love must reconcile her anger
and confront the ways in which her mother's past mistakes haunt her life. Diane, in turn, makes
new choices for herself, seeking to break the treadmill of addiction and poverty. Powerful and
immediate, "Love & Diane" is an epic film that shatters stereotypes and offers hope amidst
seemingly impossible odds.
LUV ME LATEX
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Frame By Frame Fierce
USA, 2003
2 minutes
PSA Animation
Available in English and Spanish
PSAs
Arts Engine Inc.
Synopsis:
When HIV attacks, two unprotected men in love and a gang of healthy T-Cells are no match for
a diabolical HIV virus. This clever animated short makes the case for condoms in a fresh and
funny way. Winner of the Safe Sex Award and part of the 2003 Media That Matters Film
Festival.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 21
MAQUILAPOLIS (CITY OF FACTORIES)
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Distributor:
Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre
USA/Mexico, 2006
53 minutes
Documentary
Spanish with English Subtitles
Labor, Economic Justice
www.maquilapolis.com
Synopsis:
Carmen works the graveyard shift in one of Tijuana's 800 maquiladoras, the multinationallyowned factories that came to Mexico for its cheap labor. After making television components all
night, Carmen comes home to a shack she built out of recycled garage doors, in a
neighborhood with no sewage lines or electricity. She suffers from kidney damage and lead
poisoning from her years of exposure to toxic chemicals. She earns six dollars a day. But
Carmen is not a victim. She is a dynamic young woman, busy making a life for herself and her
children. In "Maquilapolis," Carmen and her friend Lourdes confront labor violations,
environmental devastation and urban chaos, reaching beyond their daily struggle for survival to
organize for change, taking on both the Mexican and U.S. governments and a major television
manufacturer. The women also use video cameras to document their lives, their city and their
hopes for the future.
MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA
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David Redmon
USA, 2004
72 minutes
Documentary
In English, Cantonese, Fujianese and Mandarin with English subtitles
China, Globalization
David Redmon
Synopsis:
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 intercuts 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 festival-goers to each other. A dialogue
results when bead-wearing partyers are shown images of the Chinese workers and asked if
they know the origin of their beads, while the factory women view pictures of Americans
exchanging beads, soliciting more beads, and celebrating.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 22
ME AND RUBYFRUIT PROGRAM
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Distributor:
Sadie Benning
USA, 1989
18 minutes
Video Art
English
Gender, LGBT, Video Art
Women Make Movies
Synopsis:
"A series of deeply personal, artistically deft and politically-charged works." – Ellen Spiro, The
Advocate. At age 15, Sadie Benning began using a toy video camera to produce these frank,
funny, and remarkably self-aware missives about growing up lesbian. This compilation tape
includes: IF EVERY GIRL HAD A DIARY, ME AND RUBYFRUIT, LIVING INSIDE, and NEW
YEAR.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 23
THIRD ANNUAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL
Diane Wilson: A Warrior's Tale, 7:33 min., Documentary Short
Ilana Trachtman, Director, Carole Hart and Marlo Thomas, Executive
Producers and Roberta Morris, Coordinating Producer
“I’m just a normal person,” Diane Wilson says at the outset of this
anything-but-normal story of community versus corporation. Through a
hunger strike and a relentless campaign before the local legislature,
Wilson forced Formosa Plastics and other polluters on the Bay of San
Antonio to clean up their act.
Winner of the Woody Harrelson Environmental Award
Esmeraldas: Petroleum and Poverty, 9:00 min., Documentary Short
Josh Holst, Director
For anyone who has gone numb to the effects of industrial pollution,
“Esmeraldas” will be a startling wake up call. The film documents the
intense human suffering that plagued an Afro-Ecuadorian community after
a Texaco oil refinery exploded.
Winner of the International Human Rights Award
Sponsored by Free Speech TV
How to Make a Bird, 0:32 min., Public Service Announcement
Juan Carlos Zaldívar, Director
What happens when a woman tries to turn herself into a bird? Not much.
This short video shows how all the feathers in the world can’t bring back
an extinct species.
Winner of the Wildlife Preservation Award
Rebel, 8:00 min., Music Video
Lower East Side Girls Club, Producer
In this body-positive youth-produced film, the young women of the Lower
East Side Girls Club take to the streets in celebration of their individuality
and strength.
Winner of the gURL LOOKS BOOK Award
Sponsored by gURL.com and Penguin Group
Holla Back Dubai!, 8:00 min., Video Dialogue
Global Action Project, Producer
Kids from the United Arab Emirates “holla back” to a class of sixthgraders in Washington Heights, New York in this touching video letter
exchange. Direct and honest, the children on both sides of the dialogue
show that a stereotype is no match for a smile.
Winner of the Youth Media Award Sponsored by Sundance Channel
Luv Me Latex , 1:30 min., Public Service Announcement
Frame by Frame Fierce, Producer
Two unprotected men in love and a gang of healthy T-Cells face off
against the diabolical HIV virus. This clever animated short makes the
case for condoms in a fresh and funny way.
Winner of the Safe Sex Award
Storm, 7:57 min., Narrative Short
Thomas Brown, Director
For thousands of children school bullying is a serious problem that
damages their hearts and their minds. The beleaguered hero of “Storm”
finds himself without allies as he struggles to stave off an onslaught of
classroom abuse.
Winner of the Peace in Our Classrooms Award in Honor of the Work of
Peter Yarrow Sponsored by Frank Marshall
No Escape, Prison Rape, 7:00 min., Documentary Short
Gabriel London, Director / Gabriel Films, Executive Producer
When Rodney Hulin set fire to a trash can he never imagined he would
end up in an adult prison, serially raped, and brutally beaten. This
disturbing film documents a young man’s attempt to let the outside world
know that his punishment did not fit his crime.
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award Sponsored by Open Society
Institute
Copwatch, 8:00 min., Documentary Short
Guerrilla News Network, Producer
Fed up with police brutality, the organization Copwatch decided to keep
an eye on the authorities. This short film shows how peaceful
observation of police behavior can change the way a neighborhood and
its police force deal with one another.
Winner of the Media Activism Award
Vision Test, 5:39 min., Satirical short
Wes Kim, Director
Who would you feel most comfortable with as CEO of a Fortune 500
company? What begins as a routine eye exam turns into an examination
of subconscious attitudes towards race, gender, and power.
Winner of the Jury Award Sponsored by SONY
Is My Neighbor Latino?, 1:00 min., Satirical short
Jorge Aguirre, Director/Producer and Michael Grabowski, Co-Producer
A news brief spoof that seeks to answer the question “How do I know if
my neighbor is Latino?” Irreverent and funny, this high-spirited short
pokes fun at preconceptions and shows us that there is no one type of
Latino in a country with rapidly shifting demographics.
Winner of the Diversity Award
As We Sleep, 7:52 min., Documentary Short
Elizabeth McDonald, Director
In 2000, 72% of Americans in living-assistance facilities were sexually
abused. “As We Sleep” tells the story of Marcie and the tragic offense
she suffered at the hands of a trusted caregiver.
Winner of the Public Health Award
Sonic Memorial Project, Interactive Sound Archive
Picture Projects, Producer
An interactive audio landscape where oral stories, ambient sounds,
voicemails, and archival recordings tell the rich history of the Twin
Towers and help heal the collective wounds caused by the events of
September 11th.
Winner of the New Media Award
We Were Humans, Flash Animation
Allysson Lucca, Producer
This multimedia animation asks what would happen if the billions of
dollars of military spending were redirected towards education and world
hunger.
Winner of the New Media Award Sponsored by Paola Freccero
Face to Face: Stories from the Aftermath of Infamy,
Interactive Web site
Rob Mikuriya, Producer/An ITVS Interactive Electric Shadows Project
Sixty years separate Pearl Harbor and September 11th, but have things
really changed in the interim? An interactive online documentary
explores what it means to be an American with the face of the enemy.
Winner of the New Media Award
Silence Speaks, Digital Storytelling
Third World Majority, Producer
Domestic abuse, hate crimes, poverty, political persecution, and war.
Highly personal multimedia pieces tell the stories of survivors and
witnesses of these many forms of violence.
Winner of the New Media Award
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 24
FOURTH ANNUAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL
I Promise Africa, 2:40 min., Public Service Announcement
Jerry Henry, Director/Producer
When Jerry Henry set off to Kenya to make a documentary about orphans he
didn’t realize that he would be preserving on tape the voices of a generation
that would soon be silenced.
Winner of the Jury Award Sponsored by National Film Network
iThemba, 5:19 min., Documentary Short
Keefe Murren, Director/Producer, Nelson Walker III, Director/Producer,Lynn
True, Director
Through the mesmerizing melding of their voices, the Sinikithemba Choir
turns stage into soapbox, singing and speaking for the 5 million HIV+ South
Africans in desperate need of medication and support.
Winner of the Health Advocacy Award Sponsored by Sundance Channel
Seeds of Hope: South Africa, 6:12 min., International Documentary
Sarah Hesterman, Director/Producer, Produced by Gotham Pictures, Funded
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Solutions to poverty and malnutrition require resourcefulness and dedication.
A group of women in a South African township learn how to sustain
themselves and their children.
Winner of the Environment Award
The Meatrix, 3:47 min., Flash Animation
Louis Fox, Director, Produced by Free Range Graphics in conjunction with
the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
Will Leo the pig take the blue pill and remain in a fantasyland where quaint
family farms produce food for our tables or will he take the red pill and get a
cruel welcome to the real world?
Winner of the Film for Thought Award Sponsored by Heifer International
Laugh at the Fat Kid, 7:57 min., Narrative Short
Kristina Schoentag, Director/Producer
Whimsical and visually creative, "Laugh at the Fat Kid" intimately portrays a
young boy caught in a cycle of ridicule and overeating, forcing the viewer to
ask "What's wrong with this picture?"
Winner of the Peter Yarrow Peace in Our Classrooms Award Sponsored by
Frank Marshall
Lean on Me, 1:46 min., Youth Digital Story
Harold Clinton, Director, The Center for Reflective Community Practice at
MIT and Creative Narrations, Producers
When the mayor’s office says “no,” a group of kids find their own way to
make their dream for a safe place to play basketball a reality.
Winner of the SEE CHANGE, MAKE CHANGE Youth Digital Story Award
Sponsored by the Waitt Family Foundation
Books Not Bars, 3:44 min., Campaign Portrait
Mark Landsman, Director/Producer for WITNESS
A growing number of youth are questioning the way their state governments
spend money. The teens of the Books Not Bars movement demand that
education, not incarceration, be the priority, now and in the future.
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award Sponsored by Open Society Institute
The Children of Birmingham, 6:17 min., Animation
Rebecca Yenawine, Director, Kids on the Hill, Producer
Through stirring narration and beautiful illustrations, Baltimore middle-school
students tell the story of their 1960s counterparts who fought for their civil
rights.
Winner of the SEE CHANGE, MAKE CHANGE Youth Video Award
Sponsored by Open Society Institute and Time Warner Foundation
Day of Remembrance, 8:00 min., Political Documentary
Cynthia Fujikawa, Director/Producer
The legislators behind the Patriot Act claim to have made America safer,
but in the process they have destroyed the lives of thousands of innocent
Arab and Muslim Americans. Day of Remembrance calls attention to this
tragic phenomenon and reminds us that American history has a tendency to
repeat itself.
Winner of the Racial Justice Award
Dedicated to My Family, 3.51 min., Personal Documentary
Nicole Sobottke, Director, Reel Grrls at 911 Media Arts Center, Producer
Nicole dreams about a perfect family. Living in a teen shelter, she has
learned that family is where the heart is.
Winner of the Family and Society Award
Struggling to Survive, 7:37 min., Youth Documentary
Dana Hall, Ashley Potter and Mary Profitt, Directors, Appalshop’s
Appalachian Media Institute, Producer
Having a job doesn’t mean you make enough to get by. Teenagers in
eastern Kentucky turn their cameras on the living wage crisis in their
community.
Winner of the Youth Documentary Award Sponsored by Time Warner
Foundation
The Sixth Section, 8:10 min., Social Documentary
Alex Rivera, Director/Producer, Produced in association with
P.O.V./American Documentary
Sometimes the “American Dream” is realized on foreign soil. During the
cold winters of upstate New York, a group of immigrants work together to
give a baseball field, an ambulance and whatever else they can manage to
their hometown of Boqueron, Mexico.
Winner of the American Dream Award Sponsored by Netflix
Novela, Novela, 7:20 min., International Documentary
Elizabeth Miller, Director/Producer
Every afternoon, millions of Nicaraguans gather around their TV sets to
watch their favorite imported novela (soap opera). What would happen if a
group of activists produced a homegrown novela about real issues like safe
sex and domestic abuse?
Winner of the Women’s Rights Award
Bush for Peace, 1:56 min., Satirical Short
Sarah Christman, Director/Producer, Jen Simmons, Director/Producer
It’s Dubbya as you’ve never heard him before in a re-mix of U.S. foreign
policy created from the Commander-in-Chief’s “Moment of Truth” speech.
Bush for Peace is at once a fantasy, a satire, and an earnest plea to stop
the violence.
Winner of the Politics and Government Award
Spring in Awe, 4 min., Experimental Short
Martina Radwan, Director/Producer, Moira Demos, Producer
The overpowering displays of Times Square put a spell on the world in a
disturbing lullaby of global capitalism.
Winner of the Media Awareness Award Sponsored by the Association of
Independent Video and Filmmakers
POPaganda: The Art & Subversion of Ron English, 8:24 min., Portrait
Pedro Carvajal, Director/Producer
A modern-day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue, artist and satirist Ron
English reclaims corporate billboards with uncanny canvases that force the
man on the street to look twice…or maybe three times.
Winner of the Media Literacy Award Sponsored by Paola Freccero
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 25
FIFTH ANNUAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL
Battleground Minnesota, 8 min., Youth Documentary
Directed by Gabriel Cheifetz, Produced by Phillips Community
Television
Hip-hop activist Shakademic proves that if Walter Mondale can
learn how to scratch, young voters can get schooled in election
politics.
Winner of the Jury Award sponsored by Netflix
All That I Can Be, 8:30 min., Youth Documentary
Produced by Educational Video Center
William, like many young Americans, feels that joining the military is
his only way out of a dead-end job and a rough life.
Winner of the Economic Justice Award
Pizza Surveillance Feature, 2:20 min., Public Service
Announcement
Directed by Micah Laaker, Produced by American Civil Liberties
Union
Want some privacy infringement with that? If the Patriot Act
continues to grow in scope, you may get more than mushrooms
with your next pizza order.
Winner of the Civil Liberties Award
The News Is What We Make It, 8:21 min., Animation
Directed and Produced by Nickey Robare
When the same company owns all the TV stations in town, where
can you turn for an alternative perspective? A high-schooler gets
burned and turns insult into action.
Winner of the Media Reform Award sponsored by Utne magazine
Laptop, 30 sec., Public Service Announcement
Directed by Larry Frye, Produced by Public Interest
A computer is only as advanced as the person behind the keyboard.
Laptop reminds us that the digital divide still resides within our
borders.
Winner of the Digital Divide Award
A Girl Named Kai, 8 min., Experimental
Directed and Produced by Kai Ling Xue
Through a stirring poetic mix of video and sound, Kai appeals to her
traditional Taiwanese parents for acceptance in spite of her
untraditional take on life and love.
Winner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights Award
Homecoming, 5:30 min., Youth Documentary
Directed by Brian Schirber and Kirstin Nelson, Produced by Listen
Up! and Perpich Center for Arts Education
When coming out makes Ron a target for attack, he finds a school
where respect and acceptance are taught alongside Math and
English.
Winner of the Peter Yarrow Peace in Our Classrooms Award
sponsored by Frank Marshall
Bad Choices, 3 min., Youth Digital Story
Directed by Aderian Fair, Produced by Natasha Freidus and Curt
McPhail
Without a support system, it’s hard for a teenager to stay out of
trouble. Aderian reflects on the lessons he has learned from his bad
choices.
Winner of the Youth Voice Award sponsored by Paola Freccero
Happy Ending, 8 min., Youth Documentary
Directed by Chris Irrizarry, Produced by HBO Young Filmmakers Lab
Drugs have taken Chris’s mom out of his life but not out of his heart.
In this personal travelogue, he goes to Philadelphia in search of a
happy ending.
Winner of the Family & Society Award
System Failure, 8 min., Documentary
Executive Produced by WITNESS, Co-Produced by Ella Baker
Center for Human Rights
Physical abuse, sexual harassment, inadequate education for
incarcerated youth – if a society can be graded by how it treats its
prisoners, then the state of California gets an “F.”
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award supported by Marcia Brady
Tucker Foundation
Fast and Reliable, 7:52 min., Documentary
Directed and Produced by Tom Soper, Co-Produced by Sean
Morrison
Nothing can stop Dexter the bike messenger – not homelessness or
even a close encounter with a ten-ton truck.
Winner of the Against the Odds Award
Neglected Sky, 1:36 min., Youth Animation
Directed and Produced by John Cooney with Citizens for Global
Solutions
In this fast-paced animation, youth-producer John Cooney shows us
that a little effort can go a long way in reversing global warming.
Winner of the Environment Award sponsored by Loreto Bay
Company
Young Agrarians, 8 min., Documentary
Directed and Produced by Johanna Divine
Young people plant the seeds for a sustainable future in this portrait
of organic farming in California.
Winner of the Nourishing Change Award supported by W.K. Kellogg
Foundation
World on Fire, 4:20 min., Music Video
Directed by Sophie Muller
$5,000 could cover the cost of hair and make-up for one day on set
in LA or pay for one year’s schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan.
Sarah McLachlan does the math and encourages you to join her.
Winner of the Citizen Engagement Award sponsored by Green
Mountain Coffee Roasters Foundation
The Luckiest Nut in the World, 8 min., Musical
Directed by Emily James, Produced by Fulcrum TV
A singing peanut and his gang of shelled friends explain that
sometimes free trade is just nuts.
Winner of the Global Justice Award sponsored by Oxfam America
Something Other Than Other, 7:05 min., Experimental
Directed and Produced by Jerry A. Henry and Andrea J. Chia
New parents Jerry and Andrea have endured their own share of
discrimination growing up. They hope their newborn son can grow up
identifying as something other than “other.” Winner of the Tolerance
Education Award supported by Third Millennium Foundation
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 26
Slip of the Tongue, 4:06 min, Youth Slam
Directed by Karen Lum, Produced by Youth Sounds
Factory
“What’s your ethnic make up?” A young man makes a pass
at a beautiful stranger and gets an eye-opening schooling
on race and gender.
Winner of the Jury Award sponsored by Adobe Systems
A Girl Like Me, 7:08 min, Youth Documentary
Directed by Kiri Davis, Produced by Reel Works Teen
Filmmaking
Color is more than skin deep for young African-American
women struggling to define themselves.
Winner of the Diversity Award supported by Third
Millennium Foundation
Book ‘Em: Undereducated, Overincarcerated, 3:03 min,
Youth Documentary
Produced by Youth Rights Media
In New Haven, Connecticut the pipeline from school to
prison is shorter than you might think.
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award
(Hate) Machine, 4:45 min, Satire
Directed and Produced by Phil Caron
When media messages are constructed, sometimes truth
hits the cutting room floor.
In the Morning, 4:25 min, Dramatic Narrative
Directed by Danielle Lurie, Produced by Katie Mustard
When a young Turkish woman is raped, there is nothing
honorable about revenge.
In Transit, 5:51 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Bent Jorgen Perlmutt, Nelson
Walker III and Louis Abelman
War may be over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but
many Congolese women continue to battle for their
reproductive health.
Winner of the Global Health Award supported by Daniel B.
and Florence E. Green Foundation
Bread, 4:56 min, Documentary
Directed by Marcelo Bukin, Produced by Rec Stop and
Play/Global Humanitaria
Guatemalan brothers Edwin and Edson crush rocks with
their father so their family has enough to eat.
Winner of the Global Justice Award sponsored by Seventh
Generation
Water Warriors, 6:17 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Liz Miller
When water costs soar, residents of Highland Park,
Michigan demand to know who will foot the bill.
Winner of the Environment Award sponsored by Loreto
Bay Company
Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary), 5:57 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Kirsten Kelly and Anne de Mare
Journey to the "Asparagus Capital of the World" to discover
why one little vegetable is so important.
Winner of the Good Food Award supported by the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation
How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett, 3:16 min, Exposé
Directed and Produced by the Meerkat Media Collective
Michigan youth investigate the dubious circumstances
under which a Wal-Mart appeared on a wetland in their
small town.
Recycle, 6 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Vasco Lucas Nunes and Ondi
Timoner
Poet Miguel Diaz transforms poverty into cultivation in the
middle of a Los Angeles street.
Winner of the Sustainability Award sponsored by Stonyfield
Farm
The Rules of the Game, 8:24 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Garance Burke and Monica Lam
A Native American tribe's dreams of prosperity clash with
small town values in Rohnert Park, California.
Winner of the Community Discourse Award
Permission, 1 min, PSA
Directed by Vance Malone, Produced by Public Interest
Whose permission would you need to get married to the
person you love?
Winner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights
Award
Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize, 2:11 min, Advocacy
Short Directed and Produced by Jacob Caggiano
Copyright abuse or Fair Use? Learn how much is at stake
when vital films are pulled from public discourse.
Night Visions, 7:07 min, Documentary
Directed and Produced by Kathy Huang
Individuals enlist in the U.S. military for different reasons,
but they all return from war, changed.
Winner of the War and Peace Award sponsored by Netflix
No Child, 8:19 min, Youth Documentary
Directed by Gabe Cheifetz, Produced by Chris
"Shakademic" Johnson and Glenn Scott
Minneapolis hip-hoppers Shakademic and Glenn Scott get
the inside scoop on military recruiting tactics.
Winner of the Knowledge is Power Award supported by
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Foundation
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 27
A MILE WALKED
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Distributor:
Global Action Project
USA, 2003
13 minutes
Documentary
English
Youth Produced, Women’s Rights
Global Action Project
Synopsis:
Through work with GEMS (Girls Educational Mentoring Service), Urban Voices TV shares the
stories of young women, previously sexually exploited and coerced into prostitution as
teenagers, describing "the life" and the struggle to get out. This video is a deep look into the
issues of love and trust, the multiple concepts of family, and what it takes to survive and find
safety in a confusing world. Mixing interviews, creatively staged dramatic re-enactments, and
experimental imagery, “A Mile Walked” guides the viewer through this complex issue of culture,
gender, and society with grace, intelligence, and depth.
MILITARY MYTHS
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Distributor:
Paper Tiger Television with ROOTS
USA, 2001
28 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Militarism, Racism, Youth-Produced
Paper Tiger Television
Synopsis:
Produced in collaboration with youth activists from ROOTS, MILITARY MYTHS offers an update
to IT'S NOT JUST A JOB, a video produced in the early 1980s by Paper Tiger TV and the War
Resisters League, a video intended to inspire young people to make more balanced decisions
about their future. Young people today are smacked with military advertisements and recruiters
coming into their schools and communities offering sign-up bonuses, money for education, and
job training. MILITARY MYTHS takes a critical look at the military’s promises. The producers
contrast media representations of war and military life with the personal experiences of veterans
who have gone to war. Interviews with activists and students are also presented along with
statistics from the Veterans Administration, CCCO, SLDN, and recent Pentagon studies that lay
clear the myths of military life.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 28
MY AMERICAN GIRLS
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Distributor:
Aaron Matthews
USA, 2000
62 minutes
Documentary
English
Dominican Republic, Cultural Identity: Latino, Immigration
Filmmakers Library
Synopsis:
A film which chronicles the everyday troubles and triumphs of the Ortiz family – a Dominican
immigrant family residing in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Mayra, Aida, and Monica are three
daughters, each traveling down different roads in this country. Over the course of a year and a
half, Sandra – their mother – struggles to keep Mayra, the self-proclaimed "ghetto kid," in school
and on the right track. At the same time, Monica, an Ivy League scholar and athlete, pursues
her dream of becoming an actor and grapples with the reality of growing farther away from her
family. Aida, the "typical middle child," tries to find her way between the world of the street and
middle class American values. An intimate portrait of an extraordinary family, MY AMERICAN
GIRLS portrays the hopes and frustrations of the Ortiz family – five Dominicans dealing with the
benefits and the drawbacks of coming to America.
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY
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Distributor:
Laura Poitras
USA, 2005
90 minutes
Documentary
English subtitles throughout
9/11 and the War on Terror, USA , Iraq
www.mycountrymycountry.com
Synopsis:
Working alone in Iraq over eight months, filmmaker Laura Poitras creates an extraordinarily
intimate portrait of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. Her principal focus is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi
medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. An outspoken critic of the occupation,
he is equally passionate about the need to establish democracy in Iraq, arguing that Sunni
participation in the January 2005 elections is essential. Yet all around him, Dr. Riyadh sees only
chaos, as his waiting room fills each day with patients suffering the physical and mental effects
of ever-increasing violence. Poitras gained remarkable access to the Sunni community, U.S.
military and the U.N., resulting in "My Country, My Country," a powerful mosaic of daily life in
Iraq not seen in the mainstream media.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 29
MY NAME GIRL
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Distributor:
Emily Green
USA, 2000
10 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Gender, LGBT, Video Art, Youth-Produced
Emily Green
Synopsis:
A high school girl's personal reflections on life, being female, and growing up with a gay father.
Emphasis is on non-verbal communication through video.
NO MORE TEARS SISTER
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Distributor:
Helene Klodawsky
Canada, 2004
60 minutes
Documentary
English
Women’s Rights
The National Film Board of Canada
Synopsis:
If love is the first inspiration of a social revolutionary, as has sometimes been said, no one better
exemplified that idea than Dr. Rajani Thiranagama. Love for her people and her newly
independent nation, and empathy for the oppressed of Sri Lanka — including women and the
poor — led her to risk her middle-class life to join the struggle for equality and justice for all.
Love led her to marry across ethnic and class lines. In the face of a brutal government
crackdown on her Tamil people, love led her to help the guerrilla Tamil Tigers, the only force
seemingly able to defend the people. When she realized the Tigers were more a murderous
gang than a revolutionary force, love led her to break with them, publicly and dangerously. Love
then led her from a fulfilling professional life in exile back to her hometown of Jaffna and to civil
war, during which her human rights advocacy made her a target for everyone with a gun. She
was killed on September 21, 1989 at the age of 35.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 30
NOT ME, NOT MINE: ADULT SURVIVORS OF FOSTER CARE
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Distributor:
YO-TV (Youth Organizers Television)
USA, 2003
29 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Foster Care, Youth-Produced
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
In a time of urgency for the protection of human rights around the world, educational and social
reforms are compromising the basic rights of young people right here in New York City. In 1996,
high school students at the Educational Video Center (EVC) produced SOME PLACE TO CALL
HOME, a piece that examines the foster care system through the eyes of young people living
within it. In the tradition of Michael Apted's 7-UP series, last year’s EVC student producers went
looking for these same young people to chronicle, in cinema verite style, the struggles they've
faced since 1996 in making their way up and out of the New York City foster care system.
NOTES FROM PORTO ALEGRE
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Distributor:
Global Action Project
USA, 2005
28 minutes
Documentary
English
Youth Produced, Globalization, Youth Activism
Global Action Project
Synopsis:
In January 2005, Global Action Project youth producers traveled to Porto Alegre, Brazil to
participate in the World Social Forum. Using the WSF credo "Another World is Possible" youth
interviewed activists who participate in local and global social movements, and filmed cultural
and political activities in the Youth Camp, City of Hip Hop and other spaces at the WSF.
Included are interviews with Sem Terra Movement (Brazil), Cooperativa Impa (Argentina), La
Fábrica Ciudad Cultural (Brazil), Jubilee South (South Africa), Freedom of Expression Institute
(South Africa). Available with English and Spanish subtitles.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 31
NUYORICAN DREAM
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Distributor:
Laurie Collyer
USA, 2000
97 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
Cultural Identity: Latino, Drugs and Addiction, Immigration, Puerto Rico
California Newsreel
Synopsis:
In an American media landscape offering few Puerto Rican stories, NUYORICAN DREAM
makes an urgent and resounding arrival. Combining cinema verite and personal documentary
with astounding access to her subjects over a seven-year period, director Laurie Collyer delivers
a powerhouse of emotion and insight with this chronicle of the struggles and aspirations of three
generations of the Marta Gutierrez family. The film follows Robert Torres, Marta's eldest son
and the only member of his family to finish both high school and college and make it out of the
Bronx tenements. College was supposed to lead to the American Dream, but the experience of
transcending class has alienated Robert from his classmates and, ultimately, his family. Two of
his sisters battle drug addiction, and his younger brother attempts to stay out of jail while his
mother shoulders the family problems, housing both children and grandchildren on a meager
income. Robert's position between the worlds of school and the street lends the film a powerful
double consciousness: a deeply personal and sympathetic view of his troubled family and an
incisive analysis of the effects of colonialism and poverty on Puerto Rican people.
OF CIVIL WRONGS AND RIGHTS: THE FRED KOREMATSU STORY
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Distributor:
Eric Paul Fournier
USA, 2001
56 minutes, 40 seconds
Documentary
English
Internment Camps, National Security
NAATA (National Asian American Telecommunications Association)
Synopsis:
Fred Korematsu was probably never more American than when he resisted, and then
challenged in court, the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Korematsu lost his landmark Supreme Court case in 1944, but never his indignation and
resolve. Of Civil Wrongs and Rights is the untold history of the 40-year legal fight to vindicate
Korematsu - one that finally turned a civil injustice into a civil rights victory.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 32
OMAR & PETE
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Distributor:
Tod Lending
USA, 2005
87 minutes
Documentary
English
Justice, Drugs and Addiction
Nomadic Pictures
Synopsis:
Omar and Pete are determined to change their lives. Both have been in and out of prison for more than
30 years — never out longer than six months. This intimate and penetrating film follows these two
longtime African- American friends after what they hope will be their final release. Their lives take
divergent paths in their native Baltimore as one wrestles with addiction and fear while the other finds
success and freedom through helping others. With extraordinary cooperation from Maryland's innovative
reentry programs — many run by former drug addicts and convicts themselves — "Omar & Pete" also
provides a rare glimpse into an intense and very personal web of support.
OUTLAWED: EXTRAORDINARY REDENTION, TORTURE AND
DISAPPEARENCES IN THE “WAR OF TERROR”
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Distributor:
WITNESS with 14 production and distribution partners
USA, 2006
26 minutes
Documentary
English (some subtitling)
War on Terror
WITNESS
Synopsis:
Human rights groups and several public inquiries in Europe have found the U.S. government, with the
complicity of numerous governments worldwide, to be engaged in the illegal practice of extraordinary
rendition, secret detention, and torture. The U.S. government-sponsored program of renditions is an
unlawful practice in which numerous persons have been illegally detained and secretly flown to third
countries, where they have suffered additional human rights abuses including torture and enforced
disappearance. No one knows the exact number of persons affected, due to the secrecy under which the
operations are carried out.
Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the "War on Terror" corroborates
these findings through the harrowing stories of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mohamed, two men who
have suffered as a result of the U.S. government's disregard of the international legal instruments dealing
with respect for fundamental rights. The film features commentary from Louise Arbour, the U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael Scheuer, the chief architect of the rendition program and
former head of the Osama Bin Laden unit at the CIA, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S.
President George W. Bush. Outlawed places the post-9/11 phenomenon of renditions and the "war on
terror" in a human rights context for use on a global level in advocacy, education, and mobilization.
Produced in association with 14 production and distribution partners worldwide, including the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Amnesty International; Breakthrough (US/India); the Brennan Center for
Justice at New York University School of Law; the Center for Constitutional Rights; the Center for Human
Rights & Global Justice at New York University School of Law; Freedom House; Human Rights First;
Human Rights Watch; the International Commission of Jurists (Switzerland); Liberty (UK); the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; Redress (UK); and Reprieve (UK).
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 33
A PANTHER IN AFRICA
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Distributor:
Aaron Matthews
USA, 2004
90 minutes
Documentary
English
Cultural Identity: African American, USA,
Filmmakers Library
Synopsis:
On October 30, 1969, Pete O'Neal, a young Black Panther in Kansas City, Missouri, was
arrested for transporting a gun across state lines. One year later, O'Neal fled the charge, and for
over 30 years, he has lived in Tanzania as one of the last American exiles from an era when
activists considered themselves at war with the U.S. government. Today, this community
organizer confronts very different challenges and finds himself living between two worlds —
America and Africa, his radical past and his uncertain future.
PERSONS OF INTEREST
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Distributor:
Alison Maclean and Tobias Perse
USA, 2004
63 minutes
Documentary
English
9/11, Immigration, Illegal Detention, Discrimination, War on Terror
First Run/Icarus Films
Synopsis:
After the Sept.11 terrorist attacks, more than 5,000 people, mainly non-U.S. nationals of South
Asian or Middle Eastern origin, were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and
held indefinitely on grounds of national security. Muslim immigrants were subject to arbitrary
arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. Many were denied access to
legal representation and communication with their families.
During a period when the U.S. government has made every effort to depersonalize these
detentions, refusing to reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices
of those affected — their testimonials and experiences — become our only window into the
human costs of post September 11th immigration policies.
Following an unconventional format, Persons of Interest presents a series of encounters
between former detainees and directors Alison Maclean (Jesus’ Son) and Tobias Perse in an
empty room which serves both visually and symbolically as an interrogation room, home, and
prison cell. Through interviews, family photographs, and letters from prison, the directors have
fashioned a compelling and poignant film, allowing those affected a chance to tell their own
stories.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 34
POSTCARDS FROM PEJE
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Distributor:
Mark Landsman
USA/Kosovo, 2001
15 minutes
Documentary
English
Kosovo, Genocide/Ethnic Conflict, Youth-Produced
Filmmakers Library
Synopsis:
In the summer of 2000, just over one year after Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo, a group of
Albanian teenagers from the Kosovarian city of Peje come together to create a video postcard
of their experiences during and after the war.
PROMISES
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Distributor:
Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg, Carlos Bolado
Israel/Palestine/USA, 2001
102 minutes
Documentary
English, Hebrew, and Arabic with English Subtitles
Genocide/Ethnic Conflict, Israel, Palestine
Cowboy Pictures
Synopsis:
Rather than focusing on current events or "hard news," PROMISES offers a surprisingly fresh
insight into the Middle East conflict. When filmmaker B.Z. Goldberg returns to his hometown of
Jerusalem to see what seven children – both Palestinian and Israeli – think about war, peace,
and just growing up, each child offers a dramatic, touching and sometimes hilarious insight into
the Middle East conflict and into the experience of growing up in the charged and complex city
of Jerusalem. Promises explores this legacy of distrust and bitterness, but signs of hope emerge
when some of the Palestinian and Israeli children dare to cross the checkpoints to meet one
another. An energetic and dynamic cinematic experience, PROMISES offers both insiders and
outsiders a well-balanced insight into the subtleties of the Middle East conflict.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 35
PUBLIC ENEMY
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Distributor:
Jens Meurer
France/USA, 1999
88 minutes
Documentary
English
Cultural Identity: African-American, Racism
Real Fiction
Synopsis:
"We're going to organize ourselves, we're going to stand up, we're going to arm ourselves and
we're going to walk on this racist, pig-ass power structure and we're going to say, stick-'em-up,
motherfucker, we've come for what's ours,” says Bobby Seale, public speaker, activist, author
and the only surviving founder of the Black Panthers. With this opening tour-de-force speech,
the tone is set for an electrifying, visceral, in-depth look at the Black Panther movement.
Utilizing fascinating archival footage of rallies, confrontations with authority and behind-thescenes moments in the movement, the film focuses on the members who have survived. Along
with Bobby Seale, we meet law professor Kathleen Cleaver, the highest ranking female Panther
and one of the most outspoken members; Jamal Joseph who spent nine years in prison for
Panther activities and is currently active as a poet and playwright; and in perhaps the most
surprising twist Nile Rodgers, a former Panther who went on to found the 80's rock group Chic
and create a successful songwriting/performing career. Four incredibly vibrant, talented,
passionate people whose political force has carried on into their current lives and who still feel
the power and exhilaration of the early days of a unique socio-political revolution that changed
both the societal image and the self-image of all African-Americans.
PUNAM
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Lucian Muntean and Nataša Stankovic
Serbia, 2005
28 minutes
Documentary
In Nepali and Tamang with English subtitles
Children’s Rights, Labor
Synopsis:
Beautifully and sensitively produced, Punam tells the story of nine-year-old Punam Tamang,
who lives in Bhaktapur in Nepal. Punam lost her mother when she was five years old and since
that time she has been the family caretaker, providing for her younger brother Krishna (now
seven) and her younger sister Rabina (now five). The Tamang children see little of their father
because he works double shifts in a rice factory, in order to earn enough money for their school
fees. He goes to work at 4 o'clock in the morning and comes back home at 8 o'clock in the
evening. We also meet Punam's neighborhood friends, whose families do not make enough
money to afford the school fee. Instead of studying, these children work each day with their
parents at the local brick factories and stone quarries.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 36
RIGHTS ON THE LINE: VIGILANTES AT THE BORDER
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Distributor:
American Friends Service Committee, The ACLU and WITNESS
USA, 2005
25 minutes
Documentary
English
Immigration, Racism
WITNESS
Synopsis:
Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border exposes the ugly anti-immigrant politics that lurk behind the
Minuteman Project - and shows the continuum between official border militarization and vigilante action.
This video was shot by human rights activists and residents of border communities. It tells the story of
border tensions from the point of view of those affected and reveals the underlying motivations of the
vigilantes through interviews and disturbing footage of their nighttime patrols. For more than a decade,
the southern border of the U.S. has resembled a war zone. Aggressive, military-style actions by the
Border Patrol have made human rights abuses everyday events in border communities. Alongside this
official militarization, armed vigilante groups have harassed border crossers and communities, but their
numbers were relatively limited until recently. In April 2005, a new group called the "Minuteman Project"
became a national media darling when several hundred recruits gathered in Arizona to patrol the border.
Only months later, they are expanding their activities into California, Texas and several other states
throughout the country.
ROSITA
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Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
USA/Nicaragua, 2005
55 min
Documentary
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
Women's Rights, Children's Rights
Bullfrog Films
Synopsis:
In January 2003, news spreads throughout Central and South America that a nine-year-old Nicaraguan
girl has become pregnant as the result of a rape. Rosa, or Rosita as the girl becomes known in the press,
is the only child of illiterate campesinos working in Costa Rica as coffee pickers at the time of the assault.
Fearing for their daughter's life and mental health, Rosa's parents are determined to obtain an abortion for
their child. In both Nicaragua and Costa Rica, abortion is illegal except when deemed necessary to save
the life of the mother.
Despite the odds of obtaining a rarely granted exception for a so-called "therapeutic" abortion, Rosa's
parents move forward only to be forced into battle with two governments, the medical establishment, and
the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Representatives of both the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican
governments attempt to remove Rosa from her family in order to force her to continue her pregnancy.
Award-winning filmmakers Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater draw viewers inside the story through
intimate interviews, on-location footage and media coverage captured within months of the actual events.
The drama unfolds chronologically, combining the public media reports with the private remembrances of
those involved—Rosa's parents, lawyers, doctors, psychologists, priests and journalists. The film exposes
the machinations of politicians, doctors, and clergymen, but shields the young protagonist from the
camera—in keeping with the pledge the filmmakers made to Rosa's parents. Yet Rosa is at the heart of
the film, revealing herself and her world through her own words and drawings.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 37
SCENES FROM AN ENDLESS WAR
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Distributor:
Norman Cowie
USA, 2002
32 minutes
Video Art
English
9/11, Militarism, Video Art
Video Databank
Synopsis:
A humorous and biting experimental documentary on militarism, globalization, and the "war
against terrorism." Part meditation, part commentary, SCENES employs recontextualized
commercial images, rewritten news crawls, and original footage and interviews to question
received wisdom and common sense assumptions about current American policies.
SCHOOLS: EQUALITY PLEASE!
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Distributor:
Milton Bullock, Shanti Dawson, William Knox, Joseph Lawler, Tiffany Ray,
Shinel Taylor, Gerardo “Promise” Vargas, and EVC Documentary
Workshop Co-Director Ivana Espinet
USA, 2003
20 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Education, Youth Activism, Youth-Produced
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
SCHOOLS: EQUALITY PLEASE! explores different issues concerning the New York City
education system such as economic inequalities amongst school districts, the assigning of less
experienced teachers to the neediest districts, and the influence of school size and curriculum in
student achievement. In addition, the youth producers look at the impact of parents’ and
students’ civic participation in transforming the school system and proposing solutions to these
problems.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 38
SCOUT’S HONOR
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Distributor:
Tom Shephard
USA, 2001
58 minutes
Documentary
English
LGBT
New Day Films
Synopsis:
Tom Shepard has crafted a deeply moving account of the conflict between the antigay policies
of the Boy Scouts of America and the broad-based movement by many of its members to
overturn them. The result is a blemish that will undoubtedly stain this venerable organization for
years to come. SCOUT'S HONOR contextualizes this struggle historically and colors it with
emotional portraits of those it has hurt the most: the boys and men who love scouting. We learn
of individuals whose choice to speak out against their expulsion drew national attention to this
issue: the most prominent being James Dale, whose case against the Boy Scouts was recently
heard by the United States Supreme Court. But much of the grassroots challenge has been
waged from Petaluma, California, a small town more familiar with farming than activism. Here
Shepard turns to the remarkable stories of a 12-year-old boy and a 70-year-old man. Both are
heterosexual and, by speaking out against this discrimination, cause the very organization they
cherish to turn against them. In 1998, their struggle was formalized with the founding of
"Scouting for All." While the battle is far from over, the fundamental Boy Scout doctrines,
including "a scout is brave," serve to empower these renegades to stand up to present
leadership. SCOUT'S HONOR presents a powerful example of what can happen when citizens,
straight and gay, unite around a common ideal – the rejection of exclusion from an American
institution.
SEEN BUT NOT HEARD
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Distributor:
Calogero Salvo
USA, 2002
57 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
9/11, Immigration, Mexico
Cinema Guild
Synopsis:
This video follows the lives of four Mexican women and their families whose undocumented
husbands and partners, as workers at the World Trade Center, lost their lives in the tragic
events of 9/11. Shot in New York and Mexico, it traces the personal, social, and economic
repercussions of this act of terrorism on their lives. From the futile search and grieving for their
loved ones, to their illegal status and uncertain future, the video offers an intimate look at human
survival. As their stories unfold, it becomes apparent that while these immigrants have come to
the U.S. to work in order to provide a better future for their families, they are also making a
valuable contribution to American society.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 39
THE SIXTH SECTION
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Distributor:
Alex Riviera
USA, 2003
26 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
Immigration, Mexico
SubCine
Synopsis:
"The Sixth Section" opens a surprising window on immigration in the twenty-first century.
Following a group of Mexican immigrants from the tiny desert town of Boqueron who now work
in upstate New York, the film documents their struggle to support themselves — and their
hometown 2000 miles to the south. To do this, the men form a 'union' that raises money in the
form of weekly donations of $10 or $20 from each of its members in New York. In the past few
years the group has brought electricity, an ambulance and, most dramatically, a 2,000-seat
baseball stadium to Boqueron. "The Sixth Section" is an intimate portrait of how 'The American
Dream' is being redefined by today's immigrants.
SOLDADOS: CHICANOS IN VIETNAM
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Distributor:
Charley Trujillo and Sonya Rhee
USA, 2003
20 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English Subtitles
Militarism, Mexico
Chusma House Publications
Synopsis:
"Soldados" shows that in a war that both exposed and exacerbated America's racial conflicts,
Chicanos in the ranks found themselves uniquely caught in the middle — between whites and
blacks, whose clashes dominated the era, and between U.S. society's contradictory views of
them as loyal citizens and as alien migrants. At the same time, they experienced all the horrors
of a war that tore two nations apart. All the Corcoran men were wounded — Trujillo lost his right
eye — and most were decorated for valor. One, Jose Barrera, died in battle — a story related
movingly by his mother.
Those who returned came back with a profound awareness of America's unresolved racial
divisions, as well as with unresolved feelings about their own participation in a war many
regarded as itself an expression of American racism. The veterans and family members in
"Soldados" describe the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that they share: fits of
rage, insomnia, flashbacks, isolation and emotional numbness.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 40
STATE OF DENIAL
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Elaine Epstein
USA, 2004
87 minutes
Documentary
English
Children’s Rights, HIV/AIDS, South Africa
California Newsreel
Synopsis:
"State of Denial" reveals the human experience behind one of the world's greatest tragedies —
the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. With five million people infected and nearly two thousand
new infections occurring daily, South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV in
the world. The film takes viewers into the lives of six people struggling to survive with HIV in the
face of social stigma, a severe lack of access to lifesaving treatments, and their president Thabo
Mbeki's controversial denial of the connection between HIV and AIDS. A film of quiet outrage,
"State of Denial" weaves the personal with the political in an uplifting portrait of ordinary people
struggling to survive.
STATE OF FEAR
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Distributor:
Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy
USA/Peru, 2005
94 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish with English subtitles
Peru, 9/11, Genocide/Ethnic Conflicts, Cultural Identity: Latino, Children's
Rights, Immigration
Skylight Pictures
Synopsis:
How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? State of Fear
dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a “war”
against terror, a “war” potentially without end, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders
seeking personal political gain. The film follows events in Perú, yet it serves as a cautionary tale
for a nation like the United States. Filmmakers Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy
masterfully blend personal testimony, history, and archival footage to tell the story of escalating
violence in the Andean nation and how the fear of terror undermined democracy, making Perú a
virtual dictatorship where official corruption replaced the rule of law. Terrorist attacks by Shining
Path insurgents provoked a military occupation of the countryside. Military justice replaced civil
authority. Widespread abuses by the Peruvian Army went unpunished. Terrorism continued to
spread. Nearly 70,000 civilians eventually died at the hands of Shining Path and the Peruvian
military.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 41
STILL STANDING
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Distributor:
Educational Video Center
USA, 2006
50 minutes (11 minute Educational Version also available.)
Documentary
English
Youth Produced, Economic Justice, Racism
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
Still Standing provides an intimate portrayal of the challenges faced by Hurricane Katrina
survivors six months after the storm. Daina is a single mother looking for housing, employment,
and the chance to reunite with her children. Ms. Gertrude is a determined grand-mother
struggling to return home and rebuild. Her son Bilal’s post-Katrina experiences in New York City
drive him to become politically active. These three individuals’ stories reveal all-too familiar
issues in urban American communities: the neglect of poor and minority neighborhoods, the
inadequacy of public assistance to provide long-term solutions, and the struggles necessary to
bring about positive change.
STREET FIGHT
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Marshall Curry
USA, 2005
83 minutes
Documentary
English
Cultural Identity: African American
Marshall Curry Productions
Synopsis:
“Street Fight” chronicles the bare-knuckles race for Mayor of Newark, N.J. between Cory Booker, a 32year-old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent and
undisputed champion of New Jersey politics.
Fought in Newark's neighborhoods and housing projects, the battle pits Booker against an old style
political machine that uses any means necessary to crush its opponents: city workers who do not support
the mayor are demoted; "disloyal" businesses are targeted by code enforcement; a campaigner is
detained and accused of terrorism; and disks of voter data are burglarized in the night.
Even the filmmaker is dragged into the slugfest, and by Election Day, the climate becomes so heated that
the Federal government is forced to send in observers to watch for cheating and violence. The battle
sheds light on important American questions about democracy, power and -- in a surprising twist -- race.
Both Booker and James are African-American Democrats, but when the mayor accuses the Ivy League
educated Booker of not being "really black" it forces voters to examine both how we define race in this
country and the repercussions of those attitudes. "We tell our children to get educated," one Newarker
says, "and when they do, we call them white. What kind of a message does that send?"
“Street Fight” tells a gripping story of the underbelly of democracy where elections are not about spindoctors, media consultants, or photo ops. In Newark, we discover, elections are won and lost in the
streets.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 42
SYSTEM FAILURE: VIOLENCE, ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN
THE CALIFORNIA YOUTH AUTHORITY
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Distributor:
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights' Books Not Bars project and WITNESS
USA, 2004
32 minutes
Documentary
English
Juvenile Justice
WITNESS
Synopsis:
In January 2004, two young wards of the California prison system were found hanged in their
cells. These needless deaths were the culmination of countless violations committed against
youth incarcerated by the California Youth Authority (CYA)—one of the largest juvenile
correctional agencies in the United States—and led to an internal investigation.
Through the voices of former wards and their families, System Failure exposes the horrific
conditions and human rights violations endemic to the California Youth Authority—extreme
levels of violence and solitary confinement, sexual assault, guard brutality, and medical,
educational, and mental healthcare neglect—and calls for a complete reform of the system.
TALES FROM REAL LIFE
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Distributor:
Shari Robertson and Michael Tamerini
USA, 2004
75 minutes (each story 12-15 minutes long)
Documentary
English
Asylum, Immigration
Epidavros Project
Synopsis:
"Tales from Real Life" is an educational module recently released by the filmmakers of Well
Founded Fear. The video is broken into five 12-15 minute sections featuring individual asylum
cases. The video comes with a companion curriculum guide which expands on the cases.
Hundreds of times every day, the Asylum Office is a place where Americans come face-to-face
with the rest of the world. Asylum Officers who work there represent the people and the
government of the United States. Asylum-seekers who come to ask for protection represent only
themselves, their particular life circumstances, their own unique luck.
“Tales From Real Life” is an introduction to five of those stories, five people from different
countries and very different lives. Yet they are five people you'll want to know -- a grandmother
who was once a resistance fighter, a high school kid whose life was changed forever by an
article he wrote for his school newspaper, an indigenous artist caught in a civil war, a political
dissident who describes his unusual torture after a midnight arrest, a woman whose story shows
how domestic violence can become political. Each story opens the door to a universe of
questions, and each can be looked at in several ways. Each person is someone you'll
remember and wonder about. The filmmakers left these stories open-ended, trusting that
creative teachers and discussion leaders will use them to open up many unique conversations.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 43
THIRST
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Distributor:
Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman
USA, 2004
57 minutes
Documentary
English
USA,
Bullfrog Films
Synopsis:
Population growth, pollution, and scarcity are turning water into “blue gold,” the oil of the 21st
century. Global corporations are rushing to gain control of this dwindling natural resource,
producing intense conflict in the US and worldwide where people are dying in battles over
control of water.
As revealed in “Thirst”, the world is poised on the brink of epochal changes in how water is
stored, used, and valued. Will these changes provide clean water to the billions of people who
need it? Or save the child who dies every eight seconds from contaminated water? Examining
water conflicts on three continents, “Thirst” shows that popular opposition to the privatization of
water sparks remarkable coalitions that cross partisan lines. When it comes to water, many
people demand local control and fear the arrival of multinational corporations with large lobbying
budgets and little local loyalty.
TOILET TRAINING
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Distributor:
Tara Mateik as a project of Sylvia Rivera Law Project
USA 2003
26 minutes
Documentary
English
Gender, LGBT, USA
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Synopsis:
Toilet Training is a documentary video and collaboration between transgender videomaker Tara
Mateik and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization dedicated to ending poverty and
gender identity discrimination.
The video addresses the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who
transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms. Using the stories of people
who have been harassed, arrested or beaten for trying to use bathrooms, Toilet Training
focuses on bathroom access in public space, in schools, and at work.
Includes discussion of legal questions of equal access; the health effects associated with
"holding it"; and the social consequences of experiencing pervasive discrimination in bathrooms
and other gendered spaces. Interviews with lawyers, social workers and activists explore
current law and policy, and highlight recent and future policy changes necessary to enable
equal bathroom access for all. Concluding with examples of policy change, Toilet Training
provides a necessary foundation to public education and organizing to address this overlooked
issue.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 44
TOUGH ON CRIME, TOUGH ON OUR KIND
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Distributor:
YO-TV (Youth Organizers Television)
USA, 2001
30 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Juvenile Justice, Racism, War On Drugs, Youth-Produced
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
Concerned by the inequities in the criminal justice system and its treatment of youth, YO-TV
producers examine the New York City juvenile justice system. TOUGH ON CRIME focuses on
the societal factors that cause youth crime and the problems in the system, while exploring a
range of possible solutions. By incorporating the personal stories of youth who have
experienced the system and interviews with experts such as lawyers, judges, and social
workers, the YO-TV producers show what can happen when youth enter the maze of the New
York City juvenile justice system.
TWELVE DISCIPLES OF NELSON MANDELA
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Thomas Allen Harris
USA, 2006
86 minutes
Documentary
English
Cultural Identity: African American, Racism, Youth Activism
Chimpanzee Productions
Synopsis:
In the wake of his stepfather’s death, Thomas Allen Harris embarks on a journesy of
reconciliation with the man who raised him as a son but whom he could never call "father." As
part of the first wave of black South African exiles, Harris's stepfather, B. Pule Leinaeng, and his
eleven comrades left their home in Bloemfontein in 1960. They told the world about the brutality
of the apartheid system and raised support for the fledgling African National Congress and its
leader, Nelson Mandela. Drawing upon the memories of the surviving disciples and their
families, along with the talent of young South African actors who portray their harrowing
experiences, "Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela" tells an intimate story of family and home
against the backdrop of a global movement for freedom.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 45
VICIOUS CIRCLE
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Distributor:
Global Action Project
USA, 2004
7 minutes 30 seconds
Documentary
English
Youth Produced, LGBT, Racism
Global Action Project
Synopsis:
A gripping documentary that investigates acts of violence committed in the name of hatred,
racism, neo-nationalism, and fear, and, in the process, the youth producers unravel little known
complexities behind what makes a hate crime unique in the U.S. legal system. Vicious Circle
combines the stories of victims and activists with dramatic invention and intensive, communitybased research to present a document of stunning clarity and power.
VOICE OF THE PROPHET
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Distributor:
Robert Edwards
USA, 2001
8 minutes
Documentary
English
9/11, Militarism
Robert Edwards
Synopsis:
A startling, prophetic interview with Rick Rescorla, combat veteran of three wars and head of
security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter at the World Trade Center, who was killed in the
September 11th attack. Filmed in Rescorla's office on the 44th floor of the South Tower in 1998.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 46
WAGING A LIVING
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Distributor:
Roger Weisberg
USA, 2006
86 minutes
Documentary
In English
Economic Justice, Labor
Filmmaker’s Library : www.filmakers.com
Synopsis:
If you work hard, you get ahead. That's the American Dream in a nutshell — no matter what your race,
color, creed or economic starting point, hard work will improve your life and increase your children's
opportunities. Yet, this widely held dream is out of reach for an increasing number of working Americans.
Roger Weisberg's alarming and heart-wrenching new documentary, "Waging a Living," puts a human face
on the growing economic squeeze that is forcing millions of workers into the ranks of the poor. Shot in the
Northeast and California, the film profiles four very different Americans who work full-time but still can't
make ends meet. Despite their hard work and determination, these four find themselves, as one of them
observes, "hustling backwards."
One in four American workers — more than 30 million people — are stuck in jobs that pay less than the
federal poverty level for a family of four. Housing costs, to name just one of several essential living
expenses, have tripled since 1979, while real wages for male low-wage workers are actually less than
they were 30 years ago. But the new face of the working poor is overwhelmingly that of a woman
struggling to support her children. Only 37 percent of single mothers receive child support, and that
support averages just $1,331 per year. Nearly a quarter of the country's children now live below the
poverty line.
What do these numbers mean in human terms? What is it really like to work full-time and remain poor?
"Waging a Living" provides a sobering answer. Filmed over three years, the documentary offers intimate
profiles of four working Americans — Jean Reynolds, Jerry Longoria, Barbara Brooks, and Mary Venittelli
— as they struggle to lift their families out of poverty.
WAR FEELS LIKE WAR
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Esteban Uyarra
UK, 2004
60 minutes
Documentary
English
Iraq War, Militarism, Independent Journalism
TV 2 Danmark Programme Sales
Synopsis:
This film documents the lives of reporters and photographers who circumvent military media
control to get access to the real Iraq War. As the invading armies sweep into the country, some
of the journalists in Kuwait decide to travel in their wake, risking their lives to discover the true
impact of war on civilians. "War Feels Like War" records their frustration, fear and horror as they
fight their way to Baghdad to witness events ignored by other news media, and reveals the
difficulties the journalists experience as they try to return to normal life back home.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 47
WAR TAKES
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Distributor:
Patricia Castano and Adelaida Trujillo
Colombia/England, 2002
78 minutes
Documentary
Spanish with English Subtitles
Colombia, Militarism, War On Drugs
Faction Films
Synopsis:
For over four years, three Colombian filmmakers turned their cameras on themselves, using
personal stories to expose the tough reality in their violent, war-ravaged country. According to
these filmmakers, Colombia has been functioning for many years in the gray area between
legalism and lawlessness. Their portrayal does not aim to confirm the image the outside world
has of Colombia as a hotbed of excessive political violence and drug traffic, but instead draws
out the beauty and warmth amidst the larger turmoil within their homeland. The humor borders
on surreal as the film moves between conversations in the jungle with guerrillas to elegant
dinner parties with society's elite. WAR TAKES allows the real lives of its heroes, forever
changed by war, to break through the stereotypes, forcing us to rethink our own conceptions, or
misconceptions, of the beliefs and values by which these Colombians live.
WELL FOUNDED FEAR
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Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini
USA, 2000
119 minutes
Documentary
English
Asylum, Immigration, US Law, 9/11
Epidavros Project
Synopsis:
Imagine that your life has fallen apart -- maybe you've been tortured or raped, or maybe you've
gotten out just in time. You'll have one chance to start a new life in the U.S., and an hour to tell
your story to a neutral bureaucrat. Now imagine yourself on the other side of the desk, listening
to people seeking refuge from any one of a hundred countries. The law says you can offer
asylum if you find that someone has a "well-founded fear of persecution." Three times a day,
your job is to decide their fates. Political asylum--who deserves it? Who gets it? With
unprecedented access, filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson enter the closed
corridors of the INS to reveal the dramatic real-life stage where human rights and American
ideals collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 48
WHO’S STREETS? OUR STREETS!: THE TRUE FACE OF
YOUTH ACTIVISM
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Spring 2003 Basic Documentary Workshop
USA, 2003
20 minutes
Youth-Produced Documentary
English
Youth Activism, Youth-Produced
Educational Video Center
Synopsis:
The Basic Documentary Workshop youth producers encourage their peers to become active in
their communities as they explore the questions: How can young people become socially
active? What are the issues that affect young people’s daily lives? What are the challenges to
being a socially active young person? What are some of the many different ways that youth are
choosing to express their socio-political beliefs to make change? And, historically, what have
young people achieved through activism? To get their answers, the producers interview and
highlight the work of several young, outspoken New York City activists and the organizations
that they represent.
THE WORKS OF SADIE BENNING
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Sadie Benning
USA, 1989
50 minutes
Video Art
English
Gender, LGBT, Video Art
Women Make Movies
Synopsis:
At age 15, Sadie Benning began using a toy video camera to produce these frank, funny, and
remarkably self-aware missives about growing up lesbian. This compilation tape includes: A
PLACE CALLED LOVELY, WELCOME TO NORMAL, and JOLLIES.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 49
YO SOY BORICUA PA’QUE TU LO SEPAS! (I’M PUERTO
RICAN, JUST SO YOU KNOW!)
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Rosie Perez
USA, 2006
28 minutes
Documentary
English and Spanish (with subtitles)
Cultural Identity: Latino, Racism, Genocide/Ethnic Conflict
IFC Films
Synopsis:
"Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!" explores Rosie Perez's burning question: why are
Puerto Ricans so damn proud? Her journey through Puerto Rico's history gains inspiration from
the vibrant music, dancing and energy of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and she uses this
starting point to speak to Puerto Rican people about their identity and culture. We follow Rosie
and her collaborators through New York, Miami and to Puerto Rico to document what it really
means to be "Boricua."
Puerto Ricans live in the United States in a limbo-like status. They are citizens, but don't vote for
President. They've traveled back and forth to the island freely for a century, but still suffer
extreme prejudice and economic roadblocks. Their ancestral heritage includes Indigenous
Taino, Spanish, African, Irish, Scottish and French, amongst others. Puerto Ricans were the first
Latino group to migrate to the East Coast of the U.S. in large numbers.
In her directorial debut, Rosie Perez ("Do the Right Thing," "White Men Can't Jump, Fearless")
celebrates Puerto Rican pride. Alternately shocking and humorous, this documentary, which is
narrated by Jimmy Smits ("The West Wing," "NYPD Blue"), puts the themes of family, language,
and racism into a historical perspective. The film uncovers the complex and controversial history
between Puerto Rico and the United States: Forced sterilizations and birth control testing in
Puerto Rico; the imprisonment and torture of freedom fighter Pedro Albizu Campos; Pedro
Pietri, the pre-eminent voice for Nuyoricans; The Young Lords, a group of activists agitating for
Puerto Rican rights in New York City; and the protests against U.S. bombing of Vieques. Few
Americans know about these subjects, which are not to be found in American history books.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival High School Program
2006-7 Video Catalog – Page 50