2007 HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL AT USF

MARCH 19, 20, 21

Presentation Theater

Free & open to the general public

MARCH 19

2:00 PM: YAIPOTA NANDE IGUI — QUEREMOS NUESTRA TIERRA (We Want Our Land), Argentina , 2006

Dir. Lorena Riposati, Grupo de Cine Insurgente, 74m

The documentary is an account of the Guaraní community El Tabacal's enduring crusade to recuperate their ancestral lands. Framed within the indigenous peoples' increasing rebellion against genocide and exploitation, it exposes the main events of the Guarani people's battle against the crimes of the sugar mill San Martín del Tabacal. It speaks of a community's uprising against acts of brutality and historical violence perpetrated by local and multinational powers. It denounces the ongoing repression of what is called the "Sugar Mill of Terror," owned by the multinational corporation Seaboard. Yaipota Nande Igui (We Want Our Land) speaks of colonialism, domination, and exclusion. It also highlights the courageous strength of the indigenous peoples in defense or their identity and rights, and the struggles that are taking place in the north of Argentina against the oppression and barbarism imposed by the economic and political powers.

In English, Karen and Burmese with English subtitles

Total Denial is the inspiring story of fifteen villagers from the jungles of Burma whose quest for justice eventually leads them to bring suit in a U.S. court against two oil giants - UNOCAL and TOTAL - for human-rights abuse. For five years producer/director Milena Kaneva collected accounts from Burmese villagers of forced labor, re-location of villages, rape, and murder associated with construction of the Yadana pipeline. Her “guide” during this journey was Ka Hsaw Wa, described by Kerry Kennedy in her book “Speak Truth to Power” as “A man of incredible courage and commitment, with the firm belief that one man can make a difference.” A member of Burma 's Karen ethnic minority, Ka Hsaw Wa was one of the leaders of the student movement for democracy in Burma in 1988 which was violently suppressed by the Burmese government. For more than a decade, he has gathered testimonies and other evidence on numerous cases of human rights and environmental abuse. Wanted by police in both Burma and Thailand , he is now based in the U.S. , traveling back to both countries periodically at considerable personal risk, to document further abuses. In 1995, along with the co-founder of Earth Rights International, Katie Redford, Ka Hsaw Wa brought a landmark lawsuit against UNOCAL and TOTAL that drew international attention to the pervasive abuses in Burma .

Film's website http://www.totaldenialfilm.com

5:30 PM: SWITCH OFF (APAGA Y VAMONOS) Manel Mayol, Spain, 2005, 87m, doc

Spanish and Mapudungun with English subtitles

The Pehuenche-Mapuche people live above the Bíobío River, in Ralco valley, Chile . For over four centuries they have fought off all invaders who tried to enter the valley, from the Incas to the Spanish conquistadors. In 2004, amongst the scenic beauty of the Chilean Andes, Spain 's largest hydroelectric company, Endesa, constructed the world's third largest dam. This dam flooded the Ralco valley and forced the “exchange” of whole villages to much higher ground. Despite protections for indigenous people enshrined in the Chilean constitution, the government has shown little inclination to enforce their rights against the wealthy Spanish multinational. Protestors—including activists, journalists, and lawyers—have found themselves arrested under Pinochet's anti-terrorist laws, facing anonymous witnesses whose identities are concealed from even the court.

Film's website http://www.switchoffthemovie.com

7:30 PM: FOREST FOR THE TREES
Bernadine Mellis, USA, 2006, 53m, doc

In English

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.

Film's website: http://www.redbirdfilms.com  
   Listen to the HRWIFF 2006 trailer

MARCH 20

4:00 PM:MAQUILAPOLIS [City of Factories], USA, 2006, Dir. Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre , 68m

Carmen works the graveyard shift in one of Tijuana's maquiladoras, the multinationally-owned 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.  As Carmen and a million other maquiladora workers produce televisions, electrical cables, toys, clothes, batteries and IV tubes, they weave the very fabric of life for consumer nations. 
They also confront labor violations, environmental devastation and urban chaos -- life on the frontier of the global economy.  In MAQUILAPOLIS, Carmen and her colleague Lourdes reach beyond the daily struggle for survival to organize for change:  Carmen takes a major television manufacturer to task for violating her labor rights. 
Lourdes pressures the government to clean up a toxic waste dump left behind by a departing factory. To create MAQUILAPOLIS, the filmmakers brought together factory workers in Tijuana and community organizations in Mexico and the U.S. to collaborate on a film that depicts globalization through the eyes of the women who live on its leading edge.  The factory workers who appear in the film have been involved in every stage of production, from planning to shooting, from scripting to outreach.

Film's website http://www.maquilapolis.com/

5:30 PM: WINTER IN BAGHDAD (INVIERNO EN BAGDAD )
Javier Corcuera, Spain, 2005, 78m, doc

In Arabic with English subtitles

Hitting just the right notes, filmmaker Javier Corcuera brings his gift of storytelling to this beautifully crafted film, allowing the viewer to integrate the political with the personal in the tragedy of Iraq that has unfolded since the war began in spring 2003. Corcuera spent several months in Baghdad in the winter of 2004 getting to know Iraqi families who were trying to carry on with daily life despite the constant violence, black outs, and lack of basic necessities. The filmmaker became especially close to a group of young, enterprising, and highly resilient teenage boys who despite the obstacles still managed to make it to school, hold down part-time jobs—which were not always strictly legal jobs due to constantly shifting U.S. regulations—and hang out with their friends in this forbidding environment. Winter in Baghdad is as beautiful visually as it is deep emotionally—a rich tapestry of life in Baghdad today which counterbalances the simplistic and repetitive images of this once great city that are presented by the vast majority of mainstream news media. *Winner Best Documentary at the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival.

Producer's website http://www.eliasquerejeta.com

7:30 PM: ROSITA
Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater, US/Nicaragua, 2005, 55m, doc

In English and Spanish with English subtitles

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.

Filmmaker's website: http://www.attiegoldwater.com     Listen to the HRWIFF 2006 trailer

WEDNESDAY 21

2:00 PM:“Voices of the Past : The Plight and Stuggle of Filipino WWII Veterans in the United States” Co-Produced by: Marie-Lorraine Feria Mallare, J.D. Adjunct Professor Maria Elena Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program and Asian American Studies (USF) and Aethel Cruz, USF Student, Knowledge Activism Fellow, USA, Part I: 9 minutes, Part 2: 30 minutes

Many Americans know that Filipinos fought for and with the U.S. armed forces in WWII. But not many are aware that President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised them U.S. citizenship and full veterans' benefits, which they did not receive since Congress, enacted two Rescission Acts in 1946, which rescinded the promise. In 1990, the Filipino Veterans were naturalized sans the benefits. As of now, the Filipino veterans are still fighting for, not only full equity in terms of benefits and pensions, but social justice. Veteranos (a Filipino veteran) are forced to live off the small supplemental security income (SSI) which amounts to approximately $450-$650 a month. In some cases, four to five veteranos live cramped up together in single room occupancy (SRO) in residential hotels in areas like the Tenderloin in San Francisco . Having waited over sixty years for full equity, the veteranos are now in their 70s and 80s. Each day, a veteran dies, and each day, they have lived through this injustice. Ironically, this year marks 100 years of the Filipino diaspora to the US . This film will show how the US has failed to ignore the pleas of Filipino WWII veterans, thus subjecting each veteran to human rights abuse.

Queer 360: Many Faces of Queer Civil Rights (LGBTQ Caucus Sponsored Films)

4:00 PM: A CIVIL WAR
USA , 26m

A Civil War follows two women (one, a former lesbian and the child's biological parent, the other, the child's non-biological parent) through the turmoil that is caused when parents battle over custody of a child between state lines. Child custody fights are commonplace but with two mothers now residing in separate states and fighting for custody of a minor child, this particular case holds significant political and social ramifications for the LGBT community.

5:00 PM: ONE WEDDING AND A REVOLUTION
USA , 2004, Dir. Debra Chasnoff, 20m

In February 2004, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom made headlines when he decided to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. This 20-minute film reveals the inspiration, motivation and political challenges behind the mayor's landmark decision. It contains now-historic footage of the tearful exchange of vows between long-time lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon who, celebrating their 51st anniversary, were the first couple to tie the knot. Special features on the DVD include a director's interview. Packed with humor, compassion and political grit, One Wedding and a Revolution has won numerous documentary awards at film festivals all over the world. Awards include: Best Women's Short, Cleveland International Film Festival, Special Jury Prize, Barcelona International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Best Short Documentary, Fire Island Film and Video Festival, Audience Favorite Fresno Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Audience Favorite Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival, Audience Favorite and Best Short Film Santa Barbara Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Best Short Documentary Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

6:00 PM: I EXIST
USA, 2003, Dir. Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir, 57m

Directed by Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir, I Exist is a groundbreaking documentary that gives voice to a group that has long remained silent out of shame and fear of ostracism. Gay and Lesbian Middle Easterners who live in the United States must frequently combat the negative stereotypes revolving around both their sexuality and their race. This award-winning film features interviews with a variety of young men, women and their family members who share with viewers some of the experiences, joys and sorrows of this diverse community.

http://www.arabfilm.com/item/307/

7:30PM: THROUGH THICK AND THIN
USA, 2005, Dir. Sebastian Cordoba, 60m

THROUGH THICK AND THIN will explore the lives of ten Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered binational couples who are facing the hurdles imposed upon them by the status quo, as thousands couples are hurting deeply in the United States. Shot in cinema verite style, intercut with interviews, will show the importance and depth of this phenomenon through the personal stories of the eight subjects, their travails, their hopes and their love for each other. In their small microcosm, the couples will reflect on the problem at large in America, and the pain caused by the lack of solutions at present. In their diverging paths what subjects are looking for is a way to hold on to a loving relationship, some only a few months old, some with many years of happiness behind them. [Director Sebastian Cordoba will lead the discussion following the film].

Film's website http://www.throughthickandthin.net/index.htm