Human Rights Watch Film Festival Returns to New York, 6/14-28

The 23rd annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival returns to New York from June 14 to 28 with a program of powerful human stories of oppression, injustice, and resilience from across the globe.

Sixteen documentary and fiction films from 12 countries will be screened, including 14 New York premieres. A co-presentation of Human Rights Watch and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the festival will be held at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater. Most of the screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and some by panel discussions with experts and film subjects.

The program this year is organized around five themes: health, development, and the environment; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and migrants’ rights; personal testimony and witnessing; reporting in crises; and women’s rights.

“What is truly inspiring and hopeful about this year’s program is how many films showcase the powerful impact that individuals have on human rights issues on the world stage,” said John Biaggi, Human Rights Watch Film Festival director. “These films demonstrate that committed individuals can generate positive and lasting change."

“For over 20 years, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival has provided a forum for the creative community to share stories that bear witness to the human condition,” added Rose Kuo, Film Society of Lincoln Center executive director. “We are proud to support their mission of bringing important issues to the screen.”

The festival will launch on June 14 with a fundraising Benefit Night for Human Rights Watch, featuring Kim Nguyen’s War Witch, an emotionally powerful drama about a 14-year-old girl abducted by a rebel army in sub-Saharan Africa. The main program will begin on June 15, with the Opening Night presentation of Alison Klayman’s festival favorite Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, an up-close look at renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei and his ongoing battle with the Chinese government. The Closing Night screening on June 28 will be Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s Call Me Kuchu, which follows the bold efforts of Ugandan David Kato and a close-knit group of activists to repeal their country’s homophobic laws and liberate their fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, or “kuchus.”

For more information, visit www.ff.hrw.org.