For the last 10 years, the Museum of Photographic Arts has brought the annual touring Human Rights Watch Film Festival to San Diego, giving locals the chance to connect with fellow movie-lovers while exploring a world of issues through consciousness-raising films and lively panel discussions featuring the people who made them.
Our worlds have changed since the 2020 festival came to town last January, but when this year’s festival makes its digital debut on Feb. 2, it will once again broaden our horizons while bringing us closer together. No matter where we live.
The 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival is being brought to viewers everywhere in digital form through the Museum of Photographic Arts. The festival runs online from Feb. 2 through Feb. 8 and features five films. Standard tickets are $9 per film, with passes available for $40. Discounts are available for MOPA and Human Rights Watch members, as well as seniors, students and active military. Viewers can watch the films an
Talking About Trees: I d walk a mile for a movie.
The Museum of Photographic Arts once again hosts the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, which, for the first time in its 11-year history, screens virtually and therefore all across the United States. The lineup is yours to watch between February 2-8. Purchase tickets by visiting MOPA.org/HRWFF. Tickets are limited and likely to sell out. It’s wise to book in advance.
Talking About Trees (2019)
“Once upon a time in the land of films…” mutters Suleiman Ibrahim as he looks down at the abandoned projection booth floor, where gritty, unspooled yards of celluloid, curled from the Sudanese heat, crunch beneath his feet. The 35mm projectors, so dirty that it takes a leaf-blower to clean out the dust, are unusable. “My dear, a young lover has replaced you,” he continues. “Digital technology is the young lover.” After going almost a year without a projected image, this viewer doesn’t need a reminder of the importance
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The Human Rights Watch Film Festival, in its 11th year partnering with Balboa Park’s Museum of Photographic Arts, is returning to San Diego virtually in February.
Because the festival has moved to a digital platform due to the ongoing pandemic, from February 2 through 8, viewers from across the United States will now be able to view the event’s five films, whose topics include LGBTQ+ rights, systemic racism and immigration.
“At a time when many of us feel isolated, the world needs to hear stories of people standing up, fighting back and communities coming together stories that reflect the justice movements and conversations that are happening right here in our own communities,” said Jennifer Nedbalsky, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
Sudanese Filmmakers Realize How Much Society Needs Their Dreams Published January 26th, 2021 - 07:51 GMT
Sudan film MY LITTLE SISTER (Twitter)
Highlights
As Sudan undergoes a precarious political transition, the country’s filmmakers have found more space to operate, Alala said.
Sudanese filmmakers who celebrated the end of stifling restrictions following the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir have won multiple international awards but are yet to enjoy the same recognition at home.
Cinema languished in the North African country through three decades of authoritarian rule by Bashir.
But Sudanese took to the streets to demand freedom, peace and social justice, and Bashir’s ironfisted rule came to an end in a palace coup by the army in April 2019.
Democracy, Human Rights and the Freedom of Expression: A Conversation with Maria Ressa (Virtual) Friday January 29, 2021
Free
FRONTLINE and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival present a special discussion forum with award-winning journalist Maria Ressa on the freedom of the press, human rights, and the importance of empowering and informing citizens within democratic societies.
Ressa, the chief executive of independent news site Rappler, was recently served her 10th arrest warrant and is currently facing jail time under a cyber libel law.
She is the subject of A Thousand Cuts, a FRONTLINE documentary, that chronicles her embattled journey as the top target of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has cracked down on news reporters critical of his brutal war on drugs.