[asia-apec 909] Human Rights: In our Own Back Yard

[David Buchanan]

3RD ANNUAL AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FEST
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In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the 25th Anniversary of Amnesty International in Canada,
Group 17 presents the 3rd Annual Amnesty International Film Festival on
Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28, 1998.

Films addressing world wide human rights concerns will be screened at
Pacific Cinémathèque, 1131 Howe Street (at Helmcken) in Vancouver. Tickets
will be available at the door only, 30 minutes prior to showtime.

Ticket prices are $ 7.00 Adults and $ 5.00 Students/Seniors

Schedule and Program Notes

Friday, November 27
7 p.m. - Double Feature
Waiting
Canada, 1996, 33 minutes
Director:  Marie-Claude Harvey/Producer: Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol

A civil war has divided Sudan in two, with the southern part itself torn by
many factions. All too often, famine has struck. In the six-month period
from January to July 1993, famine decimated a population of 1,800,000. Now
it has returned. Hoping for a new season, a new harvest, and the end of the
war, the Dinka of Alek have requested aid. Sacks of grain are dropped from
planes, but to prevent rioting, distribution is delayed until the arrival of
reinforcements. During this week of waiting, we witness the face of hunger,
bearing witness to it through a first-person account. The filmmaker's sole
intent is to give hunger a human form, to capture the hope for survival on
film, soberly, without pandering to the mass media.

Gerrie and Louise
Canada, 1996, 74 minutes
Director:  Sturla Gunnarsson/Producers:  Phyllis Brown, Sturla Gunnarsson,
David York

Gerrie and Louise tells a harrowing, fascinating and profoundly touching
story. At its centre is a marriage that has to contend with staggering
issues of betrayal and trust, a relationship that serves as a microcosm for
the moral compromise holding together the post-apartheid peace in South
Africa. It bears the compassion and insight, to help us examine the human
beings behind covert operations against the African National Congress.
Colonel Gerrie Hugo, a seasoned veteran of covert wars, was brought back to
South Africa for the Apartheid Government's "Total Onslaught" against the
ANC. Louise Flanagan, an acclaimed journalist, wrote stories about South
Africa's hit squads, and became the chief investigator of the Truth
Commission in the Eastern Cape Province.

Friday, November 27
9:30 p.m. - Double Feature
Cases of Violence Against Native Communities in Chiapas
Chiapas, 1998, 52 minutes
Director/Producer: Carlos Martinez Suarez
B.C. Premiere
Guest Speaker

Carlos Martinez Suarez fearlessly documents the realities of native
communities in Chiapas, where he has been living for many years. He
describes some of his documentaries as "emergency videos" because of the
urgency to have them circulated both locally and internationally. Cases of
Violence depicts the courage of the native communities, displaced by
incidents and threats of terror by paramilitary groups linked to the ruling
party, in both Prado Pacayal and X'oyep. On December 22, 1997, when 45
refugees are massacred in Acteal, the government responds by sending in
troops to "maintain peace" in the region. Defenseless, without arms, the
communities protest the presence of the military, urging it to leave. Many
powerful and courageous moments are captured in this video.

The Devil's Dream
Canada, 1992, 68 minutes
Director: Mary Ellen Davis/Producer: Adam Symansky and Carmen Garcia

Guatemala is a society split between native and "ladino," rich and poor,
civil and military. Native people pick cotton for two dollars a day, their
children work for half that amount. Those who dare to protest risk their
lives. This award-winning documentary permits the people to tell their story
in their own words. The Dance of the 24 Devils, a Guatemalan folk dance, is
the vehicle used to shed light on the many-layered realities of today's
Guatemala. Combining lyricism, realism and irony, Davis explores the soul of
this paradoxical country. We discover not only the beauty of the landscape,
the people and their creative imagination, but also the wretched conditions
of life, the unrelenting spectre of violence and a pervasive sense of
absurd.

Saturday, November 28
7 p.m. - Double Feature
The Sky: A Silent Witness
England, 1995, 27 minutes
Director/Producer: Midge Mackenzie

The wide-open sky is a metaphor for the space that bears witness, and offers
acceptance, as human beings grapple with their experience. In this film, the
sky is witness to stark stories shared by women activists in this
documentary. They include a Tibetan Buddhist nun, a Tiananmen Square
demonstrator, and an African American civil rights worker, testifying about
human rights abuses in their own countries. Produced in association with
Amnesty International, these compelling stories are intertwined with
striking black-and-white footage. Produced in association with Amnesty
International, The Sky speaks volumes about human rights.

Burma Diary
Thailand, 1997, 55 minutes
Director/Producer:  Jeanne Hallacy
Guest Speaker

Burma Diary shares four years in the life of Tint Aung, a vibrant leader for
the student democratic movement in Burma. Hallacy records the ongoing
struggle for Tint Aung and his family, starting after the "The Massacre of
8-8-88", where thousands of students were killed during a demonstration in
Rangoon. Many members of the All Burma Student Democratic Front fled to
communities in exile on the Thai-Burma border, in attempt to protect
themselves from the ruthless military regime, SLORC (State Law and Order
Restoration Council). Tint Aung's personal quest mirrors the larger
political conquest for change and democracy in Burma. This is an intimate
insight into the spirit of the democratic movement in Burma.

Saturday, November 28
9 p.m.

Kundun
USA, 1997, 135 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Barbara De Fina
Speaker:  Canada Tibet Committee

This remarkable drama traces the true story of the Dalai Lama, recognized in
1937 as the 14th reincarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, when he was a
young child in Tibet. Destined to become the spiritual and political leader
of his country, the Dalai Lama's early life was focussed on training and
developing those qualities necessary for him to carry out his daunting
responsibilities as Tibet's "God king." In dramatizing the Dalai Lama's
childhood and adolescence, the brutal Chinese invasion of Tibet, and the
arduous journey into exile, Kundun fuses the Dalai Lama's prophetic dreams
and visions with the miserable transformation of Tibet into a prison that
is, to this day, occupied by China. A magnificent Hollywood production,
which the Chinese government banned and loudly denounced, Kundun has been
described by critics as Scorsese's best film.