From 12-21 March 2008, Human Rights Watch International Film Festival returns to six cinemas across London with a programme of 23 eye-opening and inspiring documentary and feature films that dig beneath the surface of stories from 19 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Chad, Chile, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, former Yugoslavia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nepal, Palestine, Sudan, Uganda and USA. Most screenings are followed by lively debate and discussion between filmmakers, audiences and human rights experts.

This year the festival welcomes five documentaries exploring the struggle for human rights in Africa, with films from Uganda, Chad, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

The Ritzy * Clapham Picture House * Gate Cinema * Greenwich Picturehouse * Renoir * ICA

THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Winner: Special Jury Prize - Sundance Film Festival 2008
Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film sensitively yet unflinchingly brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country’s intractable conflicts. A survivor of rape herself, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Jackson, travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. The film features interviews with activists, peacekeepers and physicians, as well as the indifferent rapists. But the most remarkable moments of the film come as survivors recount their personal stories - inspiring examples of resilience, resistance, courage and grace. Find out more and book tickets.

Monday, 17 March 18.30, Ritzy
Wednesday, 19 March 18.30, ICA

DARFUR NOW
Since early 2003, violence raging across Sudan’s western region of Darfur has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people. In a fast-paced chronicle of the crisis as it unfolds in Darfur, filmmaker Ted Braun expertly follows six individuals - refugee camp leader Ahmed Mohammed Abakar; female rebel-soldier Hejewa Adam; Academy Award-nominated actor/activist Don Cheadle; Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; Pablo Recalde, leader of the World Food Programme team in West Darfur; and Adam Sterling, a young activist in the United States - with different strategies and different stories as they tackle head-on the challenge of ending the crisis. This moving story unveils the power of compassion and commitment from total strangers who, by demonstrating their belief in justice for people in every corner of the world, renew faith in the tenacity of the human heart. Find out more and book tickets.

Friday, 14 March 21.30, Ritzy
Sunday, 16 March 15.30, ICA
Tuesday, 18 March 18.30, Gate Cinema

THE DICTATOR HUNTER
“If you kill one person, you go to jail. If you kill 40 people, they put you in an insane asylum. But if you kill 40,000 people, you get a comfortable exile with a bank account in another country, and that’s what we want to change here”. - Reed Brody, Counsel, Human Rights Watch

Souleymane Guengueng, a former civil servant, watched hundreds of his cellmates perish from torture and disease during two years in prison under Chadian dictator Hissene Habré. Guengueng took an oath before God that if he ever got out alive, he would bring his tormentors to justice. Habré fell from power in 1990, and Guengueng’s quest for justice began. Guengueng used his considerable charm to persuade still-frightened victims to seek Habré’s trial for killing thousands of his countrymen. For the past eight years Guengueng has been joined in the chase by Reed Brody - known as Human Rights Watch’s “dictator hunter”. Now Habré lives in Senegal, where Brody and Guengueng are attempting to have him brought to trial or extradited. The Dictator Hunter follows the pair over the course of two suspenseful and critical years in their attempt to bring Habré to trial. The Dictator Hunter shows what committed individuals can accomplish when working relentlessly to break the cycle of impunity. Find out more and book tickets.

Sunday, 16 March 16.00, Clapham
Monday, 17 March 18.45, ICA

IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA
In a poignant story of recovery and strength, Liberian journalist Siatta Scott Johnson documents the first year of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s presidency in her war-torn country, highlighting the battles and accomplishments of the first female president in Africa. The brutal, ruinous rule of Charles Taylor left Liberia a legacy of lost childhoods and looming unrest. President Sirleaf and her newly appointed advisors face a daunting task: to maintain the country’s momentary stability and restart development of a society long plagued by struggles and despair. This is the story of a woman’s iron strength in tackling the challenges of a society desperate for recuperation, and the struggle that her female government members and even the filmmaker herself endure in their efforts to move their country forward. Find out more and book tickets.

Sunday, 16 March 19.00, Ritzy
Monday, 17 March 20.45, Ritzy
Tuesday, 18 March 18.30, Greenwich Picture House

WAR/DANCE
For the past 20 years Uganda’s government has been at war in northern Uganda with a rebel force, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA employs a chillingly effective process to fill its ranks—abducting children. Academy Award Nominee for Best Feature Documentary and Winner of the Directing Award for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2007, /War/Dance/ follows the historic journey of three children whose school is the first from the northern war zone to make it to the finals of Uganda’s national music and dance competition. Amidst unimaginable violence and grief, these children carry with them the hopes and dreams of their school as they sing and dance, in protest and in celebration, on their way to the national competition. Find out more and book tickets.

Wednesday, 19 March 18.30, Clapham
Thursday, 20 March 19.00, Ritzy

For further press information, DVD screeners, images, filmmaker interviews, please contact Sarah Harvey Publicity: 020 7703 2253, press@sarahharvey.info

Box Office Information
Ritzy Cinema: 0871 704 2065, www.picturehouses.co.uk
ICA: 0207 930 3647, www.ica.org.uk
Clapham Picture House: 0871 704 2055, www.picturehouses.co.uk
Renoir: 0871 704 2055, www.picturehouses.co.uk
Gate Cinema: 0871 704 2058, www.picturehouses.co.uk
Greenwich Picturehouse: 0871 704 2059, www.picturehouses.co.uk

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Justice Africa News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.