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Festival coverage

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

2008

Award-winning French film Persepolis will show on the opening night
Award-winning French film Persepolis will show on the opening night

This international film festival aims to showcase the stories of activists and survivors from across the globe. Now in its 12th year, it brings together documentary and fiction films with the intention of galvanising those who watch them to join those taking action against injustices many face every day. The festival runs in London from March 12 to 21 and then travels on to New York, where it will run from June 13 to 26. It will then travel to several other cities. The programme this year is typically strong, featuring award-winning films, including Persepolis and War/Dance.

View complete schedule

Other years (17)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame
    Review preview for Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame

    Although this film has got a very serious point to make, Hana Makhalbaf has an enviable lightness of touch and always remembers to keep the story front and centre.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A little girl's attempt to go to school reveals the plight of many in modern Afghanistan.
  • A Promise To The Dead: The Exile Journey Of Ariel Dorfman
    Review preview for A Promise To The Dead: The Exile Journey Of Ariel Dorfman

    There’s a lot of meandering in this documentary but this does not detract from the overall impact.

    David Stanners · 4 out of 5
    An exploration of the exiled life of writer Ariel Dorfman.
  • Under The Bombs
    Review preview for Under The Bombs

    This film is not a hectoring polemic, rather a passionate plea for understanding and empathy.

    Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
    As the Israeli army bombs Lebanon in 2006, a mother makes a desperate journey to try to save her son.
  • Behave
    Review preview for Behave

    Rather than heaping condemnation on everyone involved – as you might expect – Ramos just tells it like it is.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Fly-on-the-wall look at the juvenile detention system in Brazil.
  • Iron Ladies Of Liberia
    Review preview for Iron Ladies Of Liberia

    You feel the urgency to improve things. You feel their dilemmas. “In Africa, 100% democracy is not working. Especially after war.”

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
    A year in the life of the first female African president.
  • Manufactured Landscapes
    Review preview for Manufactured Landscapes

    There is nothing wrong with Baichwal's camerawork, with a fascinating opening eight-minute shot of it roaming across a Chinese factory floor, particularly stunning - but everything lacks depth.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
    A documentarian follows photographer Edward Burtynsky as he captures the effects of industrialisation in Asia.
  • Darfur Now
    Review preview for Darfur Now

    A powerful testimony to the changes that may come when people make an effort to let their voices be heard.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    Documentary about those trying to raise the profile of genocide in Sudan.
  • Persepolis
    Review preview for Persepolis

    Seen purely in aesthetic terms, Persepolis is an object of rare beauty, with no obvious precedents or parallels in the history of anime.

    Anton Bitel · 4.5 out of 5
    A girl's eye view of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
  • Lioness
    Review preview for Lioness

    It is the unspoken experience, the agony that is Iraq, which hangs so heavy in the vacuum between what you see and what you imagine.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    Women soldiers in Iraq.
  • Up The Yangtze
    Review preview for Up The Yangtze

    Chang’s sensitive observational style allows the contrast between the unreality of the ship and the crushing hardship of the lives of Yu Shui’s family to develop naturally.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Documentary about the humanitarian impact of the Three Gorges Dam project.

A–Z of Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2008 reviews