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Festival coverage

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

13 March – 22 March 2013

Oscar-nominated film War Witch will be among those screening
Oscar-nominated film War Witch will be among those screening

This international film festival aims to showcase the stories of activists and survivors from across the globe.

Currently in its 17th 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.

This year's London arm of the festival runs from March 13 to 22 at cinemas including the Curzon Soho, Curzon Mayfair, ICA and Ritzy Brixton. It will open with Kim Longinotto's Salma and feature the Oscar-nominated films War Witch and The Gatekeepers.

The New York edition of the festival will run from June 13 to 23.

Other years (17)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Salma
    Review preview for Salma

    Kim Longinotto's documentary about the Tamil poet Salma burns with both indignation and a profound melancholy.

    Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
    The story of a woman shut away by her family for 25 years, who became a published poet, politician and activist.
  • Which Way Is The Front Line from Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington
    Review preview for Which Way Is The Front Line from Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington

    The picture painted is one of a man who was dedicated to not just to capturing people's images on camera but to talking to them and finding out what made them tick.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Tribute to the photojournalist and documentarian who was killed in Libya in 2011.
  • Wadjda
    Review preview for Wadjda

    A cracking film by a born filmmaker and I can’t wait to see what all involved in it do next.

    Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
    A young Saudi girl who will stop at nothing to earn enough money to buy the bicycle she craves.
  • The Act Of Killing
    Review preview for The Act Of Killing

    Unquestionably and understandably harrowing, in places unbearably so, this reflection upon acts of murder, genocide and torture, told by the perpetrators themselves, is a masterpiece.

    Merlin Harries · 5 out of 5
    People responsible for the mass murder of suspeced Communists at the onset of the military regime in 1965 are challenged to restage their actions and question the pride they still take in them.
  • Alias Ruby Blade
    Review preview for Alias Ruby Blade

    A celebration of peaceful resistance and of those who stand behind many of the world's figureheads, helping them to achieve their aims.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    The love story of human rights activist Kirsty Sword and political prisoner Xanana Gusmão.
  • My Afghanistan - Life in the Forbidden Zone
    Review preview for My Afghanistan - Life in the Forbidden Zone

    Films like this are important because they reveal the real faces behind the barrage of news statistics. Faces belonging to people who have as much of a right to live out their lives in peace without fear as we do.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Nagieb Khaja, a Danish journalist of Afghan origin, gives people living in outlying communities in Helmand province mobile phones equipped with cameras and asks them to film their daily lives.
  • In The Shadow Of The Sun
    Review preview for In The Shadow Of The Sun

    Freeland captures the beauty of Tanzania and uses the landscape as a way of illustrating the isolation and loneliness suffered by those with albinism.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    The story of two men with albinism in Tanzania pursuing their dreams in the face of virulent prejudice.
  • The Gatekeepers
    Review preview for The Gatekeepers

    And as Moreh probes the men, we, whether we agree with them or not, find ourselves drawn into their moral maze in all of its complexity.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
    Six former heads of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, discuss their nation’s past, present and future.
  • War Witch
    Review preview for War Witch

    This is no chest-beating, flag-waving war movie, no propaganda for conflicts past, present or future, War Witch is the story of childhood destroyed, a country in flames and of how we survive the worst of what (in)humanity throws at us.

    Neil Mitchell · 5 out of 5
    A former child soldier recounts her past to her unborn child.
  • Tall As The Baobab Tree
    Review preview for Tall As The Baobab Tree

    The authenticity of the characters and the issues they face feels unimpeachable; however the dialogue can, at times, verge into maddening exposition.

    Sophie Monks Kaufman · 3 out of 5
    After her brother has an accident, her father is forced to sell her younger sister into an arranged marriage, but Coumba hatches a plan to save her.

A–Z of Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2013 reviews

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