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Human Rights Watch Film Festival · 2016

Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016

London Line-up

Programme

16 films · 5 reviews

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Among The Believers

Review preview for Among The Believers

Naqvi and Trivedi achieve a fine balancing act, giving no ground either to the fundamentalists or to the Islamophobes.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An exploration into the spread of the radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains children to devote their lives to holy war, from a very young age.

(Country: US, Pakistan; Year: 2015; Director: Mohammed Naqvi, Hemal Trivedi; Writer: Jonathan Goodman Levitt)

Full review

At Home In The World (Et hjem i verden)

Stories of five refugee children during their first year at a Red Cross school in Denmark.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2015; Director: Andreas Koefoed; Writer: Andreas Koefoed)

The Crossing

A first-hand account of the perilous journey made by a group of Syrian refugees.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2015; Director: George Kurian; Writer: George Kurian; Stars: Nabil Hilaneh, Angela Al Souliman, Rami Aramouni, Mai Alsouliman, Marcel Alnaanaa, Afaf Alkamel, Mustafa Sayed Eissa, Alia Isaa, Salwa Zaher, Najib Mazloum, Maan, Ahmad Alsaleh, Manal Alsaleh, Shaima Alsaleh, Saddam Shkair)

Frackman

Story of an accidental activist who took on the big corporations over fracking.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2015; Director: Richard Todd; Writer: John Collee, John Collee, Trish Lake, Simon Nasht, Sarah Rosetti, Sarah Rosetti, Jonathan Stack, Richard Todd, Richard Todd; Stars: Drew Hutton, Dayne Pratzky)

The Hard Stop

Review preview for The Hard Stop

Two docs for the price of one? Both would have been better on their own

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2.5 out of 5
Documentary about the death of Mark Duggan and the difficulty of finding work for young black men in Tottenham

(Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: George Amponsah; Writer: George Amponsah, Dionne Walker; Stars: Marcus Knox Hooke, Kurtis Henville)

Full review

The High Sun (Zvizdan)

Three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighbouring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of inter-ethnic hatred

(Country: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia; Year: 2015; Director: Dalibor Matanic; Writer: Dalibor Matanic; Stars: Tihana Lazovic, Goran Markovic, Nives Ivankovic)

Hooligan Sparrow (Hai Nan Zhi Hou)

Review preview for Hooligan Sparrow

The sheer volume of evidence Nanfu has amassed - material she had difficulty smuggling out of the country - is difficult to argue with.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A portrait of women's rights activist Ye Hainan, detailing her struggles with the Chinese authorities.

(Country: China, US; Year: 2016; Director: Nanfu Wang; Stars: Ye Hainan, Wang Yu)

Full review

The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer)

The story of Mohammad Assaf – Gazan winner of Arab Idol.

(Country: Occupied Palestinian Territory; Year: 2015; Director: Hany Abu-Assad; Writer: Hany Abu-Assad, Annemarie Jacir, Sameh Zoabi; Stars: Tawfeek Barhom, Ahmed Al Rokh, Hiba Attalah, Kais Attalah, Abdel Kareem Barakeh, Nadine Labaki, Ahmad Qasem, Saber Shreim)

Inside The Chinese Closet

The difficult decisions young LGBT individuals must make when forced to balance their quest for love with parental and cultural expectations in China.

(Year: 2015; Director: Sophia Luvara)

I Am Sun Mu

Documentary about the North Korean defector and pop artist.

(Country: US, South Korea, China; Year: 2015; Director: Adam Sjöberg; Writer: Adam Sjöberg)

Larry Kramer In Love And Anger

Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jean Carlomusto)

Mediterranea

Drama tracking African migrants in Italy.

(Country: Germany, US, UK, France, Italy; Year: 2015; Director: Jonas Carpignano; Writer: Jonas Carpignano; Stars: Koudous Seihon, Alassane Sy, Joy Odundia, Vincenzina Siciliano, Sinka Bourehima, Mimma Papasergio, Koffi Appiah, Annalisa Spirli, Pomodoro, Susannah Amato, Pio Amato, Aisha, Adam Gnegne, Ernest Zire, Mary Elizabeth Innocence)

Mustang

Review preview for Mustang

The director and her co-writer Alice Winocour side with their young protagonists, drawing on their boundless energy to tell their story in the spirit of a fable and in a way that makes it accessible to younger audiences.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Coming of age story about five Turkish girls.

(Country: Turkey, France, Qatar, Germany; Year: 2015; Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven; Writer: Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour; Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit Iscan, Tugba Sunguroglu, Ilayda Akdogan, Nihal G. Koldas, Ayberk Pekcan, Bahar Kerimoglu, Burak Yigit, Erol Afsin, Suzanne Marrot, Serife Kara, Aynur Komecoglu, Serpil Reis, Rukiye Sariahmet)

Full review See: Interview with Deniz Gamze Ergüven about Mustang , Deniz Gamze Ergüven in conversation on Mustang, Offside, Escape From Alcatraz and family dynamics , Deniz Gamze Ergüven in conversation on Mustang

P.S. Jerusalem

Filmmaker Danae Elon grew up in Jerusalem as the daughter of writer Amos Elon, then relocated to New York City. In this film, she chronicles what happens when she and her husband Philip, a French-Algerian Jew who never lived in Israel, move their family to Jerusalem.

(Country: Canada, Israel; Year: 2015; Director: Danae Elon; Stars: Luai Musa Hatib, Amos Touitou Elon, Andrei Touitou Elon, Tristan Touitou Elon, Philip Touitou)

Sonita

Review preview for Sonita

There's often a question mark over how involved a documentarian has become with their subject and here Ghaemmaghami confronts the issue head on, showing how she becomes not just a recorder of what happens but a catalyst for change.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of an aspirational young Afghan rapper whose family plan to sell her into marriage.

(Country: Germany, Iran, Switzerland; Year: 2016; Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami)

Full review

The Trials Of Spring

Three women in Egypt fight for the original goals of the Arab Spring.

(Country: US, Egypt; Year: 2015; Director: Gini Reticker)