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Festival coverage

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

13 June – 20 June 2019

This international festival aims to galvanise audiences through fiction and factual films to challenge injustices across the globe. The New York dates are June 13-20.

View complete schedule

Other years (17)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • In Search...
    Review preview for In Search...

    The very intimate, personal nature of this film imbues with authority and sensitivity.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Documentary about the lasting trauma of female genital mutilation and the filmmaker's reconstructive journey.
  • Accept The Call
    Review preview for Accept The Call

    What Lau discovers is a web of tension, which asks questions both of those within the community looking out and those outside looking in.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A look at the forces that drive radicalisation through the prism of a single father and son relationship.
  • On The President's Orders
    Review preview for On The President's Orders

    James Jones and Olivier Sarbil's documentary is not the first film to explore this subject but it is remarkable in that it manages to tell the story from the point of view of police officers as well as addicts and civilian observers.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Expose of Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's single-minded war on drugs.
  • When We Walk
    Review preview for When We Walk

    This isn't a how to guide for coping with illness, and it's pleasingly free of tragic sentiment - it is much more a story about fatherhood.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    The challenges faced by filmmaker DaSilva, who was diagnosed with a rapidly progressing form of multiple sclerosis and who finds himself 'trapped' by the US medicaid system.
  • Born In Evin
    Review preview for Born In Evin

    There's a simple and engaging directness to this documentary.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    The story of the family of director and actor Maryam Zaree, who sets out to investigate the circumstances of her birth in one of the world’s most notorious jails for political prisoners.
  • Advocate
    Review preview for Advocate

    The very nature of Tsemel's passion for her projects makes this a compelling watch

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Biographical documentary about Lea Tsemel who defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants.
  • Bellingcat: Truth In A Post-Truth World
    Review preview for Bellingcat: Truth In A Post-Truth World

    This is the fascinating tale of the rise of two trends – the citizen journalist, and open-source journalism.

    Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
    Looking at open-source investigation and the world of the 'citizen investigative journalist' collective Bellingcat.
  • No Box For Me. An Intersex Story
    Review preview for No Box For Me. An Intersex Story

    By nodding in, by not forcing the pace, this documentary allows intersex voices to be heard.

    Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
    A burgeoning movement aims to demystify intersex identities and stop the practice of forced surgical interventions.
  • One Child Nation
    Review preview for One Child Nation

    Wang and Zhang are to be commended for fitting as much in as they do, even if it does mean the film roams about rather than having a single focus.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China’s one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.