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Human Rights Watch Film Festival · 2022

Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2022

Features

Programme

10 films · 3 reviews

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Clarissa's Battle

A single Black mother inspired to fight for the rights of others by her experience of homelessness faces a personal healthcare crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic hits.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Tamara Perkins)

Delikado

Review preview for Delikado

After we see the extent of the problem, the documentarian begins to illustrate that the illegal logging is not just one or two rogue operators but intricately connected with a political chain.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Bobby, Tata and Nieves – a charismatic lawyer, a former illegal logger and a fearless politician – are three magnetic leaders fighting to stop corporations and governments seeking to plunder increasingly valuable natural resources from the island of Palawan.

(Country: Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, USA, UK; Year: 2022; Director: Karl Malakunas)

Full review

Eternal Spring

Following the hijacking of a TV station and police raids in Changchun City, comic book illustrator, Daxiong, a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening violent repression, but his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, who is living in Seoul, South Korea.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2022; Director: Jason Loftus)

The Janes

In the spring of 1972, police raided an apartment on Chicago's South Side. Seven women were arrested. The accused were part of a clandestine network. Using code names, blindfolds and safe houses, they built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions. They called themselves JANE.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes)

Midwives

Review preview for Midwives

While it’s important to bring attention to the wider-spread government actions against the minority group, the film’s truly valuable observations are of how the prejudice impacts normal life.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Two midwives work side-by-side in a makeshift clinic in Myanmar.

(Country: Canada, Germany, Myanmar; Year: 2022; Director: Hnin Ei Hlaing)

Full review

The New Greatness Case

Anya was an ordinary teenager, discussing Russian politics and social issues on the internet with a group of friends, when a secret agent joined their chat group and rented them a meeting space – pushing them toward direct physical action. Police stormed their homes to arrest and jail the teens, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the government and fabricating charges of extremism.

(Country: Finland, Croatia, Norway; Year: 2022; Director: Anna Sishova)

No U-Turn

As a young man, celebrated Nigerian director Ike Nnaebue left Nigeria taking the route via Benin, Mali, and Mauritania to Morocco where he was forced to turn back, unable to reach Europe. In his first documentary, No U-Turn, he retraces the life-changing journey he made over 20 years ago.

(Country: France, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany; Year: 2022; Director: Ike Nnaebue)

Rebellion (Beyond The Emergency)

A documentary about a group of ordinary people stop playing by the rules, embracing civil disobedience and sounding the alarm for climate breakdown.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Maia Kenworthy, Elena Sánchez Bellot)

Up To G-Cup

Northern Iraq’s first lingerie store not only sells underwear, but also acts as a meeting place where women connect to their bodies and sensuality after overcoming the traumas of oppression, war, and conservative morality.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2022; Director: Jacqueline van Vugt)

You Resemble Me (Tu Me Ressembles)

Review preview for You Resemble Me

Both girls deliver exceptional performances in the powerful opening section, and if the film struggles to make the same impact afterwards, that serves to bring Hasna’s loss into sharp relief.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Cultural and inter-generational trauma erupt in this story about two sisters on the outskirts of Paris.

(Country: US, France, Egypt; Year: 2021; Director: Dina Amer; Writer: Dina Amer, Omar Mullick; Stars: Lorenza Grimaudo, Ilonna Grimaudo, Grégoire Colin, Sabrina Ouazani, Zinedine Soualem, Dina Amer, Mouna Soualem, Hedi Bouchenafa, Tania Dessources, Nassima Benchicou, Elodie Rouprêt, Sana Sri, Nassima Benichou, Djino Grimaudo, Romain Royet)

Full review