Latin American Films
at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2011
June 16 – 30
IMPUNITY (New York premiere) + Q&A with filmmakers
Juan José Lozano and Hollman Morris—Colombia/France/Switzerland—2010—85m—doc. In Spanish with English subtitles
What is the cost of truth for families immobilized by Colombia’s violent past? In 2005, Colombia started gathering evidence about the horrific violence being carried out by illegal paramilitias. A highly controversial Justice and Peace process allowed paramilitary leaders to hand in their weapons and give themselves up voluntarily in exchange for reduced sentences. Impunity documents the hearings in which paramilitaries describe atrocities they have committed in detail as the families of their victims listen and watch on projected screens. Through a series of these testimonies, footage of paramilitary crimes, and interviews with victims and experts, the brutal history of paramilitary violence comes to light. Yet due to serious irregularities in the Justice and Peace process, many families express their fear that they will never know the truth surrounding the deaths of their loved ones, and that the perpetrators will escape punishment. In an era where many countries are tempted to sacrifice justice in the name of “peace”, what happens in Colombia will resonate beyond its borders.
Presented in partnership with Cinema Tropical, www.cinematropical.com, Committee to Protect Journalists, www.cpj.org, and International Center for Transitional Justice, www.ictj.org.
Wednesday, June 22, 6:30pm; Thursday, June 23, 9pm; Friday, June 24, 4pm
LA TOMA (THE SIEGE) (US premiere) + Q&A with filmmakers
Angus Gibson and Miguel Salazar—Colombia/South Africa—2011—88m—doc. In Spanish with English subtitles
When the wife of Carlos Rodriguez said goodbye to her husband as he left for work at the Palace of Justice on November 6, 1985 – she never imagined the next time she would see him would be on a video tape decades later, being escorted by Colombian soldiers at gunpoint out of the building. La Toma deftly captures the inconceivable story of the siege of Bogota’s Palace of Justice, home to Colombia’s Supreme Court. When 35 heavily armed members of the emboldened M-19 guerilla movement storm the Palace of Justice in November 1985, hundreds are taken hostage, including nearly all of Colombia’s Supreme Court judges. For 27 hours, the country is transfixed as the military moves in to regain control and a fiery battle ensues. When the smoke clears, close to a hundred people are dead and twelve others are unaccounted for, their bodies vanished without a trace. The family of Carlos Rodriguez, like many others, believes their loved ones have been “disappeared”—removed from the building by government forces, accused of aiding the guerillas, tortured, and then killed. Twenty-five years later, the families of the disappeared demand answers, no matter how devastating the truth may be. Colonel Plazas Vega, a leader of the operation is indicted for their disappearance. In the course of his highly charged trial, the lawyers, prosecutors and the judge all face death threats and fear for their lives. The case becomes a touchstone for the integrity of justice in Colombia and beyond.
Tuesday, June 28, 8:45pm; Wednesday, June 29, 6:30pm; Thursday, June 30, 4pm
FAMILIA (US premiere) + Q&A with filmmaker
Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits—Sweden—2010—82m—doc. In Spanish with English subtitles
A poignant and powerful documentary, Familia sensitively observes one matriarch’s decision to go to work as a hotel maid in Spain and the impact that choice has on her extended family in Peru. Working with a family they have known for over 35 years, Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits take an emotional look at the family’s separation due to economic circumstances, providing a unique insight into the experience of thousands of families who do the same each year. The film develops the double plot line of Naty’s lonely life in unknown surroundings as a maid in Spain and the life of Daniel, her husband, and the family she leaves behind in Peru. Stunning camera work adds to the emotional strength of the film as each member of the family struggles to cope in her or his own way.
Saturday, June 25 1pm; Monday, June 27, 6:30 pm; Wednesday, June 29, 4pm
GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR (New York premiere)
Pamela Yates, Peter Kinoy and Paco de Onís—US—2011—100m—doc. In English and Quiché and Spanish with English subtitles
Part political thriller, part memoir, Granito takes us through a haunting tale of genocide and justice that spans four decades, two films, and filmmaker Pamela Yates’s own career. Granito is a story of destinies joined together by Guatemala’s past and of how a documentary film from 1982, When the Mountains Tremble, emerges as an active player in the present by becoming forensic evidence in a genocide case against a military dictator. In an incredible twist of fate, Yates was allowed to shoot the only known footage of the army as it carried out the genocide. Twenty-five years later, this footage becomes evidence in an international war crimes case against the very army commander who permitted Yates to film. Irrevocably linked by the events of 1982, each of the film’s characters is integral to the country’s reconstruction of a collective memory, the search for truth, and the pursuit of justice. Through the work of American filmmakers, forensics experts in Guatemala, and lawyers in Spain, the quest for accountability in Guatemala continues—with each individual contributing his or her own “granito”, or tiny grain of sand. (Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2011) US theatrical release Fall 2011. Granito will have its national broadcast premiere on the POV (Point of View) series on PBS in 2012.
Friday, June 17, 7pm (Opening Night). Screening followed by discussion with filmmakers and film subjects Kate Doyle, Alejandra Garcia and Fredy Peccerelli and reception; Saturday, June 18, 1pm – Screening followed by discussion with filmmakers.
WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE + Q&A with filmmakers
Directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel, Produced and Edited by Peter Kinoy—US—1983—83m—doc. In English and Quiché and Spanish with English subtitles
In the early 1980s, death squads roamed the Guatemalan countryside in a war against the unarmed indigenous population that went largely unreported in the international media. Filmmakers Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel threw themselves into the task of bringing the crisis to the world’s attention by making a documentary that took them into remote areas of the country where civilian massacres were taking place. Central to their story is Rigoberta Menchú, a Maya indigenous woman who was spurred into radical action by the murders of her father and two brothers. No less admirable, however, is the courage of the filmmakers. When the Mountains Tremble, which was originally released in 1983, has been digitally re-mastered and updated since Menchú was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Saturday, June 18, 4pm
Discounted Ticket Information:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Human Rights Watch are delighted to offer Cinema Tropical email list subscribers a $3 discount off the general admission price to all the screenings in the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. For each screening of your choice, you may purchase a pair of tickets at the $9 Affiliate price.
Purchase Options:
Online (Select the “Affiliate” ticket type) In Person at the Walter Reade Theater
IMPORTANT: Please printout this email! You will need to present it at the Walter Reade Theater Box office to take advantage of this offer.
Complete information about purchasing tickets, as well as detailed film information, screening schedule, and guest appearances is available on FilmLinc.com. http://www.filmlinc.com/films/series/human-rights-watch-film-festival
Walter Reade Theater and Box Office
West 65th Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam, Upper Level – Lincoln Center The box office opens at 12:30 PM Monday-Friday, and one half hour before the first screening on Saturday/Sunday. It closes every day 15 minutes after the start of the last show. If there are no evening screenings, the box office closes at 6pm. For more information call 212-875-5601 during hours of operation.
