18/03/2003

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (HRWIFF) is giving London audiences an opportunity to see and reflect upon human rights abuses perpetrated around the world. On the eve of what is increasingly looking like war with Iraq, four London cinemas are hosting the 7th HRWIFF (which opened on 12 March) with the pre-release screening of Michael Winterbottom’s 2003 Golden Bear-winning film In This World. Londoners have until 20 March to see 23 documentaries and dramas, including two world, ten UK and four London premieres at the Curzon Mayfair, Brixton’s Ritzy Cinema, Notting Hill’s Gate and East Finchley’s Phoenix.
16 filmmakers will discuss their work and the abuse of human rights. They include the UK’s Arthur Howes who will present Benjamin and His Brother, the story of two boys who were held in refugee camps in Sudan; Belgium’s Thierry Michel with Iran, Veiled Appearances which examines Muslim fundamentalism in that country and Holland’s Jos de Putter with Dan’s Grozny Days, a transcendent portrait of a young troupe of Chechnyan dancers and their mentor. The festival will close with Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi’s Marooned in Iraq, a humorous look at a number of major dilemmas currently facing contemporary Kurdish society.
The other films screening at this year’s HRWIFF include Lilja4-Ever [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Sweden’s Lukas Moodysson, Italian Marco Bechis and Figli-Hijos and Balseros by Spain’s Carlos Bosch and Joseph Monencech.

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