The issues of democracy in Cuba, the education system in Pakistan and sexual exploitation in New York City may seem worlds apart. These topics, however, and many more converged this week at the University's Human Rights Film Festival, which brings 10 films to Charlottesville for a week-and-a-half of screenings. The Festival began last Monday and will continue until Friday, April 8. "The festival is the culmination of months of hard work - following relevant current events, talking to filmmakers and producers, and contacting co-sponsors and guest speakers," said fourth-year College student Rachel Leeds, one of the coordinators of the Festival.
The films range from spotlights on lesser-known international issues, such as the history of violence in Jamaica in the film Bad Friday: Rastafari After Coral Gardens, to national controversies such as the sit-ins sponsored by the Living Wage campaign at Harvard University in Occupation: The Harvard Living Wage Sit-Ins. This decision to screen a wide variety of films was motivated by a desire to "inspire an open discussion about a variety of issues and introduce viewers to human rights abuses in many different geographic regions," Leeds said. The festival's reach can be seen by the different organizations that decided to co-sponsor the event such as Queer & Allied Activism, Latino Student Alliance and Engineering Students Without Borders.
And yet the fact that these varied organizations can be brought under the umbrella of the Human Rights Film Festival begs the question: What is it about the cinematic narrative that enables us to explore the phenomena of these incredibly different global, national and local issues? Why tackle human rights via film? And why bring together these diverse issues under one event?
Some of these questions were answered by the screening of the first film of the festival, a documentary called The End of Poverty? Narrated by actor and social activist Martin Sheen, the film explores the presence of global poverty and seeks to unpack its causes by focusing on the poverty challenges faced by five different countries: Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Kenya and Tanzania. Weaving in interviews from experts who range from acclaimed authors to Nobel Prize winners, the film manages to transcend the specificity of the problems explored to present a holistic vision of global poverty and what can be done to combat it. Yet the film functions as more than a simple expose on the issue of poverty. Through a careful juxtaposition of interviews, cinematic shots of human faces and stunning landscapes and hard, cold facts, director Philippe Diaz showcases his artistic vision as well as his social motivation.
In a similar way, the festival, by bringing together a variety of diverse issues, sheds light on the multifaceted nature of human rights while still suggesting the beauty experienced by those fighting for rights or living under oppression. "In watching an audience respond to a striking film, I have realized that artistry is a necessary weapon in each of the various struggles for social change," said second-year College student Kathryn Clinard, another festival coordinator. "Moving images can speak in ways that we cannot, and often people prefer to come to their own conclusions rather than being told what to believe. If art does nothing else, it provokes deep thought and reflection, which are always the first steps towards action."
And by allowing the films to function as a springboard for discussion - Anthropology Prof. Richard Handler did an excellent job as the speaker for The End of Poverty? - the festival suggests that the first step in combating these issues might simply be to learn more about them. Thus, in this intersection of art and social issues, film becomes the medium through which information can be disseminated, as well as the place where the reality of everyday problems can be embraced in art.
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