Past Festivals

Programs and websites of past HRW Film Festivals:

2012

2011

2010

2009

2010

12th & Delaware (NY premiere) - Opening Night Film and Reception Filmmaker(s): Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Year: 2010 / 80m On an unassuming corner in Fort Pierce, Florida, it is easy to miss the insidious war that is raging. But on each side of 12th & Delaware, people with opposing views stand locked in a heated battle. On one side of the street sits an abortion clinic. On the other side, a pro-life center often mistaken for the clinic it seeks to shut down.	Back Home Tomorrow Filmmaker(s): Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini Year: 2008 / 90m In Back Home Tomorrow, directors Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini share the moving stories of two children affected by war to present the remarkable work of the Italian aid organization Emergency. Yagoub fled with his family from Darfur and now lives in the Mayo Refugee Camp in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. He has to undergo a serious heart operation, but neither his family nor his fellow tribesmen can come up with the money to pay for it. Then there	Backyard Filmmaker(s): Carlos Carrera Year: 2009 / 122m Sometime in 1996, a terrifying phenomenon surfaced in Ciudad Ju
Budrus (UK premiere) Filmmaker(s): Julia Bacha Year: 2009 / 78m A rousing film about one Palestinian village that tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East, Budrus introduces us to Ayed Morrar	Enemies of the People Filmmaker(s): Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath Year: 2009 / 94m Winner of the 2010 Sundance World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize, Enemies of the People follows the project of Thet Sambath, whose parents were among the approximately two million people who perished under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.	Honeymoons (NY premiere) Filmmaker(s): Goran Paskaljevic Year: 2009 / 95m Brilliantly crafted by master filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic (Cabaret Balkan, Midwinter Night
In the Land of the Free... (Chicago Premiere) Filmmaker(s): Vadim Jean Year: 2009 / 84m Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King	Iran: Voices of the Unheard Filmmaker(s): Davoud Geramifard Year: 2009 / 68m A film that challenges the passivity of the international community in the face of ongoing political repression, Iran: Voices of the Unheard brings us the story of Iranian secularists through three fascinating characters. Their social, economic and educational backgrounds differ sharply but all share a love for their motherland and a passion for freedom from political repression and theocracy.	Last Best Chance Filmmaker(s): Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson Year: 2010 / 100m Last Best Chance brilliantly presents a political legend, Senator Edward Kennedy, in his final battle for comprehensive immigration reform in the US.
Last Train Home Filmmaker(s): Lixin Fan Year: 2009 / 82m Thousands of migrant Chinese workers crowding a train station in the midst of a holiday pilgrimage, racing from factory cities to return to more peaceful rural homes	Moloch Tropical - Festival Centerpiece Filmmaker(s): Raoul Peck Year: 2009 / 107m Master filmmaker Raoul Peck (Lumumba, Sometimes in April) returns with a haunting film on his home country - Haiti. Peck takes us to a hilltop fortress where the nation	Mon Colonel - Opening Night Filmmaker(s): Laurent Herbiet Year: 2006 / 110m Mon Colonel is a gripping story of historical and political intrigue that echoes with the moral dilemmas of our times. After a retired colonel is assassinated, the army investigator receives a series of provocative messages from the killer.
Mountains and Clouds Filmmaker(s): Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson Year: 2010 / 93m With unprecedented access to some of the most powerful members of the US Congress, Mountains and Clouds revisits a seminal moment in the push for immigration reform, with implications for the immigration battle currently brewing for the Obama administration and Congress. August 2001 was the most electrifying time in decades for immigration advocates, with Washington on the cusp of realizing comprehensive reform. Two weeks later, the 9/11 attacks shifted the Capitol's focus completely to national security issues.	Nero's Guests (NY premiere) Filmmaker(s): Deepa Bhatia Year: 2009 / 56m	No One Knows About Persian Cats Filmmaker(s): Bahman Ghobadi Year: 2009 / 101m A drama that plays almost like a documentary, Bahman Ghobadi
Out in the Silence Filmmaker(s): Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer Year: 2009 / 66m Out in the Silence captures the controversy that ensues when filmmaker Joe Wilson's same-sex wedding announcement is published in the newspaper of the small Pennsylvania hometown he left long ago.	Presumed Guilty Filmmaker(s): Roberto Hern Year: 2009 / 91m In the Mexican penal system, one is guilty until proven innocent. This leads to a very uncomfortable reality: prisons full of people serving time for crimes they didn't commit. Presumed Guilty narrates the story of Jos	Pushing the Elephant (UK premiere) Filmmaker(s): Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel Year: 2010 / 84m An intimate family drama set against the backdrop of the 1998 conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pushing the Elephant tells the story of Rose Mapendo, who was separated during the conflict from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose survived the atrocities of those years and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona, with her other children. Now, after 12 years apart, Rose and her daughter Nangabire are reunited in the US.
Restrepo (NY premiere) Filmmaker(s): Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger Year: 2010 / 93m Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, Restrepo chronicles the deployment of US Army platoon 2/503 Battle Company, of the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous postings in the US military. In their directorial debut, Tim Hetherington (award winning photographer and cinematographer) and Sebastian Junger (acclaimed author,	The Balibo Conspiracy (NY premiere) - Benefit Screening and Reception Filmmaker(s): Robert Connolly Year: 2009 / 111m The Balibo Conspiracy dramatizes the importance of bearing witness, no matter the risk. Set in 1975 East Timor, as Indonesia prepares to invade, it tells the true story of crimes that have been covered up for over 30 years.	The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo Filmmaker(s): Lisa Jackson Year: Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film sensitively unflinchingly brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country
The Oath Filmmaker(s): Laura Poitras Year: 2010 / 96m Unfolding like a gripping novel that constantly subverts expectations, The Oath shows the interlocking drama of two brothers-in-law, Abu Jandal and Salim Hamdan, whose associations with al-Qaeda in the 1990s propelled them on to two divergent paths. The film delves into Abu Jandal's daily life as a taxi driver in Sana	The Red Chapel (London premiere) Filmmaker(s): Mads Br Year: 2009 / 87m Looking for a laugh in North Korea? Comics Jacob and Simon were born in Korea and adopted by Danish parents when they were still children. Together with Mads Br	The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom (UK premiere) - Closing Night Filmmaker(s): Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam Year: 2009 / 79m A comprehensive and intimate look at Tibet, The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet
The Unreturned (NY premiere) Filmmaker(s): Nathan Fisher Year: 2010 / 75m With an unflinching eye, powerfully candid dialogue and a touch of humor, The Unreturned brings us into the lives of five Iraqis from diverse ethnicities and religions displaced by the ongoing war in their country. Caught in the midst of violence, endless bureaucracy, dwindling life savings, and forced idleness, these Iraqis nevertheless radiate vitality, warmth and hope.	Triage Filmmaker(s): Danis Tanovic Year: 2009 / 99m	Under Rich Earth Filmmaker(s): Malcolm Rogge Year: 2008 / 92m In the opening moments of Malcolm Rogge
Welcome Filmmaker(s): Philippe Lioret Year: 2009 / 110m Young Kurdish refugee Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), is driven to escape his war-torn life and begin anew in England. His journey is stopped short on the shores of Calais, France, but his determination to reach his girlfriend across the channel is fierce. Treated as an outsider by his fellow refugees, he is befriended by swimming instructor Simon (Vincent Lindon), a man who has chosen his isolation, but warms to Bilal's passion to reach his true love.