HRW.org Donate! Default

Friday March 9

Closing Night Film: The Island President

 

Toronto Film Festival

Feb 29 – Mar 9, 2012

TIFF Bell Lightbox

 

Film Festival, February 29–March 9, 2012

Filmmaker(s): Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern
Year: 2010 / 70m
March 4
Myo Myint’s decision to enlist in the Burmese army at the age of seventeen was not motivated by ideology, but simply because it was the only path to employment, respect and security. Myint’s story, illustrated by archival footage smuggled out of Burma, is a vivid account of an individual’s sacrifice to help change the lives of millions.
(Toronto Premiere)
Filmmaker(s): Maggie Peren
Year: 2011 / 95m
March 3

In Color of the Ocean, filmmaker Maggie Peren presents a story in which the journey of two refugees collides with the paths of an altruistic tourist and a Canary Island cop. The experience they share will change the course of all their lives.

Filmmaker(s): Pamela Yates, Peter Kinoy and Paco de Onis
Year: 2010 / 100m
March 8

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.

Filmmaker(s): Susan Youssef
Year: 2011 / 78m
March 1

“We have a right to love… We have a right to be happy even if people around us go hungry and are dying. To lose these things would be to completely give in to the occupation.

— Layla, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territories

Filmmaker(s): Fernand Melgar
Year: 2011 / 100
February 29

Fernand Melgar’s intimate and emotionally charged portrait of the rejected asylum seekers and illegal migrants in Switzerland’s Frambois detention centre reveals a world that few know from the inside. With amazing access to his subjects, Melgar introduces us to a community of men who share friendships, fears, and a similar fate.

Filmmaker(s): Lee Hirsch
Year: 2011 / 94m
March 2

The Bully Project acts as a catalyst for change by confronting the prejudices which spark bullying—whether related to sexuality, social class, or just “being different”—and giving voice to those who work tirelessly to protect the vulnerable.

Filmmaker(s): Jon Shenk
Year: 2011 / 100m
March 9

Jon Shenk’s The Island President tells the story of former President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, who must grapple with the daunting prospect of his country fighting for physical survival and his citizens becoming ‘environmental refugees.’

Filmmaker(s): Mimi Chakarova
Year: 2010 / 73m
March 6

The Price of Sex  is an unprecedented inquiry into a dark side of immigration: the underground criminal network of human trafficking and the experiences of Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad.

Filmmaker(s): Giulia Amati and Stephen Natanson
Year: 2010 / 75m
March 5

Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, home to 160,000 Palestinians.   It is also home to one of the first Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the only one right in the heart of a Palestinian city.

Co-Presentation, May 2–5, 2012

Filmmaker(s): Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Year: 2012 / 90
May 3 / 2 / 5

Veteran Ugandan LGBT activist David Kato insists: "if we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here." With unprecedented access, Call Me Kuchu examines the astounding courage and determination required to battle an oppressive government, a vicious media and a powerful church in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.