Flores de Ruanda

Rwanda, Spain 2008; 24 min.
Director: David Muñoz
Production: Hibrida

Rwanda today. 14 years after the Rwandan genocide of 1994, that took away the lives of more than 800,000 people. What's the current situation of the people of Rwanda? What feelings prevail in the hearts of the victims of the Rwanda genocide? Can genocide victims and killers live together? What's the importance of education in a post-genocide society? Could films become a way of educating the people of Rwanda, and specially Rwandan children? Can a film festival make a difference? May the history of the Rwandan genocide happen again? Who should act when a genocide is taking place? Do we, as individuals, have any responsibility of stopping a genocide?
Flores de Ruanda

Submission HRWIFF

In recognition of the power of film to educate and galvanize a broad constituency of concerned citizens, Human Rights Watch decided to create the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a distinctive human rights theme.

Submissions close on December 10, 2008.

Generación Y Wins Best Blog of 2008

Generación Y, a Cuban blog written by Yoani Sanchez, claimed the Jury Prize for Best Blog.
The jury said that Sanchez gives voice to an entire generation of Cubans and provides the world with a window into Cuba through her clear and poetic writing.

In addition to a slew of other obstacles in her way, Sanchez can't even post her own entries to the blog. Instead she is forced to e-mail them to friends outside of Cuba in order for her words to go online. Despite the challenges she has to overcome, she's managed to keep in contact with her readers and create a huge international community around her work.

One World Romania on tour_Ploiesti

PLOIEŞTI – 22, 29 noiembrie / UPG Ploieşti
Sâmbăta / 29 noiembrie / 10h00

* New Year Baby - 74min.
* Low Cost 110 euros - 52min.

* Please Vote for Me - 55min.

* Cold Waves - Război pe calea undelor - 108min.

Testimony

Romania, Germany, Finland 2008;
90 min
Director: Razvan Georgescu

After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Razvan Georgescu, the director of the film decides to undertake a voyage tracing the thin line between life and death, visiting artists who are terminally ill or who have been working on their final work of art in the hope that it will outlive or even save them. How does their work change when faced with mortality; how does one prepare for the final journey; what remains when you are gone?! The film discovers beauty in the face of one of the last social taboos, death. TESTIMONY is a film about the healing qualities of art. A roadmovie full of twists and turns but without a predetermined ending. TESTIMONY is not about watching the body surrender to disease, it is a film about vibrant life before death. It accompanies artists from around the world right until they finish their project or until they leave. Protagonists: Jorg Immendorf, Bill Viola, Harold Pinter, William Finn. Locations: Venice, New York, Timisoara, Los Angeles, Prague.

Democracy video challenge

Competitia "DEMOCRACY VIDEO CHALLENGE" invita tinerii, sustinatorii valorilor democratice, producatorii de film si publicul larg sa creeze scurt metraje care sa continue ideea "Democratia este ... " si sa le incarce pe YouTube.

Sapte castigatori (sase regionali si unul anonim) vor fi desemnati prin sistemul public de vot online al YouTube. Cei sase castigatori regionali vor beneficia de o vizita in SUA platita integral de catre organizatori, vor participa la spectacole de gala organizate la Washington, D.C., New York si Hollywood.

Aici vor avea prilejul sa intalneasca profesionisti din lumea filmului american, reprezentanti ai guvernului SUA si sustinatori ai democratiei americane din societatea civila.

Concursul este sustinut de un parteneriat care include Departamentul de Stat al SUA, organizatii de tineret si de promovare a democratiei, reprezentanti ai mediului academic, ai industriei filmului si ai mass media din Statele Unite (Center for International Private Enterprise, Directors Guild of America, International Republican Institute, International Youth Foundation, Motion Picture Association of America, NBC Universal, National Democratic Institute, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, and Taking IT Global). YouTube pune la dispozitie platforma video.
Mai multe detalii pe siteul Asociatiei Pro Democratia si Video Challenge.

Femei in umbra. Umbre

Femeile cu varste cuprinse intre 15 si 44 de ani sunt supuse unui risc mai mare sa fie abuzate decat sa se imbolnaveasca de cancer sau malarie, sa fie implicate in accidente rutiere sau razboaie.

Fondul ONU pentru Populatie si Centrul de Informare ONU in Romania vor derula, in perioada 25 noiembrie - 10 decembrie, o campanie de combatere a violentei impotriva femeii. Campania se numeste "Femei in umbra. Umbre" si va aborda problema violentei impotriva femeii din perspectiva artistica. In cadrul ei se vor viziona filme documentare si piese de teatru, care vor face cunoscute dramele unor supravietuitoare ale abuzurilor.

Filmele documentare despre violenta impotriva femeii vor rula la Cinema Union (pe 6 si 7 decembrie), la Museo Cafe (in cadrul Muzeului de Geologie, pe 1 si 9 decembrie) si la Casa ONU (2 – 4 decembrie). La aceste vizionari intrarea este libera, in limita locurilor disponibile.

Mai multe detalii:
Femei in umbra
Centrul de informare ONU
UNFPA
Responsabilitate sociala

DaKino

DaKino

Free-Will Productions

Free-Will Productions is a totally independent production company devoted to making social and political documentaries about important and controversial issues. Started in New York in 1995 by independent journalists Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy.
With the help of multi-media editor Jason Stelzel and music composer Fritz Heede, Free-Will Productions has been able to operate without any outside grants or corporate funding. As a unique example of resilience and dedication, the team relies essentially on sales and private donations to fund their on-going productions.

Free-Will is devoted to making political films focusing in great part on human-rights and the environment.

Films: “Hidden Wars of Desert Storm”, “Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug-War Failure”, “The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror”.

The Devil's Miner

Bolivia, Germany, USA 2004; 84 min
Directors: Richard Ladkani, Kief Davidson

Fourteen-year-old Basilio Vargas works with his brother in the Bolivian silver mines of Cerro Rico. The mountain, into whose depths they must regularly descend, has been given the nickname the "devourer of humans" by the locals. According to estimates, several million people have died in these mines during the 450 years in which they have been in operation. Currently, there are over 5,000 miners working here, including 800 children. Everyone firmly believes that the final word about their fate is in the hands of the devil, represented by hundreds of gruesome looking statues, at whose feet the miners place various offerings every day. Basilio has already worked in the mines for four years, often for 24 hours in a row, because after the death of his father his family did not have enough money. At the same time he still tries to attend school, because he knows very well that without an education he can hardly hope to find better work.
Website

Axis of Justice

Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization
formed by Tom Morello and Serj Tankian.
Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.
We aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice.

Maciej Dakowicz

New Year Baby

USA 2006, 74 min
Director: Socheata Poeuv

For twenty years, she didn't doubt that her sisters and brother were her real siblings. When she discovered that they were in fact her cousins, she finds herself at the beginning of a quest to discover her family's past. Socheata Poeuv was born in a refugee camp beyond the Cambodian borders. Her parents had escaped there from the labour camps of the Khmer Rouge. Her cousins' parents were killed in one of these death camps. After growing up in the United States, she goes to Cambodia for the first time and travels around the country with her parents. The trip alternates between being an investigation of the past that no one wants to talk about and a tourist holiday. Surprisingly, it is during the relaxed "tourist" moments - when Socheata is not pressing her parents with questions - that her father and mother talk about what they went through.
New Year Baby

One World Romania on tour_Ploiesti

PLOIEŞTI – 22, 29 noiembrie / UPG Ploieşti

Sâmbăta / 22 noiembrie / 10h00

* Buddha's Lost Children - 97min.

* Bridge Over The Waldi - 57min.

* Intolerance - Ivan - 25min.

* Seoul Train - 54min.

The life you are living....

Thank you Anca!

Buddha's Lost Children

Netherlands 2006, 97 min
Director: Mark Verkerk

The former successful boxer Phra Khru Bah, who is now a distinguished monk, travels around the mountainous region of northern Thailand in the inhospitable Golden Triangle area. He takes local children with him on a long journey to a faraway temple. During this pilgrimage, he shows them the positive values of living and the possibility of a way of life lived according to Buddhist ideas, which can be achieved even in adverse conditions. The documentary-maker Mark Verkerk goes on this journey with the children. He sets off on the long pilgrimage to not only find out about a recognised spiritual teacher but also to see the initiation of the new monks at close quarters. It enables you to consider how it is possible in today's chaotic times to achieve harmony in your soul.

Website

Afgan girl

Peshawar, Pakistan// 1984...and after 17 years
Steve McCurry

Goodbye Bafana

Belgiu 2007, 140 min.
Director:Bille August

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.

Nobel call for education action

Thirty-one Nobel Peace Prize winners are calling for action to improve education and build peace in war zones.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi are among those who have signed a joint letter.

They want world leaders to help an estimated 37 million children in countries affected by conflict who cannot go to school.

The charity Save the Children is behind the campaign.

In the letter, the 31 Nobel winners say: "War and conflict are perpetrated by adults. But every adult was once a child and grew up with experiences and guidance that shaped their lives.

"At the heart of this lies education. But if more than 70 million children do not even have the chance to go to school, and more than half of these children live in countries affected by armed conflict - what are these children learning?"
More here

Black Gold

UK 2006, 75 min
Directors: Nick Francis, Marc Francis

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.
But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Website

Girl at school

Maciej Dakowicz

Waltz with Bashir

Israel, Germany, France 2008; 90 min.
Director:Ari Folman
Writer:Ari Folman
Website
One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life.
Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images …

We are the cause...

Serj Tankian

The Power of One

Oded Balilty, 2006

Damas de Blanco

Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) is an opposition movement in Cuba consisting of spouses and other relatives of dissidents jailed by the government of Fidel Castro. The women protest the imprisonments by attending Mass each Sunday wearing white dresses and then silently walking through the streets dressed in white clothing. The color white is chosen to symbolize peace. The movement received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 2005.
The Ladies in White group was formed two weeks after the 2003 arrests of up to eighty dissidents accused by the Cuban government of accepting money and gifts from the United States Interests Section in Havana. Relatives of the prisoners began gathering on Sundays at St. Rita's Church in Havana to pray for their jailed loved ones. After each Mass, they began a ritual procession from the church to a nearby park. The white clothing they wear is reminiscent of the Argentine Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who used a similar strategy to demand information about their missing children from the 1970s military junta. Each marcher wears a button with a photo of her jailed relative and the number of years to which he has been sentenced.
Czech Republic 2008, 58 min.
Director Ivana Milosevic

Freedom House

Freedom House is a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world. Since its founding in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House has been a vigorous proponent of democratic values and a steadfast opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right.
Throughout its history, Freedom House has opposed tyranny around the world, including dictatorships in Latin America, apartheid in South Africa, Soviet domination of Central and Eastern Europe, and religiously-based totalitarian regimes such as those governing Sudan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Freedom House has promoted the growth of freedom by encouraging U.S. policymakers, international institutions, and the governments of established democracies to adopt policies that advance human rights and democracy around the world. At the same time, Freedom House provides support to individuals working in the world's young democracies to overcome debilitating legacies of tyranny, dictatorship and political repression; as well as to activists working in repressive societies to bring about greater freedom and openness.
Freedom House Org
Freedom House Ro

When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan

USA 2007, 110 min.
Director:Jasmine Dellal

Shot by legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles, this dynamic musical documentary follows five Gypsy bands from four countries who unite for the Gypsy Caravan as they take their show around North America for a six-week tour, astounding every audience they meet. Their musical styles range from flamenco to brass band, Romanian violin to Indian folk. And with humor and soul in their voices, they celebrate the best in Gypsy culture and the diversity of the Romani people in an explosion of song and dance.
As the film follows the amazing performances and behind-the-scenes action from the tour created by World Music Institute, we discover the real lives of these musicians. We visit Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, meet their families and see what music brings to their lives. The tales of these characters are woven between their performances - allowing us to understand and celebrate Romani culture and the prejudice of their shared ancestry.

Gypsy Caravan

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

"World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion."
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Persepolis

France/USA 2007, 96 min.
Directors:Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Writers:Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life. However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs. Written by Kenneth Chisholm.
Persepolis Movie

Hector Pieterson

Hector Pieterson (1964-16 June 1976) became the iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in apartheid South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by a fellow student, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on protesting students. For years, June 16 stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Today, it is known as National Youth Day, a day on which South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs.

Hector Pieterson Museum
The museum, which opened on 16 June 2002, follows the chronology of the build-up to 16 June 1976, starting with the way tensions were building among Soweto's school children, with one school after another going out on strike.
The museum stands two blocks from where Hector was shot and fell, on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets in Orlando West, Soweto. There are houses on all four corners of that intersection, so the museum is located up the road in Kumalo Street.
Hector's mother, Dorothy Molefi, lives in nearby Meadowlands. "I'm very proud that there's a museum for Hector, and that children are learning about him in history," she says. "We still visit his grave every few months."

Sam Nzima

Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)

Austria 2006, 79 min.

Director:Timo Novotny
Writers:Michael Glawogger,Timo Novotny

Life in Loops is a remix of the award-winning Austrian 1997 documentary 'Megacities'. In 'Megacities', Michael Glawogger, depicts the chaos of the world's metropoles. Novotny complements 30% of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. ?Life in Loops? is not just a question of recycling but also an alternative interpretation of Glawogger's footage. Using a loop to depict life in a big city, Novotny takes the viewer on a trip that interprets the metropolis in a completely different way to that shown in the original. The film takes the viewer to strange, dark and otherwise impenetrable parts of Mexico City, New York, Moscow, Mumbai and Tokyo and presents a cast of characters: like the man in Mumbai who changes colour every day and the pimp in New York who sells imaginary prostitutes. 'Life in Loops' a new form documentary with re-mix and the sound track created by Sofa Surfers as key elements. 'Life in Loops' won the main award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Life in Loops
Sofa Surfers

Girl with bread//Hope

Maciej Dakowicz

Screamers

USA 2006, 89 min.
Directed by Carla Garapedian
Produced by Nick De Grunwald
Starring Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, John Dolmayan
Music by Jeff Atmajian, System of a Down

Screamers is a 2006 documentary by director Carla Garapedian. The film explores why genocides have recurred into the modern day, and involves the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian's grandfather (who is an Armenian Genocide survivor), the human rights activist and journalist Professor Samantha Power, and various people involved with genocides in Rwanda and Darfur. Screamers also examines genocide denial in current day Turkey, and the trend of neutrality that the United States generally holds towards genocide.

Screamers (2006)_imdb
Axis of Justice
Serj Tankian

One World Romania on tour_Pitesti

PITEŞTI – 18-20 noiembrie
Joi / 20 noiembrie / 19h00 / Casa de Cultură a Studenţilor

* New Year Baby - 74min.

* Intolerance - Ivan - 25min.

* Low Cost 110 euros - 52min.

Aung San Suu Kyi

"PLEASE USE YOUR LIBERTY TO PROMOTE OURS!"

Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma's Democracy Leader
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Still Under House Arrest

Burma Campaign
US Campaign for Burma
Freedom Now

Seoul Train

USA 2005, 54 min.
Directors: Jim Butterworth, Aaron Lubarsky and Lisa Sleeth

Seoul Train is a gripping documentary which reveals the life and death of the North Koreans who are trying to escape from their country. SEOUL TRAIN also delves into the complex geopolitics behind this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. By combining vérité footage, personal stories and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists that put themselves in harm’s way to save the refugees. In Seoul Train, we meet the activists on the front line, learn of the risks they take, and see firsthand the toll their work takes on them. We also hear from the Chinese Government why the North Koreans are not refugees; and from other experts (academics and NGOs) on the crisis at hand and as they foretell the impending disaster

People In Need

When the Czechs needed a helping hand from the world, we got one. Now that we are better off we feel it is our moral responsibility to help others. - Jaromir Štětina
PIN Co-founder

People in Need (PIN) is a Czech organization that provides relief aid and development assistance, while working to defend human rights and democratic freedom. At home, People in Need administers social integration programs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and provides informative and educational activities. PIN is one of the largest organizations of its kind in post-communist Europe, and has administered projects in thirty-seven countries over the past fourteen years.

The happiest girl in Phnom Penh

Maciej Dakowicz

Freedom Writers

USA 2007, 122min
Directed by: Richard LaGravenese
Produced by: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher
Written by: Richard LaGravenese, based on The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and her class.
Freedom Writers Foundation

One World Romania on tour '08

Bridge Over The Wadi

2006 | Israel | 55 min.
Directors: Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann
Producers: Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann
Screenwriter: Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann
Editors: Arik Leibovitch, Amit Azaz, Erez Laufer & Ron Goldman
Script editor: Lavi ben-gal
Cinematographer: Daniel miran, Uri Levi & Itai raziel
Original score: Eli Soorani
Research: Rafaat Hattab

In the Wadi region, which is located in the centre of Israel, Jews and Arabs live beside each other. After decades of violence, parents from both sides of the divide decide to establish a common bilingual school for their children from both nationalities. The atmosphere of the first school day shows how the joy of their children manages to mollify parents who suddenly have to put up with their "enemies". Directors Barak and Tomer Heymann, however, do not leave the scene as soon as they have shot some optimistic footage. For the children's teachers and parents every state or religious holiday throws up a difficult decision as regards what is the correct thing to do and what they should teach the children. Despite this, the children, who as yet have hardly any prejudices, challenge their parents with troublesome questions and force them to reflect on their own opinions.