Human Rights Watch Film Festival At Museum of Photographic Arts Aims To Make A Difference

Maureen: This is KPBS midday edition. I’m Maureen Cavanaugh. Film festivals are known for red carpets, celebrities and awards and not so much for examining some of the world’s most important issues, but the film festival opening tonight at the museum of photographic arts in Balboa Park is the exception. For the fifth straight year the human rights watch film festival is playing in San Diego. The film is being screened to tackle issues as varied as civil war, transgender identity, homelessness and the dreams of one young woman to explore space. Joining me to discuss the festival are Paolo Zanenga, he is film program and digital media coordinator of the museum of photographic arts. Paolo welcome to the show. Paolo: Hi, thank you for having me. Maureen: And Faraz Zane is researcher with the Middle East North Africa division of human rights watch. Faraz thank you for coming in. Faraz: Glad to be here. Maureen: The films in this festival cover a wide variety of topics. What do you think makes them all fit under the human rights watch banner? Paolo: Well the interesting thing about this festival is the fact that it’s a selection of films that touch up on just different social issues that Park ring throughout the world. You know and every year we have a different selection of films. Everything from teen homelessness to domestic abuse, to any sort of civil liberties and rights issues throughout the world and so I think it’s an opportunity to bring those together collectively and have a discussion about them. Maureen: Faraz these are the kinds of films that people don’t normally associate with the film festival. You know there is a sort of glitz and glamour involved. These films are not necessarily depressing but they’re sobering, aren’t’ they. Faraz: They’re definitely sobering. Some of them are extremely difficult to watch. I think return to homes for example which is about the Syrian Civil War that has been going on for several years now. I think he has gone ranching frankly to watch whereas Sepeda the film that’s opening up the festival tonight, I think it’s an inspiring film and a lot more nuanced and doesn’t necessarily have the god wrenching movements at least not as many of them as some of the other films that you kind of think of when you think of human rights type films. Maureen: Paolo, how popular is this festival in San Diego. Paolo: It is fairly well. This is our fifth year now, so, it’s definitely growing throughout the years slowly but surely. Every year seems to get better and we’re surprised by the response that we get from San Diego. It’s definitely a different type of festival for San Diego and so it’s taking its time to kind roll out but we’ve got a great response so we are very happy. Maureen: Let me ask you. Let’s get to the films we’re talking about the film festival, let’ start focusing on the films themselves. The film opening in the festival Paolo in Sepeda I hope I’m saying that correctly for the stars tell us a little bit about this film. Paolo: Right, well that one is about a young Iranian women, who kind of a is stuck within the sort of limitations and conventions of her family and culture and you know she knows that there is something else for her in life and she kind of the film falls her in her journey to try and to achieve that. Maureen: Now Faraz, this is a teenage girl. She carries around this big telescope and she lets her friend she the starts and they are that we have wonderful images of them oohing and aahing and being all struck by the images of the universe that they can see through this telescope. This story is charming and up lifting and if it had been an Iranian boy you know becoming, wanting to become an astronaut that’s perhaps all it would be but it’s a girl kind of turns a story upside down a little bit, doesn’t it. Faraz: It actually tackles in a very sophisticated way, I think in a very nuanced way. As Paolo said some of the limitations that exists for women and girls in Iran but also shows that there is actually a place for them to be able to succeed in society and to reach their dreams and goals and I think that what’s really wonderful about this film is that, you know a lot of the limitations that Sapeda faces are actually from culture. They’re from her family as an example. You don’t see that much about some of the restrictive or discriminatory laws that women or girls face in Iran, even though there are many of those laws that exist. Maureen: What is fascinating, one of the things that’s fascinating I think about this documentary is the contrast between the high tech electronics that this family has. The computers, the slim phones, the big telescopes that I mentioned before and the ancient cultural attitudes that are also reflected in this film, is that contrast are seen in many countries in North Africa and the middle East. Paolo: I think so. I mean you know digital technology, cell phones, social media has really changed the face off and the landscape in the middle east and where's before we use to see, it was so difficult to get information about what’s actually happening on the ground. Now you have all that information at your fingertips. So lot of these individuals who wanted access to information like Sepeda for example, they have that access but at the same time you see these very traditional societies that are trying to put up barriers, and you know preventing or at least slowing down their ability to move towards their ambitions and that tension I think is really fascinating. Maureen: Faraz what’s the criteria that human rights watch users to select a film. Faraz: Well I think there has to be a some connection to human rights what issues or human rights issues rather and also issues specifically that human rights watch has worked on. So an example of why we chose Sepeda for example is that Sepeda deals with women and girls issues in Iran and when a lot of people think about Iran they think oh well may be they can’t drive may be women can’t drive. May be they don’t have much of a public space in life, but that’s actually not true. There is a huge disconnect between discriminatory laws that exist and the reality for women. A lot of women work about 60% of people in Universities is women and girls and that’s something that’s a very surprising to a lot of people. This film tackles a lot of those issues. Again but in a very, very nuance and sophisticated way and that’s why we decided to choose it. Maureen: Paolo I want us to hear a clip from another film in the festival and then perhaps you can tell us a little bit about it. The film is called private violence. {Video presentation] [00:06:45] Speaker1: I do this work because I survived a really violent relationship and it took me getting into this work and understanding it. To really see that it’s just so wide spread. Speaker2: This last time he almost killed me in front of my daughter. Speaker3: What happened to you shouldn’t happen to anybody ever. Speaker2: And that’s why I’m here. Speaker3: What your parents have to say about it. Speaker2: What do you need, just leave. Speaker3: Did he ever threaten to kills you. Speaker2: Yeah lots of times. [Video presentation] [00:07:26] Maureen: That’s from private violence, one of the films that’s been shown being screened at the museum photographic arts. It’s part of the human rights watch firm festival and Paolo again another very sobering film tell us about that. Paolo: And that one is very power and again in a, it’s a very power film that kind of touches on the idea on the disturbing fact actually that you know the most dangerous place for a women is her own home and that question that the protagonist asks, she asks why didn’t you leave, you know I think I’m the film does an excellent job of exploring that question and kind of diving into it and you know kind of going back to the conversations about how these films are selected you know I think, all these films have such a powerful theme to that, ultimately ties to any community across the globe, especially San Diego domestic violence team homelessness Maureen: Exactly they reverberate in many communities internationally. Paolo: Definitely. Maureen: Are these all documentaries. Paolo: Yes the selection is all documentaries and I can’t recall if they’ve all been documentaries in the past but for the most part yes and it’s power of documentary as well. It’s in your face. You’re looking at the film subjects, you are looking at the women’s face with bruises on her and has a different component, then if you were a fiction film. Maureen: A film, yeah just a drama. Now Faraz another entry and you mentioned it in the beginning is return to homes. It’s about the Syrian civil war and in this film we really do see the breakdown of a city and a society don’t we. Faraz: Yeah, return to homes is really a devastating film. It really chronicles the dreams of many young people, the protagonist as a foot baller or soccer player as we say here in the state, who essentially becomes a fighter. A lot of these individuals were tried to change the system in a peaceful manner. Unfortunately, the crackdown by Bashar al-Assad’s regime , the Syrian regime against change was so severe that they were forced to take up a gun and this kind of chronicles, history story and his friend’s story as they pick up a gun and try to change a system and actually survive and I think one of the very interesting things about these film it’s not really mentioned when you see the documentary, is that there is proof now that the protagonist has actually joined very extremist Islamist forces and that again also chronicles you know the tragedy of what is happening in Syria where there was such a tough crack down on peaceful activist that a lot of people decided you know we can’t be peaceful any more. We have to pick up a gun and that’s the only way to change the system. Maureen: I’ve heard many people say that that conflict gave birth to ISIS terror group is that right. Faraz: Well it wasn’t only that conflict, the ISIS group or ISO as a lot of other people call it, is really a group that feeds on the discontent that was brought or wrote about by sectarianism. Some of that sectarianism comes from Bashar-al-Assad in Syria, some of it came from the Shia led government of New Elmaliki in Iraq and ISIS is really a group that has kind of fed on the discontent of the local Sunni population and in some ways has used that energy to essentially create an army that now is fighting the various governments and local groups in the region. It’s really a very tragic picture and the human rights violations that are committed both by governments and by these groups, groups like ISIS is really horrific and human rights watch has been documenting many of them over the past few years. Maureen: How difficult is it for a film maker to make a film like return to homes. I mean these people taking these pictures, taking these photographs and making this movie are right in it. Faraz: Absolutely it’s very, very difficult and frankly as we have seen the camera is seen by many of these very repressive groups whether it’s ISIS or governments as a weapon. They try their best to make sure that this information doesn’t get out and that there isn’t an image of the seize and the effects of the seize, the devastating effects of the seize on the local population on girls, on boys, on families and when you pick up a camera and you document it, you become an enemy of the state. Or you become an enemy of ISIS if you are documenting abuses by that group. So it’s dangerous work. But I think a lot of the times the film makers are doing it, because they realize that the people who are actually trying to make change on ground are in a much more difficult position. These film makers can go in and leave. The individuals who they are, whose stories are covering can't they don’t have that luxury. Maureen: Paolo can you give us a brief overview of some of the other films that are in the film festival, human rights watch film festival. Paolo: Definitely so tomorrow night we have, so tonight is our opening night with Sepeda and then tomorrow we’ve got an excellent film lady mallard, the Christian back story, who has some, she has some local types to San Diego as well, I believe she was based at some point, private violence, again the domestic violence film out in the night, is a very powerful film about for a GBT women in New York and return to homes in the home stretch as well is the one that we closed with on Sunday night. The home stretch you know I feel is very relevant to San Diego with, teen homelessness and just homelessness in general, and kind of the circumstances at each of these characters encounters and how they kind of strive to accomplish things that we wouldn’t really think twice about, and anything just finishing high school, we’ll just to leave for the night. So they’re all very powerful in their own way and the idea is to group these films together and just have our theater be a hub for conversation really. Maureen: And that’s an issue too because I’m wondering Paolo how you combat the idea that people might have that going to see a film like this might be a downer but you just used a very interesting word, conversation that’s what this is about, isn’t’ it. Paolo: Definitely yeah I mean I think it’s an opportunity to facilitate dialog of conversation with San Diego community, you know and kind of and kind of better culture understanding of where these films are coming from and how they relate to our personal lives here in San Diego. They may come from all parts, these films come from all parts of the world and it may seem very distant, but in a way they’re very close too. Maureen: And Faraz excuse me, you are going to be taking part in a discussion about the first film sepeda reaching for the stars that’s tonight. That do you hope that conversation is like. What do you hope people take away from this film and from the discussion of it? Faraz: I think one thing I’m hoping as some who focuses on Iran is that there are so many myths in some ways about Iran and some of them, some of the information that’s there in terms of the human rights violations, is true, I mean the Iranian government has a horrific record when it comes to human rights abuses, but then there is also another side, which is the social norms and the customs and the people who are actually living inside Iran, whether it’s the girls who dreams to be an astronaut or a boy that wants to be a fireman, whatever the case maybe and I think the important thing is for individuals here in San Diego to be able to understand how those societies work. What the laws are and the tradition and customs are that hold back or prevent individuals from reaching their ambitions. What we mean by human rights violation. You know that’s very important as well. So really it’s just getting information out there and there were few things or mediums that really connect with individuals. Someone who sits here in San Diego and watches Sepeda can actually even though Sepeda is thousands of miles away can actually really feel like here, because many of the girls here may have the same dreams that Sepeda has and so it resonates with local audiences. It causes a discussion and then of course from there hopefully individual would be interested in learning more about human rights violations around the world and trying to do something about it. Paolo: And that’s the power of the lens, the power of story telling and the power of conversation and I might also add that we have a Q and A discussion with each one of these films which is a very essential part of this festival and everyone responds in different ways but. Maureen: Well let me tell everyone that the human rights watch film festival begins tonight at 7. It runs through Sunday at the museum of photographic arts at Belaboa Park and I’ve been speaking with Paolo Zanenga he is with the museum of photographic arts and Faraz Zene who is with the human rights watch. He is a researcher in the Middle East North Africa division. Thank you both very much. Paolo: Thank you having. Faraz: Thanks for having us. Maureen: Coming up writing a book is one thing getting it published is another. A preview of the STSU writer’s conference, that’s as KPBS midday edition continues.