Human Rights Watch Film Festival Celebrates A Decade In San Diego

Speaker 1: 00:01 The films tackle some of the most troublesome problems on earth, yet they can inspire surprise and even delight. Celebrating its 10th year at the museum of photographic arts. The human rights film watch festival begins this week. This year the films handled topics including LGBTQ rights, immigration, racial injustice, democracy, and journalistic integrity. The festival will kick off with the award winning film, gay course, deep South, which won the Tribeca audience award documentary in 2019 each film screening will be followed by an audience Q and a to discuss the social issues depicted midday edition. Cohost Maureen Kavanaugh has a preview of this year's festival. She spoke with Kevin Lindy, manager of adult and digital engagement at the museum of photographic arts with a preview of this year's festival. In the past, the film festival has put a spotlight on stories about human rights violations taking place all over the world. But this year's theme is more uplifting. It's focusing on change makers. Why is that important this year? Speaker 2: 01:04 We think that's critical because the films offer this unique window into human rights violations and human rights issues globally. Um, however, we realize that it's important to be able to provide opportunities for, uh, anyone to be able to get involved with these issues, right? Um, on whatever level that they're comfortable getting involved. And that could be the super local within their neighborhood. It could be at a state level or a city level. Um, and going all the way up to some of these issues that are really international in scope. So we like to think about screening these films is just the start of a conversation. Then continuing that conversation with everybody who's in attendance and again, providing opportunities for people to get involved in all of these different ways around these issues. These films reflect that change maker theme. The changemaker theme is really reflected in the fact that each of these films focuses on a key protagonist or organization, which is working to enact change around these issues. So you're opening the festival this year with the film gay chorus deep South. Let's hear a clip from the trailer and then talk a little bit about it. When the election happened, our board chair said, why don't we go to the South? Speaker 1: 02:17 The gay men's chorus in San Francisco. We're going around to cities all around the South promoting unity and peace. Speaker 2: 02:24 I would have never thought to go back home. Speaker 1: 02:27 So that was a clip from gay chorus deep South. And it's about as, as the people say, gay men's chorus in San Francisco going to tour the American South. They did that right after the 2016 election. Why did you want to open Speaker 2: 02:40 Ben with this film? We decided to open with this film because it really highlights something that is at the top of all of our minds, uh, coming into an election year, uh, here in the United States. Um, and to see how the gay men's choir of San Francisco use the vehicle of music in order to start a dialogue and start a conversation around some of these really difficult topics, specifically in the, in the American South. Um, it really spoke to the spirit of the festival, um, where we feel that films are an entry point or a vehicle for people to be able to understand these issues more deeply, uh, and also realize how they can play a role in effecting change. When you saw this film, did you see a change maker? I did. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The power of being able to, um, go into a community, um, or communities, um, that you're not necessarily familiar with, but trying to find a commonality and find that bridge. And that bridge in this movie is music, uh, in the power of music to transform another film is Bellingcat truth in a post truth world. We also have a clip from that movie, Speaker 3: 03:53 doesn't speak a word of Arabic, and he conducts his profound research from the content of his armchair and his home. I'd like to, I'd like to talk about a very new way of investigating the way citizen journalism investigations are trusted, is different than professional journalists. Don't believe me. Here's the evidence. Speaker 2: 04:20 What is this film about? So this film Chronicles the story of Bellingcat, uh, which is a volunteer run organization of what they consider truth seekers. Uh, so these are individuals who collectively work, um, in a way that may seem a bit outside of the mainstream of journalism and investigative reporting. Uh, but they do so in an attempt or in an effort to, uh, get at the root of some of the truths behind these issues that they're investigating. And they do. So using technologies that really have only come about in the last 10, 15, 20 years. Uh, so anywhere from cross-referencing social media feeds to YouTube videos to, uh, first-person reports on the ground about particular issues. Um, they try to sort of cut ahead of official narratives, say through a particular government or entity, um, and get facts out there or to be able to collect facts and synthesize them in ways that then, uh, other organizations can take. Speaker 2: 05:22 Take further steps. Now finally, closing the festival is the documentary true justice. Now it's the story about attorney Brian Stevenson and his work with incarcerated people in the South. And in fact, his story is also captured in the new film, just mercy, uh, nominated for an Academy award. What do you think a documentary might convey that that feature film can't? Yeah, absolutely. I think, um, the opportunity to see the real characters, the real people behind, um, Brian Stevens, uh, fight for equality, um, is, is a critical thing. How does the festival select the films that will be featured? That's a great question. We really consider it a collaborative effort between the human rights watch film festival, which is located in based in New York city and us here in San Diego at MOPA. Uh, the museum of photographic arts. Uh, we come together in the fall and we really look at what are some of these key issues that are playing out right now in the headlines, uh, both nationally and internationally. Speaker 2: 06:22 Uh, and then we also try to keep an eye on topics that may also have a relevancy here in San Diego. So we like to choose things that, as I like to say, are both international and local in scope. This is the festivals 10th year in San Diego. What kind of impact do you think it's had on, on local audiences? We see a huge impact every year. I think it's really inspiring to see the attendees who come, who may be passionate about an issue and that's why they're attending, where they might not know very much about the issue, but they've heard about it in the news recently. Uh, and so there they come. And then they not only have this opportunity to see a film which provides such a personal window into the, uh, into the particular human rights, abuse and violation. But then they also see local leaders. They also see local activists and organizers who are working deeply in this field. And getting that local relevancy, I think is really critical because again, it empowers the audience to see how they can play a part in making change. That was Kevin Lindy with the museum of photographic arts, speaking with midday edition cohost Marine cabinet about the 2020 human rights watch film festival taking place tonight through Sunday.