This Palestinian Life – stories of Palestinian nonviolent resistance. (2009) 29 minutes. Director: Philip Rizk. Courtesy of Philip Rizk.

THIS PALESTINIAN LIFE is a film about people who persevere despite the odds stacked against them. The film documents specifically the aspects of perseverance or steadfastness of the Palestinian nonviolent struggle against Israeli occupation and the deliberate, ongoing, illegal annexation of Palestinian land. An Arabic term used for everyday acts of nonviolent resistance is sumoud – steadfastness, perseverance. In the film, Egyptian activist and filmmaker, Philip Rizk, tells the stories of Palestinian villagers who attempt to remain steadfast, to persevere, in the face of settler violence, the injustice and duplicity of the Israeli government, and the ambivalence of the international community.

7.30 - 9.08 p.m.

The Heart of Jenin. Germany (2008) 98 minutes. Directors: Leon Geller and Marcus Venter. Eikon Films. Courtesy of Eikon Films.

This film follows the tragic events of November 2005 when a 12 year old Palestinian boy, Ahmed Khatib, was shot by an Israeli soldier in the refugee camp, Jenin. He was killed because the soldier mistook the plastic gun he was playing with for a real one. Taken to an Israeli hospital, the boy had no chance of surviving injuries to his head and chest. His devastated parents were faced with the option of donating his organs so that other would have a life. The film traces the remarkable journey of Ahmed’s father, Ismael Khatib, as he creates a youth centre to protect and distract Jenin’s youth from the violence around them. He travels into Israel and the occupied territories to meet three of the five children of the “enemy” inside whom his son lives on. The film is a rare portrait of humanity within conflict and proves that the sublime can stubbornly survive hate, war and suffering.

Winner: Cinema For Peace - Most valuable documentary of the year Award 2009; Winner: Valladolid International Film Festival – 1st Prize Time of History section 2009; Winner: Movies that Matter Film Festival Amnesty International Den Haag - Audience Award 2009; Nominated: The European Film Awards - Prix Arte for Best Documentary 2009; - DEFA-Furtherance Award  DOK Leipzig Festival Germany, 2008; Winner: Dubai International Film Festival - Audience Award 2008

Thursday 25 March

Theme: International Justice and The International Criminal Court

7.00 – 8.35 p.m.

The Reckoning.  USA. (2009) 95 minutes. Directors: Pamela Yates, Paco de Onis and Peter Kinoy. Skylight Pictures. Courtesy of Paco de Onis.

The International Criminal Court represents the most ambitious attempt ever to apply the rule of law on a global scale and to protect the most basic human rights. The Reckoning follows ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo for three years across four continents as he and his team tirelessly issue arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, prepare to put Congolese warlords on trial, challenge the UN Security Council to bring Sudan's president to justice for the Darfur massacres, and shake up the Colombian justice system. Moreno-Ocampo has a mandate but no police force. At every turn he must put pressure on the international community to muster political clout for the cause. Will the court succeed and will the world ensure that justice prevails?

Official selection: Sundance Film Festival 2009.

8.35 – 9.00 p.m.          Discussion

The Attorney General, Dr Molokomme, will lead a discussion about the ICC and the position of the Government of Botswana on the role of the ICC

Friday 26 March

Theme: The Death Penalty and the Criminal Justice System in The United States of America

7.00 – 8.30 p.m.

In Prison my whole life. UK/USA (2007) 90 minutes. Director: Marc Evans. Made in collaboration with Amnesty International. Courtesy of Colin Firth, Livia Giuggioli, Domenico Procacci and Lee Daniels.

and

A look at the life of imprisoned political activist and former Black Panther member, Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose death sentence for killing a police officer was overturned in 2001 due to errors made during his original 1982 sentencing hearing. The film engages intellectuals, musicians and writers in an attempt to find the truth about justice in America for black activists and Mumia in particular. Those interviewed include Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Mos Def, Snoop Dog and Steve Earle.

Nominated: Sundance Film Festival - Nominated - Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary 2008.

Saturday 27 March

Theme: Gender and Female Genital Cutting

7.00 – 8.00 p.m.

Mrs Goundo’s Daughter. USA/Mali (2009) 60 minutes. Directors: Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater. Attie & Goldwater Productions. Courtesy of Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater. In English, Bambara and French with English subtitles.

Mrs. Goundo’s Daughter is the sensitively told story of a Malian mother’s fight for asylum in the US to protect her two-year-old from female genital cutting. To stay in the US, Goundo must persuade an immigration judge that her US-born daughter, Djenabou, will suffer this procedure if Goundo is deported. In Mali, where 85 percent of women and girls experience clitoral excision, Goundo and her husband are convinced they would be powerless to protect their daughter from her grandparents, who believe all girls should be excised. The film bridges Goundo’s two worlds, expertly interweaving scenes from Mali of girls preparing for an excision ceremony and scenes from Philadelphia where those who have survived the procedure share their stories.

Official Selection: The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and the Urban World Film Festival 2009.

Sunday 28 March

Theme:  War and Rape

7.00 – 8.00 p.m.

Weapon of War – Confessions of Rape in Congo.  The Netherlands (2009) 59 minutes. Directors: Ilse van Velzen and Femke van Velzen. IF Productions. Courtesy of Ilse van Velzen and Femke van Velzen.

During the decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were brutally raped. In Weapon of War military perpetrators unveil what lies behind this brutal behaviour and the strategies of rape as a war crime. An ex-rebel explains how he raped. Like for many ex-soldiers, starting a normal life again is a struggle filled with trauma. In an attempt to reconcile with is past, he decides to meet one of his victims in an attempt to obtain forgiveness. Captain Basima is working as a priest in Congo’s army and confronts perpetrators of rape. He urges them to change. Just as he did.

Monday 29 March

Theme: Gay and Lesbian Rights and the Church

7.00 – 8.40 p.m.

For The Bible Tells Me So. USA (2007). 100 minutes. Director: Daniel Karslake. Cinema Vault Releasing International Inc. Courtesy of Cinema Vault Releasing International Inc.

Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating homosexuals and Christianity too wide to cross? How can the Bible be used to justify hate? This provocative, entertaining film concisely reconciles homosexuality and a literal interpretation of Biblical scripture. Through the experiences of five very Christian, very American families — including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson — we see how people of faith handle, or sometimes tragically fail to handle, having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, this film offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in between scripture and sexual identity.

Winner: GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Award – Outstanding Documentary 2008; Winner: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival – Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights 2007; Winner: Provincetown Film Festival – HBO Audience Award 2007; Winner: Seattle International Film Festival – Audience Award Best Documentary 2007;  Winner: Outfest – Audience Award 2007; Nominated: Sundance Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize Documentary 2007.

8.40 – 9.00 p.m. Discussion about the rights to sexual orientation in Botswana.

Wednesday 31 March

Theme: Apartheid – human rights and responsibilities

7.00 – 7.24 p.m.

The Highgate Hotel Massacre. South Africa (2009). 24 minutes. Director: Mark Kaplan. Courtesy of Mark Kaplan and SABC.
 
One night in 1985, the convivial atmosphere at The Highgate Hotel in East London was instantly and brutally transformed by a gang of men wielding rifles and other combat weapons. Random fire tore flesh apart and left behind a trail of dead, wounded and permanently damaged. Nobody has come forward to admit responsibility. This film serves to bear witness to this crime, to prevent us from forgetting.

7.25 – 7.50 p.m.

Maduna Road. South Africa (2009). 24 minutes. Director: Mark Kaplan. Courtesy of Mark Kaplan and SABC.

In 1985, the townships of Langa and KwaNobuhle in Uitenhage became increasingly violent as confrontation between UDF-aligned youth and The Black Council Administrators (BLA) councillors intensified. A number of youth were shot dead by the security forces. A funeral planned for the weekend of 19 March 1985 was banned by the local magistrate. Residents moved the funeral to 21 March, the date of the Sharpeville massacre commemorated through a stayaway. When this was realized by the security forces, the funeral was banned once again, but too late to prevent people from gathering in Langa and beginning to march to Kwa Nobuhle where the funeral was to be held. Armoured vehicles blocked Maduna Road leading from Langa and police opened fire onto the crowds. More than twenty people were killed. Mrs Nika-Jonas testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about the deaths of her three sons, Thembinkosi, Vusumzi and Sabelo Nika. They were arrested and killed on the same day, in the aftermath of the massacre, by policemen who took their bodies away. She pleaded with the YRC for information about where they had been buried. The TRC failed to corroborate this incident. The sons were not listed as victims of gross human rights violations. Mrs Nika-Jonas did not receive any information from the TRC about the whereabouts of her sons; no information about who was responsible for their deaths and no compensation or reparations for the loss which she suffered. Even her TRC record which should be in the National Archives is missing.

7.50 – 8.30 p.m.               Discussion

After the screening of both films, Director Mark Kaplan will lead a discussion about the ‘so then, what’ of documenting and screening films about human rights violations. Mark Kaplan is executive producer of documentaries at Grey Matter Media and has been involved in video production and training work since 1979. He has been the recipient of numerous international awards for single documentaries and series. In August 1982, after two months of detention in solitary confinement, Kaplan was deported to Zimbabwe.  In 1986, Kaplan co-founded Capricorn Video Unit in Harare, Zimbabwe, providing production and training facilities to the Southern African region.