Human Rights Watch International Film Festival; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Screening Room March 5, 2009

When:
Thursday, March 5, 7:30 pm: To See if I’m Smiling by Tamar Yarom
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 pm: Youth Producing Change by Various Artists
Thursday, March 19, 7:30 pm: The Sari Soldiers by Julie Bridgham
Thursday, March 26, 7:30 pm: Project Kashmir by Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel

What:
2009 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Mar 5, 12, 19 and 26
In collaboration with the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, YBCA presents a selection of powerful documentaries. HRWIFF has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction and documentary films with distinctive human rights themes. The works help to put a human face on threats to individual freedom and dignity, and celebrate the power of the human spirit and intellect to prevail. This series of activist oriented documentaries, which grows in popularity each year, is intended to inspire people to action and offers opportunities to interact with filmmakers and fellow community members. YBCA is pleased to present the seventh year of this unique curatorial collaboration between our two organizations. The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival is part of YBCA’s Ritual and Redemption series, one of the three Big Ideas that guide YBCA’s programming this season, which features artists who desire not simply knowledge or awareness, but experience and enlightenment.

TO SEE IF I’M SMILING
BY TAMAR YAROM
Thu, March 5, 7:30 pm
Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. To See If I’m Smiling is a disturbing look at the actions and behavior of women soldiers in the Israeli army who, stationed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, help maintain the 40-year-old occupation of Palestinian territories. The women in the film, veterans who’ve tried to bury the past for years, finally speak openly about their experiences. Reception to follow screening. (2007, 59 min, digital video)

YOUTH PRODUCING CHANGE
BY VARIOUS ARTISTS
Thu, March 12, 7:00 pm
A program of short films directed and produced by youth from across the globe. Armed with digital cameras, computers and their own boundless creativity – these young people bravely expose human rights issues faced by themselves and their communities. It’s time that we listen to what they have to say. Founding Presenter: Adobe Youth Voices. Reception to follow screening. (2007, 78 min, digital video)

THE SARI SOLDIERS
BY JULIE BRIDGHAM
Thu, March 19, 7:30 pm
The Sari Soldiers is an extraordinary story of six women’s courageous efforts to shape Nepal’s future in the midst of an escalating civil war against Maoist insurgents, and the King’s crackdown on civil liberties. When Devi, mother of a 15-year-old girl, witnesses her niece being tortured and murdered by the Royal Nepal Army, she speaks publicly about the atrocity. The army abducts her daughter in retaliation, and Devi embarks on a three-year struggle to uncover her daughter’s fate and see justice done. The film intimately delves into the extraordinary journey of these women on all sides of the conflict, through the democratic revolution that reshapes the country’s future. (2008, 90 min, digital video)

PROJECT KASHMIR
BY SENAIN KHESHGI AND GEETA V. PATEL
Thu, March 26, 7:30 pm
Two American friends, one Hindu and one Muslim, enter the war zone of Kashmir to investigate the 60-year rivalry between their homelands India and Pakistan. How does a young generation remain hopeful in this endless war? Beautifully lensed by award-winning cinematographer Ross Kauffman, the film captures the physical splendor of Kashmir, while expertly interweaving deeply moving personal stories of Kashmiris with those of the two American women, who strive to reconcile their ethnic and religious heritage with the violence that haunts their homeland. (2008, 89 min, digital video)

Who:
Films from the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

Where:
YBCA Screening Room, 701 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103

Public Info:
415-978-2787 or ybca.org

Official Website: http://www.ybca.org