Human Rights Watch International Film Festival Rating: NNN
Rating: NNN
Cinematheque Ontario hosts five films from the Human Rights Watch International Travelling Film Festival this week. This batch includes François Verster’s When The War Is Over, an impressionistic, immersive documentary about two former comrades in the struggle against South African apartheid. Gori has become an army captain, while Marlon is a gangster. Their similarities are striking, though, as they reflect on loyalty and the pursuit of peace in their neighbourhood. Verster’s film is on a double bill with Welcome To Hadassah Hospital, Ram&oactuen Gieling’s portrait of a Jerusalem hospital that treats both Israelis and Palestinians (February 10).
Pinochet’s Children (February 7) is Paula Rodréguez’s biography of three former student leaders instrumental in the ousting of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Now in their 40s, they recall the thrill of their activist days and the decade-long slump they endured after democracy was restored.
Also showing this week, State Of Denial, Elaine Epstein’s film on AIDS in South Africa (February 6), and Jos de Putter’s doc on Chechnya, The Damned And The Sacred (February 11).
(Jackman Hall, February 6-7 and 10-11)
