New York, April 15, 2021 — The Human Rights Watch Film Festival, now in its 32nd year, will present its second full digital edition of groundbreaking new films, available nationwide in the U.S. from May 19 through 27, 2021. The film festival will feature in-depth online discussions with filmmakers, film participants and Human Rights Watch researchers and advocates. To learn more about the 2021 festival we had a video interview with Leah Sapin, the Associate Director of Programming & Production at Human Rights Watch Film Festival: https://vimeo.com/552195143 As the world continues to grapple with the realities of isolation amid a global pandemic, relationships…
Browsing: CinéEqual
Social Justice Cinema
Make a short film to participate in the I, Immigrant: First Responders & Essential Workers in the Corona War – Online Film Festival. Show the world the sacrifices US Immigrant First Responders & Essential Workers on the front lines are making to save lives and keep the country running in the brutal battle against the Coronavirus. Essential Workers have not been able to work from home during the shutdown, but rather have continued to go to their normal jobs, bringing them into contact on a daily basis with COVID-19 patients or the general public or fellow workers in unsafe conditions.…
White Tiger by Ramin Bahrani is an amazing film about social justice issues, well thought and well made by powerful performances and another missed opportunity for the Academy awards for recognizing a masterpiece. I found the White Tiger a mush stronger and honest film than Parasite that was also trying to address the same subject and for sure far better than Minari, a melodrama that has six Oscar nominations. Watch this brilliant film on Netflix. Bijan Tehrani We had the opportunity of talking to Ramiin Bahrani in a ZOOM interview about making of the White Tiger: https://vimeo.com/532648011 Balram Halwai (Adarsh…
We talked with Tomer Shushan, writer and director of 2020 SXSW’s best narrative short film, WHITE EYE. The film is in consideration for Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Short Film (Live Action). A tense and suspenseful movie, WHITE EYE is shot in one long take and portrays race and class inequalities in Israel. It was nominated for Bridging the Borders Award in 2020 Palm Spring International ShortFest. “This topical film has screened at over 70 film festivals, including 22 Oscar-qualifying. This Live-Action short has won numerous accolades including the Oscar-qualifying Best Narrative Short Award at SXSW Film Festival. White Eye…
Charlatan directed by Agnieszka Holland, is Czech Republic Oscar entry for International Film Award that is now in the Oscar’s shortlist. Few true stories tread the thin line between good and evil as precariously as that of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbal healer whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets. Mikolášek won fame and fortune treating celebrities of the interwar, Nazi, and Communist eras with his uncanny knack for “urinary diagnosis”. But his passion for healing welled up from the same source as a lust for cruelty, sadism, and an incapacity for love that only one person…
Chances are, if you’re a moviegoer, you’ve heard a little something about women’s fight for equality in Hollywood. According to Women and Hollywood, a nonprofit organization that educates and advocates for the cause, women remain poorly represented behind the camera, making up just 10% of directors and 19% of writers. It’s no wonder that women, so often boxed out of sharing their stories on screen, would distill that pain into their filmmaking, creating powerful stories of how sexism and misogyny continue to oppress women from all walks of life. In these ten movies about sexism, women struggle for equality everywhere…
RECON directed by is a thriller set in the mountains of Italy at the close of World War II. Adapted from the critically acclaimed New York Times best seller “Peace” by famed author Richard Bausch, and based on a true event – RECON tells the story of four American soldiers in World War II, who after they witness a vicious murder of an innocent civilian at the hands of their platoon Sergeant, are sent on a reconnaissance/suicide mission lead by a local partisan, an elderly man whose indeterminate loyalties add to the terror and confusion that engulfs the Americans as…
Wine In 2013, inspired by the book Wines of Lebanon by Michael Karam, filmmakers Mark Johnston and Mark Ryan set out to change the perceptions of the Middle East – and in particular the tiny nation of Lebanon – by examining an enigmatic and misunderstood part of the world with winemakers who had a story to tell. The result is a very interesting documentary, Wine and war. To learn more about Wine and war, we interviewed filmmakers Mark Johnston and Mark Ryan on camera: https://vimeo.com/468808155 Johnston and Ryan met in film school at USC in 1999. In 2014, they released…
When it comes to creative solutions, you’ve got to hand it to Shannon and Scott Guggenheim. Since 3Below Theaters — which the Guggenheims operate in downtown San Jose — has been closed since March, the couple has been tirelessly working to come up with ideas to keep their livelihood going and provide people with much needed entertainment. I’m honestly blown away by what they’ve come up with: “Up on the Roof,” four weeks of curated movies starting Oct. 8 that will be screened on the top floor of the city-owned parking garage above 3Below Theaters on Second and San Carlos streets. The movies…
1. Entries for the I, Immigrant, First Responders & Essential Workers in The Corona War should be documentary shorts from 1 minute to 40 minutes in length. 2. Films should be about a US Immigrant First Responder or Essential Worker, in the fields of health care, emergency response, public transportation, package delivery, food production, or grocery retail. Essential Workers have not worked from home during the shutdown, but rather have continued to go to their normal jobs on the front lines, bringing them into contact daily with COVID-19 patients or the general public or fellow workers in unsafe conditions. 3.…