Salt Lake City Film Festival
November 3-6, 2005Saturday, November 5
Screenings at SLC Library Auditorium
12:30 pm
WAR GAMES / FIELDS OF MUDAN
2:30 pm
BHOPAL: THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE
4:00 pm
DEACON OF DEATH: LOOKING FOR JUSTICE IN TODAY’S CAMBODIA
5:30 pm
SEOUL TRAIN
7:00 pm
DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE
WAR GAMES
Followed by Fields of Mudan
Director: Marc Allen
Documentary. 2005. United Kingdom, Sudan. 58 min. English, Dinka and Arabic, subtitled.
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SLC Premiere
In January 2003, an amazing event took place in Southern Sudan. A few miles from the front line of one of Africa’s longest and most brutal conflicts, thousands of children came together to compete in a barefoot, bootleg Olympics. War Games tells the compelling story of the realization of the Twic Olympics, following events as they unfold and providing an intimate portrait of a community devastated by war, yet still determined to make the most of every moment. The documentary was recently screened by BBC World as part of their Africa Lives season.
Preceded by War Games
Director: Stevo Chang
Short Film. 2005. United States. 23 min. English.
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SLC Premiere
Amnesty International Film Festival Award at LA Shorts Film Festival
Fields of Mudan contrasts the innocence of childhood against the exploitation of sex-trade. Mudan is a young girl forced to work in a brothel. She finds hope in the dream that her mother will one day take her to America. Mudan befriends another girl in bondage, Faye, and the two form a strong friendship. The tragedies of the child sex trade and of lost innocence are personified by Mudan in this gripping short film.
Saturday, November 5th, 12:30 pm
Directors: Lindalee Tracey & Peter Raymont
Documentary. 2004. Canada. 52 min. English.
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On December 2, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leaked poisonous methyl isocyanate gas killing 15,000 men, women and children. Bhopal was and remains the world's worst chemical industry disaster.
Twenty years later, survivors are being re-victimized by the deliberate thwarting of scientific and medical studies concerning the damage. Exploring charges of corruption and greed, Bhopal: The Search for Justice follows Raajkumar Keswani, a local journalist whose prediction of the Union Carbide leak proved prophetic.
Keswani documents the legacy, the continued pollution of drinking water sources, “gas widows” trying to survive on inadequate settlements, and the possibility that the second and third generation of children are growing up with genetic abnormalities that some claim are caused by the gas.
Saturday, November 5th, 2:30 pm
Director: Jan van den Berg
Documentary. 2004. The Netherlands. 65 min. Khmer, subtitled.
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Grand Prize Dutch Film: 2004, Best Full Length Documentary
The atrocities Sok Chea witnessed as a child during the rule of Pol Pot continue to haunt her to this day, nearly thirty years later. She is shocked when she suddenly comes across Karoby, the man who was in charge of her local prison and whom she holds responsible for murdering most of her family. Once again he holds a powerful position, this time as Deacon of Death, or leader of crematory ceremonies. She decides to collect evidence against him, for she believes he must stand trial. But can she succeed in a country still ruled by fear, where justice is virtually non-existent and corruption is endemic? Cambodians believe in Karma and forgiveness – wrongdoers are punished after their death and will suffer for many lives to come. Sok Chea's quest leads her to a confrontation with Karoby, in the same pagoda where the atrocities occurred.
Saturday, November 5th, 4:00 pm
Directors: Jim Butterworth, Aaron Lubarsky, & Lisa Sleeth
Documentary. 2004. USA. 54 min. Korean, subtitled.
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Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: Jury Award 2004
Texas Film Festival: Audience Choice Award 2005
With its footage of a secretive "underground railroad," Seoul Train is a documentary insight into the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China. Seoul Train also delves into the complex geopolitics behind this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. Combining authentic footage, personal stories, and interviews with experts and government officials, Seoul Train depicts the contempt for international laws exhibited by some nations, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists that put themselves in harms way to save refugees.
A Q+A with Director Jim Butterworth follows the screening.
Saturday, November 5th, 5:30 pm
Director: Hubert Sauper
Documentary. 2004. Austria/Belgium. 107. English/Russian/Swahili subtitled.
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2004 European Film Awards for Best Documentary
Silverdocs Sterling Award 2005
Hubert Sauper's film – called "a work of art" by A.O. Scott of the New York Times – is a clear-eyed examination of globalization, utilizing a series of events at Lake Victoria in Tanzania as a microcosm. The documentary focuses on two relentless killing machines: the Nile Perch, which ate through everything that used to live in the lake, and the foreign capitalists who introduced the fish in order to sell it to European consumers. Ultimately, the Tanzanians who once supported themselves off the lake’s bounty, ended up losing out. This is a tale about fish, globalization, and about people divided by cultural and economic differences.
Saturday, November 5th, 7:00 pm