Saturday, May 15
West Hollywood - EGYPTIAN THEATRE
2PM
TREACHEROUS FREEDOM
preceded by OUT OF STATUS
US PREMIERE
3:30PM
REPATRIATION
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
6:30PM
ARNA'S CHILDREN
WEST COAST PREMIERE
preceded by DETAIL
US PREMIERE
8:30PM
POTE MAK SONJE: THE RABOTEAU TRIAL
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
preceded by AFTER YEARS OF WALKING and
I PROMISE AFRICA
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
TREACHEROUS FREEDOM
Director: Jacob Adrian Mikkelsen
2003. Denmark. 58min. English and Danish, subtitled. US PREMIERE
A war and the fall of a dictator - experienced from the inside. While bombs were raining over Baghdad, Ahmad kept a camera rolling that was lent to him by a Danish film crew. This resulting video diary offers a unique look into the invasion of Iraq: The invasion from the eyes of an Iraqi. TREACHEROUS FREEDOM reveals a country in complete turmoil, while experiencing both liberation and occupation. In addition to controlling the camera, Ahmad has also been working for the American army in a special unit helping to rebuild hospitals in Mosul. This is a changed country, where for the first time in years citizens can freely talk about their views - even about Saddam Hussein himself.
Filmmakers/Distributors Contact Information: Steen Jensen (Danish Broadcasting Corporation)
sjs@dr.dk
PLAYS WITH Out of Status
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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OUT OF STATUS
Director: Sanjna N. Singh & Pia Sawhney
2003. USA. 11min. English, Hindi and Urdu, subtitled.
US PREMIERE
Through intimate interviews and candid conversations, directors Pia Sawhney and Sanjna N. Singh give a human face to Muslims and Arabs who were detained, deported and forced to register with the U.S. government after September 11, 2001.
PLAYS WITH Treacherous Freedom
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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REPATRIATION
Director: Kim Dong-won
2003. South Korea. 149 min. Korean, subtitled.
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
REPATRIATION, winner of the Freedom of Expression Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, documents the lives of North Korean spies who were captured and imprisoned in the South for 30 to 40 years. Upon their release, the prisoners had no place to call home, and many moved into Director Kim Dong-won's neighborhood. A deep bond formed between some of the ex-spies and Kim, who ultimately spent 12 years and 500 hours of videotape making this film. How do men who have spent so long incarcerated reenter the outside world? How is one affected by a cultural conversion four decades in the making? Kim narrates throughout the film, providing an insightful perspective.
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 3:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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ARNA'S CHILDREN
Director: Juliano Mer Khamis & Danniel Danniel
2003. Israel/Netherlands. 84min. Arabic and Hebrew, subtitled.
WEST COAST PREMIERE
Arna Mer (1929-1995) led in the last years of her life a small theatre group of Palestinian children on the West Bank. Her son Juliano, who directed the group, filmed the rehearsals and performances of the plays. Through playing, they try to cope with their memories of the refugee camp and daily reality. When the Israeli armies occupy the city, the theatre group rehearsals come to an end. But Arna won't take it lying down. She establishes an alternative educational system to replace the formal one that was practically paralysed by the Israeli occupation. After the death of his mother and years after the theatre has closed, Juliano looks up "Arna's children." Back in Jenin, he discovers little by little the tragic story of the theatre children who were so dear to him.
PLAYS WITH Detail
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 6:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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DETAIL
Director: Avi Mograbi
2004. Israel. 8min. English, Hebrew, and Arabic, subtitled.
US PREMIERE
An intimidating tank drives back and forth. A Palestinian family stands outside, hoping for an ambulance to arrive to take them to the hospital. They keep waiting. Avi Mograbi's DETAIL is in fact a detail of his next film, soon to be released. This powerful short exposes the filmmaker's concern with the realities of life in the Occupied Territories. "We tell ourselves many stories as to what reality is like," says Mograbi, "but the truth is that we lost the ability to look at our own doings."
PLAYS WITH Arna's Children
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 6:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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POTE MAK SONJE: THE RABOTEAU TRIAL
Directors: Christine Cynn & Harriet Hirshorn
2003. USA. 56 min. English, Haitian Creole and French, subtitled.
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
The military junta that overthrew Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 killed and tortured thousands during its three-year reign. In the most brutal single massacre, the coup government indiscriminately murdered scores of Aristide supporters in the leftist fishing village of Raboteau in 1994. In conjunction with eyewitness accounts, this film documents the landmark trial in November 2000 that convicted 16 military officials responsible for the massacre. When Aristide was ousted once again this winter, his U.S.-backed replacement, Gerard Latortue, hailed the former military leaders responsible for the Raboteau killings as "freedom fighters" and "the ones who helped bring democracy back to Haiti." The Raboteau trial presents a powerful narrative of the massacre that should give pause to Haiti's new Justice Minister, Bernard Gousse, as he considers their pardon.
PLAYS WITH I Promise Africa AND After Years of Walking
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 8:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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AFTER YEARS OF WALKING
Director: Sarah Vanagt
2003. Rwanda. 36min. French and Kinyarwanda, subtitled
After the genocide of 1994, the Rwandan government temporarily suspended history from the school curriculum. The characters in AFTER YEARS OF WALKING - children, teachers, genocide killers, students and historians - all find themselves in an uncertain zone between the old history and a new one. The filmmaker found a feature film about the history of Rwanda, made in 1959 by Belgian missionaries. She took this film back to Rwanda as an entry point into Rwanda's search for history.
Filmmakers/Distributors Contact Information: Sarah Vanagt (Director)
sarah@vanagt.com
PLAYS WITH I Promise Africa AND Pote Mak Sonje: The Raboteau Trial
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 8:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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I PROMISE AFRICA
Director: Jerry A. Henry
2003. USA. 3min.
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
Tragedy is something the entire world experiences. During the tragedies of 9/11, filmmaker Jerry Henry was in a rural village in Kenya. He illustrates his experiences in his documentary short I PROMISE AFRICA.
PLAYS WITH After Years of Walking AND Pote Mak Sonje: The Raboteau Trial
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 8:30PM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE |
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