human_rights

human rights


The following films from the multiple Media That Matters Film Festival collections explore the issue of human rights. For even more films on this issue, visit MediaRights.org.

(Hate) Machine


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

A Loud Color


Official selection of the Eighth Annual Festival

A Nomad’s Life


Official selection of the Eighth Annual Festival

Ashray


Official selection of the Seventh Annual Festival

CopWatch


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Denied

Julie Winokur
Filmmaker
Julie Winokur

When I met Sheila Wessenberg, she was living the American nightmare.

She had a potentially fatal illness, but because she was uninsured her life seemed expendable.

She said to me, “There is no reason why anyone should be shoved into homelessness and helplessness just to live.” She was referring to the fact that she could only get publicly funded health care if she gave up her home and her car. In the meantime, her doctor had abandoned her and she had already gone seven months with no chemotherapy.

I was so horrified by the real-life cost of poor public policy that I became obsessed with all the ‘Sheilas’ whose lives were on the line. I realized Sheila could be any one of us—could even be me. I wanted to shout from the highest rafter that she was being dealt one of the greatest injustices I had witnessed in the 20 years I’d been a journalist. 

We first published Shelia’s story in The New York Times Magazine. Readers were so shocked by her suffering that they donated over $50,000 in order to help the family stay afloat. Next, we published Sheila’s story in a book and exhibition called Denied, which was shared on Capitol Hill and toured to state capitols across the country.

But our work wasn’t done because U.S. health care policy hadn’t budged an inch. We decided we had to tell Sheila’s story in film so even more people could see the shocking truth. Considering the raging debate on health care reform in Washington now, inclusion in the Media That Matters Film Festival couldn’t be more relevant or more urgent.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

Exiled in America


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

Fast and Reliable


Official selection of the Fifth Annual Festival

Hammoudi


Official selection of the Eighth Annual Festival

Holla Back Dubai!


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Homecoming


Official selection of the Fifth Annual Festival

I Am Sean Bell

Stacey Muhammad
Filmmaker Stacey Muhammad

I’ve loved film for as long as I can remember. Initially, screenwriting was my interest; however, I wanted to see my ideas come to life beyond the writing. This led to a desire to acquire the skills needed to actually produce my own projects. So, I embarked upon the journey of studying and learning as much about the filmmaking process as I possibly could by attending film school, workshops, and anything else I could find.

First and foremost, I consider myself an activist, so I’m drawn to human issues and subjects that enlighten and uplift humanity while challenging us to examine our ideals and issues on this planet. I’ve always been drawn to documentary filmmaking, particularly as an activist. It’s a powerful way to communicate with an audience.
When I chose to do the Sean Bell film, I was extremely disturbed by the verdict and wanted to hear from the children, particularly young black boys, about their thoughts, fears and concerns regarding violence against black men. Most of the topics that interest me are those that give a voice to those often unheard populations of people, who indeed have stories to tell and victories to celebrate.

One thing that I’ve learned is that life is what it is—meaning, everything we do and experience is connected. Often, we try to compartmentalize our lives and deal with different aspects of our experience (be it our personal lives, our career, etc.). Filmmaking, for me, is a spiritual process and journey. I’ve been prepared through life experiences, for each and every topic I choose to explore.

So, my advice to any aspiring filmmaker would be to live your life with integrity, take care of yourself, learn as much about your craft as possible, commit to creating the life you desire and expect the universe to grant you everything you ask.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

I Promise Africa


Official selection of the Fourth Annual Festival

I’m Not a Boy


Official selection of the Seventh Annual Festival

Immersion


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

In the Morning


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

In Transit


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

Isa’s Final Draft

Global Action Project
Global Action Project

The Youth Breaking Borders producers chose to focus on this issue because it directly impacts the majority of the group as well as many youth in the Immigrant community. By choosing to focus on the personal journey of a young undocumented woman, the youth producers highlighted both the interpersonal (an immigrant parent who doesn’t understand the institutional challenges that their child face) and institutional (the young person’s struggles with a system that blocks her from rights to an education) challenges that disempower their community. The filmmakers wanted to portray these struggles but also shed light on how the road to organizing starts with personal empowerment.


Official selection of the Media That Matters 11

iThemba


Official selection of the Fourth Annual Festival

Justice Denied: Voices from Guantánamo

Joel Engardio
Filmmaker Joel Engardio

The American Civil Liberties Union wanted to use audio recordings to preserve the testimonials of five former Guantánamo detainees who had been held and released by the Bush administration without charge. I suggested that it would be more powerful to interview the men on video and produce a short film that wove their stories together into one narrative arch. This was a more accessible and compelling way to share the experiences with a wide audience.

Former Guantánamo detainees are usually painted as one-dimensional caricatures and we rarely get to know them as people. What were their lives like before Guantánamo? What are they doing now to start over? What are their hopes, dreams and fears? What kinds of personalities do they have? By using video and the art of story telling, I hope viewers might have more reason to care about the important issues that surround indefinite detention once they realize what they have in common with the subjects of the film as fellow human beings.

I used sparse narration and avoided talking head commentary by lawyers and advocates. I felt it would be more effective to simply let the men speak for themselves. The purpose of the video was to provide an emotional connection to the issues by focusing only on the personal stories of the men involved. A web link appears at the end of the film for inspired audiences who want to investigate and learn more about things like rule of law and how to stay both safe and free in a troubled world.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

Laptop


Official selection of the Fifth Annual Festival

Locusts


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

Looking Back


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

Luv Me Latex


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Night Visions


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

No One Bothered

Josephine Boxwell
Filmmaker
Josephine Boxwell

Claire, an ex-police officer, and her partner Darren take us on a journey through some of the places they have called home—a rubbish bin fort, a parkland, public toilets, to name a few.

The couple lives in Bournemouth, England. When they first arrived in the seaside town, they begged for money in order to buy food. Eventually they became registered Big Issue magazine vendors. The Big Issue Foundation is an initiative that gives homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to make a living by selling magazines to passersby. For Darren and Claire, selling The Big Issue is a step up from begging, but not a step away from the dangers and prejudices that come with being on the street. 

This short intends to illustrate that none of us are impervious to misfortune or mistakes; all of us are only a few steps away from the street. No One Bothered reminds us that even in societies where social security exists, many are left behind.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

Permission


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

Power Up


Official selection of the Seventh Annual Festival

Rebel


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Recycle


Official selection of the Sixth Annual Festival

Shades of the Border

Julie Winokur
Filmmaker Patrick Smith

The racial issues that exist on the island of Hispaniola can hardly be described as “black and white.” Perceptions of race among Haitians and Dominicans have been evolving (or devolving) over several centuries of political, military, and social unrest, and can’t be consolidated into a brief explanation or short documentary. Thus, as a filmmaker from the United States, the intention for the film was not to create all-encompassing viewpoints, both Haitian and Dominican.

The initial idea for the documentary came from the story of an Austin woman who was unable to adopt two abandoned, Dominican-born, black children because their skin color (and lack of documentation) prevented them from getting Dominican citizenship. After some research, it was clear that this wasn’t an isolated incident, but that millions had been denied citizenship (and thus certain human rights), based on how “Haitian” they appeared to be and not based on where they were born.

Faced with the economic burden of providing for an entire population of illegal Haitians crossing the Dominican border, compacted by an already poverty-stricken population of Dominicans, the Dominican Republic strains to find a solution that isn’t “color-based.” Sadly, the peripheral effects of this issue are much more severe, often leading to violence, destruction of homes, inaccessible education, abusive working conditions, and the list goes on.

Shades of the Border explores a commonly-held notion from the Dominican media that race does not lay a role in the conflict, contrasted with an almost completely-inverse working-class opinion that the shade of someone’s skin on the island of Hispaniola speaks volumes about the individual.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

Silence Speaks


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Still Standing


Official selection of the Seventh Annual Festival

Storm


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

System Failure


Official selection of the Fifth Annual Festival

The Apollos


Official selection of the Seventh Annual Festival

The Countdown


Official selection of the Eighth Annual Festival

The Last Town

Yan Chun Su
Filmmaker Yan Chun Su

In order to complete the Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric project in China, a total of sixteen historical towns, some with more than 2000 years of history had to be flooded. Kai Xian was the last of the 16 towns. Filmed in Kai Xian shortly before the final relocation, The Last Town is a portrait of the town and its residents as they ready (or not) themselves for the big move.

Facing widespread land disputes and unfair relocation assignment, many of the unprivileged residents had to deal with the hardship of not only leaving their homeland behind, but also how to make a decent living afterward. Dust-filled streets and crumbled houses provided the backdrop for stories of ordinary residents dealing with the uncertainty ahead.

I felt compelled to see what old Kai Xian looked like after I found out it was the last old town to be flooded for the Three Gorges Dam Project. What I saw was quite surreal. People burning door frames, window frames on the street, metal salvagers picking on piles of rubble, and the almost eerie contrast between ordinary, everyday activities and the fact that people there were going through a historical time—they were the witnesses and also part of a town’s more than one thousand years of history about to be flooded forever.

The residents still struggling to make the move discovered me very quickly on the street and I was able to record this small glimpse of their lives. It is hopeful that by having their voices recorded, their stories and situations could weigh in on future developments with such profound human impacts.
Old Kai Xian town was completely flooded in 2009. Corruption is still widespread.

Many people are struggling in the new city. In order to rake in as much profit as possible, contractors appointed by local government constructed sub-standard housing and immigrants with little financial and political backing were more likely to be assigned to live in those buildings. 


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

The Next Wave


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

Uninsured in the Mississippi Delta

Katie Falkenberg
Filmmaker
Katie Falkenberg

At a time when the health care debate is at the forefront of the political agenda, Uninsured in the Mississippi Delta puts a human face on the struggles of the 46 million Americans surviving without health care.

The Mississippi Delta is one of the most impoverished and uninsured regions of the United States. The area also has soaring rates for diabetes, hypertension and stroke, and some of the highest mortality rates and lowest birth rates in the nation. The town of Greenville, Mississippi, in the heart of the Delta, has, on a per-capita basis, the highest number of uninsured households in the country. Contributing factors to this statistic include high unemployment rates, poverty,  business owners who cannot afford health insurance for their workers, and agricultural jobs that are often only seasonal. Those who have jobs that pay minimum wage cannot afford health insurance on their own.

Howard Moncrief and Edward Smith are among those living in the Delta struggling without health insurance. Both of these men, putting the needs of their children and families before their own, have gone without vital health care and medicines. They simply could not afford them.

Inspiration
I had been following the debate on the health care bill in Congress, and was moved by the stories I had heard from those who were struggling without insurance while working on a photo and video project about a Remote Area Medical (RAM) free health care clinic in Appalachia the year before. I knew that this year, with the health care issue being at the forefront of this administration’s agenda, I wanted to tell another story to put a human face with the statistics being talked about so frequently in the Capitol and on the news.

When I heard that 34% of the households in the impoverished Delta town of Greenville, Mississippi were living without health insurance, I knew that this was a story that needed to be told. As I began researching the story, I learned that the problem wasn’t just concentrated in Greenville; it extended throughout the entire Mississippi Delta region into the rural areas where poverty was rampant and there were few jobs.

Many of the folks who are patients at the two health care clinics I spent time in for this film—the Good Samaritan Health Clinic in Greenville, and the Tutwiler Clinic in Tutwiler—would go without the most basic and vital care if these clinics did not exist. This was a driving force behind my inspiration for this film: that, because of the cost of health care and insurance, people would have to go without the care they desperately need, were it not for these clinics.

Furthermore, it is not only the people in the Delta; it is the 46 million other Americans throughout the country.


Official selection of the Tenth Annual Media That Matters

Vision Test


Official selection of the Third Annual Festival

Will I Be Next?


Official selection of the Ninth Annual Festival

World On Fire


Official selection of the Fifth Annual Festival

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