About Us
Human Rights Film Night
Thursday 22 September, 8.30pm
Including premiere of Hamedullah: the Road Home plus a Q&A chaired by Geoff Andrew
Amnesty International, Hampstead, present a showcase of short films on human rights issues, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Featuring animation, documentary, and fiction, the showcase offers a global portrait of human rights issues related to Amnesty’s campaigns, including refugees and asylum, women’s human rights, and prisoners of conscience.
Lenny Henry, actor and comedian famous for everything from Othello to Comic Relief Does Kibera, will introduce the event.
The Q&A after the screening will be hosted by Geoff Andrew, Head of Film Programme, BFI Southbank, and consultant editor at Time Out.
Confirmed speakers include acclaimed writer/director Sue Clayton (director of Hamedullah: the Road Home, many C4 documentaries and dramas and the feature film The Disappearance of Finbar) and the director Afarin Eghbal and screenwriter Francesca Gardiner who created Abuelas and Tim Travers Hawkins, director of 1000 Voices.
Tickets: £9.50
Profits will go to Amnesty International.
Suitable for age 15+
Full Programme
Abuelas 2011/ UK / 9 mins/ Dir. Afarin Eghbal
Inventive animation is blended with real-life testimony in this tale about a would-be grandmother whose family life is disrupted by violent events during the 1976–83 dictatorship in Argentina, highlighting issues of political repression, disappearance and justice that are still relevant today. Iranian-born filmmaker Afarin Eghbal has won a number of awards for her work, including Overall Winner in 2007 at the prestigious Kodak Commercial Awards. A collaboration with screenwriter Francesca Gardiner, Abuelas was Afarin’s graduation film at the National Film and Television School.
Hamedullah: the Road Home 2011/ UK / 22 mins/ Dir. Sue Clayton
Sue Clayton, whose other directorial credits include the feature film The Disappearance of Finbar, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, will be present at this première of her new film. Every year, around 3000 lone children come to the UK from war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. As soon as they turn 18 they’re arrested by the Home Office in brutal dawn raids, to be sent back on secret ‘ghost flights’ to the war zones they fled as children. No-one tracks them or is allowed to… until now. In Hamedullah: the Road Home a deported teenage Afghan refugee tells his uniquely personal story – his hopes and fears, and his battles to survive – in a video diary developed with Sue Clayton. A bold, original documentary that, in many ways, stands as a companion piece to Michael Winterbottom’s In this World.
1000 Voices 2009/ UK / 9 mins / Dir. Tim Travers Hawkins
Powerful animation featuring the voice-messages of detained asylum seekers. 1000 Voices has won several awards, including Silver Dragon for Best Animated Film at the 2010 Krakow Film Festival and STEPS Human Rights Film Award for Best Animation in 2009.
Sudanese Trouser Woman 2010/ Sudan/ 5 mins/ Dir. Mia Bittar
Thought-provoking documentary about dress code and women’s rights in Sudan. Khartoum-based filmmaker Mia Bittar was nominated for the 2010 Concentra Award for outstanding video-journalism for this film.
Deafness 2010/ Ukraine / 10 mins/ Dir. Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
A policeman pursues an enquiry. Docudrama with a twist, gesturing to wider state oppression. Nominated for the Golden Bear for best short film at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.
The Accordion 2010/ Iran/ 9 mins/ Dir. Jafar Panahi
Two child street musicians find their livelihood threatened when their accordion is taken away by force, but resolve their situation in a novel way. An uplifting tale steeped with many meanings from Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Internationally acclaimed for feature films such as The Circle (winner of the Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival) and Offside, Panahi has recently been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Iranian regime and banned from making films for 20 years.