Human Rights Watch Film Festival
HRWFF Review: Judges Under Pressure
The Brexit referendum demonstrated just how little most British people know about the European Union and the power of nationalistic and populist right-wing politics. However, it’s far from perfect and the institution is well overdue widespread reform. The addition of new members from the former Eastern Bloc and Baltic states added several new challenges which …
HRWFF Review: On the Divide
I can’t be the only one who watches the news coming out of the Southern American States with increasing horror. Slowly but surely, it seems every single law that promotes tolerance, diversity and inclusion is being stripped back. Particularly those focusing on gender equality and LGBTQI+ rights. With loud conservative and Christian voices coming to …
HRWFF Review: A Thousand Cuts
During his election campaign to become President of the Philippines in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte promised to eradicate the drug problem in the country. As mayor of Davao, he removed crime from the streets by employing death squads to murder drug users, petty criminals and the homeless. Since his election to the top job, he’s been …
HRWFF Review: Belly of the Beast
2020 was a busy year for news, but one of the biggest talking points was the death of George Floyd (one of many) and the Black Lives Matter protests. The USA has a serious problem with institutional racism which impacts on every aspect of life. The criminal justice and prisons systems are no exceptions. Indeed, …
HRWFF Review: A La Calle
the spectre of Hugo Chavez looms large over Venezuelan society, years after his death. His movement gained huge popularity and he became an almost messianic figure, in and outside of the country. At one time ‘Chavismo’, a mix of left-wing populism and social reform, was a potential competitor to capitalism. However, any improvements often came …
HRWFF Review: The 8th
Whilst many people in the UK might look on at Ireland with a little jealousy at the moment, the Emerald Isle is by no means perfect. The country is progressive in many ways but, largely due to Roman Catholicism still being the predominant religion, has been often backward in many areas of social policy. Contraception …
Human Right Watch Film Festival Review: Saf
There’s a worrying modern phenomenon which is sweeping through cities around the world. In generations past, the rich had moved to the suburbs leaving the poor to live in fairly desolate urban areas. Now that trend is reversing with vast swathes of inner-cities being gentrified and turned into building sites. The poor are once again …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: The Feeling of Being Watched
America, the land of the free, has been a racist and intolerant country from its very inception. One which has thrived and prospered from spilling the blood of others. One which attempted to wipe out its own indigenous population and enslaved many others. Whilst the great USA claims to be a cultural melting pot, that …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: Screwdriver
It has been a theme, throughout history, that the oppressed often look for champions whom they can rally around. Fairly normal people can be elevated into god-like figures as long as it serves the wider cause. We’ve seen a resurgence of martyrdom across the Middle-East, but this doesn’t always end in death. The imprisonment and …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: Minding the Gap
Today, America finds itself in a strange position as a country riven by conflict. Whilst Donald Trump’s politics and persona are well and truly hideous, his success has highlighted the large minority of society who feel ignored, betrayed and unrepresented by the political elite. There are few areas where this economic and social decline has …