Ken Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, was recently in Montreal where he delivered a speech entitled “Reestablishing Canada’s Leadership in Global Human Rights” to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
Video of the speech is available on the CPAC Website and will be broadcast on CPAC this coming Saturday, November 14th at 12:00 noon and repeated on Tuesday, November 17the at 11 am.
Steve Crawshaw, UN Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch will be the featured speaker at the 2009 Autumn John W. Holmes Memorial Lecture at York University’s Glendon College.
Crawshaw joined Human Rights Watch as London Director in 2002, and became the organization’s United Nations advocacy director in 2006. Before joining Human Rights Watch he worked for many years as a journalist with The Independent where he held numerous positions including Germany Bureau Chief, Chief Foreign Correspondent, and Foreign News Editor. Stories he covered included the east European revolutions, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Balkan wars.
He is the author of Goodbye to the USSR (1992) and of Easier Fatherland: Germany and the Twenty-First Century (2004). He is co-author of Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity and a Bit of Ingenuity Can Change the World, to be published in 2010.
The title of Steve’s speech is “Making an Impact: The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in a Changing World.”
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Room 102, Glendon Hall, Glendon College, 2275 Bayview Ave. (Click to link to Google map)
Seating is limited. To RSVP, e-mail events@glendon.yorku.ca or telephone 416-487-6727.
Human Rights Watch co-presents the screening of Under the Bombs, one of a dozen documentary and feature films scheduled for the 2009 International Diaspora Film Festival.
Directed by Philippe Aractingi, Under the Bombs was shot entirely on location amidst the ruins of war-torn Lebanon with real refugees, journalists and soldiers. The story centers on a woman returning to Lebanon to search for her missing son and sister in the rubble of local towns, during a cease-fire in the Lebanon-Israel conflict of 2006.
The film has won multiple awards including, the “Human Rights Film” Award and “Altre Visioni” Award at the 2007 Venice Film Festival; Best Film and Best Actress Awards at the 2007 Dubai Film Festival; Critic’s Award at the 2007 Eurasia Film Festival; “Prix Jury Jeune” at the 2007 Francophone Film Festival; and Best Actress (FIPRESCI) at the 2008 Bratislava Film Festival.
Under the Bombs screens Thursday, November 5th at 9:00 PM at the Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave., Toronto (one block south of Bloor, off St. George St.).
Admission is $10, $8 for students and seniors. For ticket reservation please e-mail: info@diasporafilmfest.com.
Last week, the Adobe Foundation, the Black Eyed Peas and the Entertainment Industry Foundation announced a new partnership to help underserved youth access and learn to use multimedia production tools, including those for video, dance, music and art, to comment on critical issues and spark social change in their communities.
The Adobe Foundation funds the Youth Producing Change program, a partnership of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and Adobe Youth Voices. Past students enrolled in Adobe Youth Voices programs have had their work showcased at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, addressing topics such as domestic violence, drug abuse and migrant labor.
The Black Eyed Peas – will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie – opened the first Peapod Academy, a state-of-the-art music and educational center and recording facility serving foster care youth and other at-risk teens, last year.
“As a group, we’ve made a commitment to help give teens the artistic tools and opportunities to help them realize their fullest potential,” says will.i.am, who grew up in the projects in Boyle Heights, Calif. “Thanks to the incredible generosity of Adobe Youth Voices, we are able to expand our vision and give even more kids a chance to be productive, enterprising adults.”
The sixth annual Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, co-presented with Cinematheque Ontario, opens on February 24 with Amos Gitaï’s Plus tard, tu comprendras (One Day You’ll Understand). Starring Jeanne Moreau, Gitaï’s latest film is an exploration of the Holocaust, memory and loss that makes deep emotional connections.
This year’s festival, continuing through March 5, brings together eight powerful films that address major global issues and show personal struggles against difficult odds.
“This is an exceptional lineup of films that from diverse angles reaffirm the importance of historical memory and recognize the enormous courage of people fighting for justice around the world,” said Helga Stephenson, chairperson of the festival. “The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival continues to be a vital meeting place for Torontonians with an interest in and commitment to human rights.”
The programme includes Malcolm Rogge’s Under Rich Earth, an account of Ecuadorian farmers fighting against the forces of globalization; the Canadian premiere of Jawad Metni’s Remnants of a War, a documentary about leftover cluster-bomb munitions that continue to cause carnage in Lebanon; and Julie Bridgham’s The Sari Soldiers, the story of six women’s efforts to shape Nepal’s future in the violent wake of the royal coup in 2005. These three directors will be at the screenings of their films.
Plus tard, tu comprendras will open the festival, which features strong female characters, such as the grieving mother and the courageous activists in The Sari Soldiers, the anti-heroine who exploits illegal immigrant labourers in Ken Loach’s It’s a Free World…, and the women grappling with recent atrocities in the Balkans in Aida Begi?’s Snow.
Both Lee Isaac Chung’s debut feature, Munyurangabo, a drama about vengeance and redemption in Rwanda, and Patricio Guzmán’s documentary The Battle of Chile, a chronicle of the overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government, compel viewers to engage with issues of historical memory and moral responsibility.
The Opening Reception will be held at McKinsey & Co., 110 Charles Street West, 6 pm on Tuesday, February 24. Tickets are $100. The Closing Reception will take place on Thursday, March 5 at the Moose Factory Gallery, 22 Grange Avenue at 6 pm. Tickets are $30. To purchase tickets for either reception, please call the Human Rights Watch office at 416-322-8448.
The opening-night screening will take place at the Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street West, Toronto at 8:00 pm. All other films will be shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario‘s Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas Street West (McCaul Street entrance). Advance tickets for the sixth Annual Human Rights Watch International Film Festival can be purchased online at cinemathequeontario.ca, by phone at 416-968-FILM (toll-free at 1-877-968-FILM) or in person at the TIFFG Box Office, located at 2 Carlton Street, West Mezzanine level (College subway station). Hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 10 am to 7 pm.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s largest independent research and advocacy organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. It conducts fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in more than 90 countries around the world and publishes those findings in numerous reports each year. By generating press reporting and advocacy, Human Rights Watch seeks to shame abusive governments, change policies and practices, and inform the public about important human rights issues. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Human Rights Watch Canada thanks its supporters McKinsey & Co. Hero Ventures Ltd., Sonia and Arthur Labatt and Deluxe.
The Canada Committee
The Human Rights Watch Canada Committee was formed in 2002 and is part of a network of committees across 13 cities in Europe, Canada and the United States. These committees seek to increase awareness of local and global human rights issues, and enlist the public and influence governments to support basic rights for all. Composed of opinion leaders and activists from a variety of backgrounds, the committee was formed out of the belief that an engaged constituency is essential for the defense of human rights. Canada Committee members are regularly briefed by Human Rights Watch investigators, senior government officials and informed observers. The committee strengthens Human Rights Watch and its global defense of essential liberties by contributing financially, attracting potential supporters and promoting the organization’s message.
Cinematheque Ontario
Cinematheque Ontario is a year-round screening programme dedicated to presenting transformative world cinema through thoughtfully curated retrospectives, filmmaker monographs, and international programme tours. Cinematheque Ontario presents an ambitious selection of more than 300 films annually, including acclaimed directors’ retrospectives, national and regional cinema spotlights, thematic programmes, exclusive limited runs, and classic and contemporary Canadian and international cinema, including many new and rare archival prints.
Cinematheque Ontario thanks its supporters Bell, RBC, Ontario Media Development Corporation, Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto Economic Development Office, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.
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For more information and/or press interviews, please contact:
Cinematheque Ontario/Toronto International Film Festival Group Communications Department:
Tel: 1-416-934-3200
E-mail: proffice@tiffg.ca
Human Rights Watch:
Lija Skobe: 416-322-8448 or skobel@hrw.org
Karin Lippert: 416-923-4707 or klippert26@aol.com
