The Human Rights Watch
Film Festival 2021
May 19 - 27
BAJO FUEGO / UNDER SIEGE
(Sjoerd van Grootheest and Irene Vélez-Torres, Colombia, 2020, 85 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
In November 2016, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the office of President Juan Manuel Santos signed the Colombian peace deal. Many hoped this would mark an end to 52 years of armed conflict. For farmers in the coca-growing region of Cauca however, this “peace” has proven to be short-lived. Bajo Fuego follows “cocaleros” as they mobilize to protect their livelihoods after the government instructs them to destroy their crops as part of the “war on drugs.” As new armed groups arise, the promised peace turns out to be an illusion for these farmers whose lives are threatened and who are displaced from their homes. Bajo Fuego exposes the lived reality behind the politics, that has left many Colombians in a continued state of war.
Saturday, May 22, 8:30pm EDT — Q&A with filmmakers Sjoerd van Grootheest + Irene Vélez-Torres, Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, moderated by Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, Senior Legal Advisor, HRW.
Watch the trailer:
FORGET ME NOT
(Olivier Bernier, USA, 2021, 100 min. In English)
As 3-year-old Emilio is ready to start school, his family finds itself cornered in the United States’ most segregated education system - New York City public schools. Fighting for their son’s right to an inclusive education – where Emilio and other children with disabilities would be taught alongside their classmates without disabilities - film director Olivier and his wife Hilda investigate the personal stories of students and their parents in the US. With children with disabilities worldwide less likely to attend school, these experiences expose just a handful of the widespread injustices currently taking place in the educational system and beyond for kids with disabilities. Forget Me Not reveals a path to a more inclusive society that starts with welcoming diversity in the classroom.
Wednesday, May 19, 8:30pm — Q&A w/ filmmaker Olivier Bernier, Hilda Bernier, Lydia X. Z. Brown, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network & Sue Swenson, Inclusion International. Moderated by Carlos Rios-Espinosa, Disability Rights Division, HRW
