Inaugural Film Festival Turns College Attention to Human Rights

Author: Caroline Stauffer

A South American dictator, prostitution in southeast Asia, a Civil Rights activist, and Henry Kissinger. While this may appear to be a random collection of topics and personalities, they are all applicable to the subject of human rights.
Last week, Middlebury College hosted its first-ever Human Rights film festival, an initiative spearheaded by Juan PeÒa '03.
"I guess I became interested in the event because I feel that lectures are convincing, but there is nothing like hearing victims tell their own stories," PeÒa said.
"It is so much stronger to watch these victims talk about how they have been disenfranchised in one way or another. Sometimes when you are stuck in the Middlebury bubble, one forgets these things are actually happening," he continued.
Six films - "The Pinochet Case," "The Perfumed Garden," "Live Nude Girls UNITE!," "Sacrifice, Samsarya, and Satya," "Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker," "Gacarai: Living Together in Rwanda" and "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" - were shown during the week-long festival.
In choosing the films, PeÒa first found out which films were playing at major cities in the Human Rights Film Festival Circuit. He then asked organizations such as the African American Alliance (AAA,) Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (moqa), PALANA and Amnesty International for suggestions.
"I definitely wanted a variety of topics covered and I think that was accomplished," PeÒa said.
According to PeÒa, the "Pinochet Case" and "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" were the best-attended films.
The festival kicked off on Sunday with "The Pinochet Case," an award-winning film by Patricio Guzm·n in Warner Hemicycle. A reception followed the screening.
The two-hour documentary featured interviews with Chilean citizens who had been tortured under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet during the 1970s and 1980s. Spanish lawyer Carlos Castresana's attempts to arrest Pinochet and his ultimate loss of immunity under the Chilean court were also documented.
All three segments of relief worker and filmmaker Ellen Bruno's trilogy on southeast Asia, "Sacrifice, Samsara and Satya," played in Bicentennial Hall Wednesday evening.
On Thursday, the festival switched to the United States in the 1960s with Joanne Grant's "Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker." The film highlights Baker's role in the American civil rights movement.
"I was disappointed that more people didn't come for the story of Ella Baker because it was truly a beautiful film that is very poignant in light of the current affirmative action debates," PeÒa said.
Anne Aghion's documentary: "Gacarai, Living Together in Rwanda?" was featured on Friday and the festival closed Saturday evening with "The Trials of Henry Kissinger."
Produced by filmmakers Alex Gibney and Eugene Jarecki, the film probes into the actions and psychology of Henry Kissinger. Kissinger served as secretary of state under the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
"'The Trials of Henry Kissinger' was a good closing film because it covered so many topics: the Vietnam War, unlawful bombing of Cambodia, the United States' role in the overthrow of [Salvador] Allende which led to the Pinochet dictatorship that lasted 17 years," PeÒa said.
Cook Commons, Amnesty International, AAA, Women's and Gender Studies, Feminist Action at Middlebury and PALANA sponsored the event. The organizations donated the time and funding necessary to make the event happen, according to PeÒa. "More than 100 students, faculty, staff and Middlebury community attended at least one film," he said.
"The Human Rights Film Festival was a great project because it brought to light a number of issues that many people simply didn't know existed," J.S. Woodward '06 said. "We are often blinded to the great suffering that yet exists in the world by our fast-paced lives. This was a great wake up call and will hopefully mobilize people to act."
Cook Commons has been involved in other Human Rights events on campus this year, such as the Human Rights Symposium PeÒa organized in the fall.
In addition to organizing the symposium, PeÒa has been involved with Amnesty International since arriving at Middlebury and also organized the Middle East Discussion his sophomore year.
PeÒa hopes the festival will become a yearly event at the College. Senior Rowena Barrett helped in the organization of the event, while several underclassmen helped PeÒa with posters and choosing the films and have expressed an interest in keeping the film festival alive.
Indeed, Woodward and Elizabeth Schaumberg '06 plan to continue human rights activism on campus. Schaumberg helped in the organization of the symposium along with Barrett.
"The Film Festival, as well as the Human Rights Symposium, will continue with strong backing from many of Middlebury's campus organizations," Woodward said.