Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383; mleventhal@colum.edu
Chicago, April 2003 --The plight of new immigrants, South Africa after apartheid, medical experimentation at Auschwitz and the death penalty in Illinois are some of the issues examined in documentary works to be presented in the Human Rights Film Festival at Columbia College Chicago, May 5-7. The film festival is part of the college's conference Dignity Without Borders: Art, Media and Human Rights. All events are free and open to the public. For more information call Jeff Spitz at 312-344-6725.
The film festival -- organized by the Michael Rabiger Center for Documentary at Columbia College Chicago -- will open on Monday, May 5 with a preview screening of an episode of The New Americans, an extraordinary new multi-part series for PBS by Kartemquin Films, the producers of Hoop Dreams. The New Americans puts a human face on the harrowing journeys of today's immigrants, revealing human rights abuses and the personal impact of the global economy. A discussion with filmmakers Jerry Blumenthal and Gordon Quinn, humanities scholar Suzanne Gzesh and immigrants featured in the film from the Middle East and Nigeria will follow the screening. The panel discussion will be moderated by filmmaker and Columbia faculty member Russell Porter. The screening and discussion will run from 6--9 p.m. in the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan.
On Tuesday, May 6, from 6--9 p.m. in the Dance Center, the festival will screen three films on forgiveness, reconciliation and healing:
Too Flawed to Fix, by John Lyons and Jackie Rivet River, presents interviews with and commentary by exonerated prisoners from death row, Governor Ryan and families of murder victims. The film exposes human rights violations in Chicago and presents personal stories behind the movement to abolish the death penalty in Illinois.
Forgiving Dr. Mengele, a work in progress by Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh is a shocking biography of Eva Kor, a survivor of Dr. Mengele's gruesome experiments on twins in Auschwitz. A holocaust survivor, Eva Kor is a real estate agent in Indiana who has formed an international organization dedicated to forgiveness, reconciliation and healing
Long Night's Journey Into Day, by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffman, was the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner and focuses on four cases from South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A 20-minute excerpt will be shown.
Screenings will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Jeff Spitz. Panelists include: John Lyons, Jackie Rivet River, Mary Paige, Director of Global Challenges MacArthur Foundation, Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins founder of Murder Victims' Families an organization providing counseling to families of murder victims, Eva Kor, Bob Hercules and Aaron Patterson, a recently exonerated death row prisoner.
"Big Issues/Short Films" will wrap up the festival on Wednesday, May 7, 6--9 p.m., 1104 S. Wabash, room 302. The evening will include excerpts from student and faculty work, followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers. Films to be shown include: The End of the Nightstick by Peter Kuttner, Eric Scholl and Cyndi Moran; One More Mile: A Dialogue on Nation-Building by Ted Hardin; A Generation Between by Michael Caplan; What A System (Music Video) by C.A. Griffith, H.L.T Quan and Jeff Spitz; The Robben Island Singers (work-in-progress) by Jeff Spitz and Mickey Madoda Dube; What if I Were to Remain Here? By CA Griffith and H.L.T Quan; Everybody Dies In It by Gabriel Feij; Alice In Warland by Gabriel Feij; Imaginary Landscape No. 11 by J. Reynaldo Roman; Apathetic America by Jerry Tran; and Michael Ryan by Mario Carrasco.
"We hope Dignity Without Borders will function as a catalyst to bring the human rights stakeholders together, explore and examine terms, goals, mutual interests," says Rose Economou, conference coordinator and professor of journalism at Columbia. "We intend to provide a forum for networking between scholars, educators, artists, media makers, social justice activists and other interested audiences -- thereby stimulating ideas that will move forward beyond the scope of the conference and develop collaborations and partnerships that will address the issues of human rights on a global level.
"Dignity Without Borders is being organized in partnership with educators, humanists, students from Columbia College Chicago and other educational institutions, representatives from local and national human rights organizations, artists, journalists, documentary filmmakers, community leaders and victims of human rights abuse. It will include community forums, workshops for educators, film and video screenings, exhibitions, and performances and address three main themes: Crimes Against Humanity; Violence Against Women & Children; State & Corporate Abuse; and Religious, Racial, Ethnic and Gender Intolerance."
Dignity Without Borders is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation with grants from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly and the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.
For more information and schedule updates on Dignity Without Borders visit http://humanrights.colum.edu or contact: Rose Economou at (312) 344-7675.