Life, Above All (Chanda's Secret) is one of the many films to be seen at the FestivalThe Human Rights Watch Film Festival is returning to London! From the 23rd of March until the 1st of April human rights lovers will have the opportunity to see a wide variety of films. Human Rights Watch have chosen 16 documentaries and 5 drama films from around the world, including: Pushing the Elephant which follows refugee campaigner Rose Mapendo’s reunion with the daughter she was separated from during the 1998 conflict in DRC; Illegal, a drama based on a true story that exposes the harsh reality of those detained in Belgium's immigration detention centres; and Familia a documentary that sensitively observes one woman’s decision to leave her family in Peru to work as a hotel maid in Spain. For more information on the films and to download the film festival programme, please visit Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2011.

The Festival opens at the Curzon Soho with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy-Award nominated Incendies, and continues at the Curzon, ICA and Ritzy cinema. Most viewings will be attended by filmmakers and film subjects and after the film you will be able to ask questions about the film or the human rights situation in the featured country.

For the first time this year, Human Rights Watch will also be hosting the third instalment of their celebrated program of short films by young filmmakers from around the world, including two films – Migration and Kamran’s Story – telling powerful personal stories of the impact of migration and seeking asylum. You can find out more on the page of Youth Producing Change. 

If you decide to go, enjoy and we might see you there!

By Elisabeth Koek