Not Held at Japan Society – HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – Living Rights

June 10 – 23

Duco Tellegen
Japan/Kenya/Belarus
2004, 83m, 35mm, doc
http://hrw.org/iff/2005/ny/films.html#living_rights 

Filmmaker Duco Tellegen (whose Behind Closed Eyes featured in the 2002 HRWIFF) has made a career of exploring the rich psychological terrain of children and young adults in critical moments of change. In Living Rights, his emotionally powerful and visually striking new film, Tellegen explores dilemmas facing three young people on three different continents. His remarkable ability to relate to these youths is evident as their lives unfold before our eyes.

YOSHI tells the story of sixteen-year-old Yoshinori who has Asperger’s Syndrome—a form of autism exposed in Mark Haddon’s extraordinary novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Yoshi’s dream is to attend a regular Japanese high school. With humor, wit, and creativity Yoshi makes a strong case for all of us to believe he should.

TOTI is a Maasai girl of fourteen. When she was eleven, her mother told her that she would be married off. The cattle her family would receive from her marriage were badly needed for the family to survive. Toti decided to run away, so her twin sister was married off in her place. Three years later, Toti tries to reconnect with her sister and family.

Eleven-year-old LENA lives with her foster mother Galah in a village near the nuclear reactor of Chernobyl. Lena’s biological mother lives in Minsk, where radioactivity readings are much lower. She is unable to take care of Lena who is exhibiting health problems, and hopes Lena will choose to go live with an Italian family that has offered to adopt her. Pulling Lena the other way is Galah, who hopes Lena will choose to stay with her.

Co-presented by UNICEF 

Full schedule www.hrw.org/iff  
Ticket info; Box office (212) 875-5600 or www.filmlinc.com