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  • Now in its 26th edition, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will take place in New York City from June 11 to 21, with 16 films from around the world that celebrate the power of individuals and communities to create change. The festival, co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFC Center, is organized around three themes: Art Versus Oppression, Changemakers and Justice and Peace. Special programs include a discussion on the ethics of image-making in documenting human rights abuses, a master class on international crisis reporting and digital storytelling, and a multimedia project on women activists of the Arab Spring.

    The festival kicks off on June 11 with a fundraising Benefit Night for Human Rights Watch, which includes a screening of Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land, which exposes two vigilante movements that have arisen from Mexico’s drug war. Opening Night on June 12 features Marc Silver’s 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, about the 2012 shooting of a black teenager, Jordan Davis, at a Florida gas station and the trial of his killer, Michael Dunn. On the festival’s Closing Night, Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution will screen; the renowned documentarian’s history of the Black Panther Party contains rare archival footage, from the party’s beginnings to its ultimate dissolution. The directors of these and other films will be on hand for post-screening discussions.

    No Land's Song

    No Land’s Song

    Other films to be shown include Ayat Najafi’s No Land’s Song (Art Versus Oppression), which follows composer Sara Najafi (the director’s sister) as she struggles to organize a public concert in Tehran featuring solo female vocalists. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the prospective audience were all women or the performers only sang backup. However, according to a religious scholar Sara consults, a woman’s solo voice might change a man’s “natural mood,” which is unacceptable. (Interestingly, three women singing together would be less problematic as their voices “neutralize” each other.) Complicating things further, Sara has invited several French musicians and vocalists specializing in Persian music to take part in the concert.

    Sara makes a series of visits to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance’s Music Department, where we hear a succession of authorities discouraging her plans (these scenes are audio only as video was not allowed). She is in frequent contact with the French musicians through Skype and travels to Paris, where they discuss details such as how much movement the percussionist should display while performing. She also talks to men in the street in Tehran who reminisce about bars, cabarets and theaters that thrived in the once cosmopolitan city, and their memories of seeing popular performers such as the diva Delkash in the 1950s. Najafi includes videos of both Delkash and pioneering 1920s vocalist Qamar-ol-Molouk Vaziri, reminders of Iran’s rich history of beloved female singers, prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Unsurprisingly, the best part of the film is the actual music, both popular Persian songs of various eras and Sara’s beautiful compositions, as performed by her contemporary group of Iranian and French musicians. The vocalists – fellow composer Sayeh Sodeyfi, the incredible Parvin Namazi (who moves a musician to tears at one point), and young Tunisian Emel Mathlouthi (whose impromptu singing during demonstrations against President Ben Ali’s regime went viral on YouTube) are all fantastic musicians with distinctive voices and styles.

    Various roadblocks, including Iran’s 2013 presidential election and the ministry’s refusal to grant the French work visas, impede Sara’s plans but she gamely persists. The concert that ultimately takes place is a triumph, both musically and — more importantly — culturally. The festival is presenting Ayat Najafi with its 2015 Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking.

    Life Is Sacred

    Life Is Sacred

    Andreas Dalsgaard’s Life Is Sacred, an entry in the Changemakers category, is a fascinating look at how nonconformist presidential candidate Antanas Mockus altered Colombia’s approach to its longstanding war with the FARC (guerilla movement) and other violence-related issues. Narrated by Katherine Miranda, a youth leader in the country’s Green Party, the film is a portrait of the former philosopher and college dean who gained enormous support for his “zero aggression” approach to the country’s cycle of drugs, violence and corruption. As the mayor of Bogotá, his anti-establishment methods included sending police to college, dissolving the notoriously corrupt traffic police and replacing them with mimes (!), and administering an “anti-violence vaccine.”

    While perhaps idealistic in the extreme, Mockus represented a refreshing change from the ineffective strong-arm tactics of his predecessors. Part one of the film (“Hope”) shows the lead-up to Colombia’s 2010 presidential election, as the soft-spoken Mockus inspires Colombians of various backgrounds while his opposition, current president Juan Manuel Santos, uses questionable methods to gain an advantage. Part two (“Peace”) of the film portrays the election’s aftermath, as Mockus’ supporters become frustrated with his refusal to challenge its outcome and another leader takes up leadership of the Green Party. We meet Mockus’s influential sculptor mother, who adds an interesting dimension to the portrait of this unusual man, and learn of a personal setback involving health, which has a major effect on his future plans.

    The film is not only a great portrait of a unique individual and leader, but a compelling glimpse into Colombian society and political culture, a plus for those (most of us) who are mainly aware of other countries’ cultural and political issues through headlines that are all too black and white.

    For more info: ff.hrw.org/new-york

    Marina Zogbi

  • SummerStage3. SummerStage
    May 18 – September 24
    Rumsey Playfield

    Musically, Central Park is usually just buskers and that one guy playing music obnoxiously loud from his phone. Except in the summer. During the warm months, the Park hosts SummerStage, an outdoor festival of almost entirely free shows. Like Celebrate Brooklyn, the series includes the odd benefit concert, for which admission is charged, but the majority of the line up is free. Everyone loves free concerts. Plus, even when admission is charged the money made helps fund SummerStage, so the proceeds still go to a good cause.

    Each year the SummerStage concerts are held at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, which can be best accessed by entering the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue. Seating (e.g. bleachers) isn’t always available and space is limited, so come prepared and probably early. On weekdays, doors are an hour before the show and on weekends are an hour and a half. If you don’t get a good spot or arrive after capacity is reached, there always plenty of green space around the venue to sit on and listen.

    Alcohol is not permitted, but food/drink will be available from Pizza Moto, Asia Dog, Blue Marble, Lonestar Empire, and many more vendors. Professional cameras (SLRs) are also not allowed, but there’s always your phone? So settle in with an Ommegang and snapchat your friends from #Summerstage.

    Of all this season’s shows some of the stand-outs are:
    6/6: Blue Note Jazz Festival (2:00 PM)
    6/17: Lindsey Stirling (7:00 PM)
    6/29: Ingrid Michaelson with Jukebox the Ghost and Secret Someones (5:00 PM)
    7/15: NPR and WNYC’s Ask Me Another: Celebrating 30 Years of SummerStage (6:00 PM)
    7/20: Guster with Kishi Bashi (6:00 PM)
    7/28: Rise Against with Killswitch Engage and Letlive (5:00 PM)
    7/31: Smorgasburg (5:00 PM) [ok…not a concert, but still a stand-out]
    8/5: Father John Misty with Angel Olsen and Summer Moon (5:00 PM)
    9/24: Walk the Moon (6:00 PM)
    north

    4. Northside Festival
    June 11 – June 14
    Multiple Locations

    Many shows and concert series have gone the way of SXSW in that they’re no longer about JUST the music. Apart from live shows, many now include things like documentary screenings, panels, art exhibitions and other elements. Brooklyn’s Northside Festival is no exception. Billed as a stage for “artists and thought-leaders”, the festival has three sections: Film (June 8-10), Innovation (June 11-12) and Music (June 11-14).

    Adopting the CMJ format of spreading the shows out all over the city (or rather the borough), Northside is scattering a weekends worth of shows over two dozen venues during the Music segment. Northside will bring a slew of bands to every stage you have and haven’t heard of in north Brooklyn. From the Music Hall of Williamsburg to The Knitting Factory to Union Pool to Baby’s All Right to McCarren Park, the festival will populate Brooklyn’s music scene in mid-June. The line-up includes showcases by Pancakes & Whiskey, Pitchfork, Audiofemme and Exploding in Sound as well as several others.

    Admission for the shows range from free to ~$10-$30 depending on the act. Badges are available for Music, Innovation, Film, and the entirety of Northside for up to $315. Whether you spring for the Premium badge or only stop by a few shows make sure the following make your list:

    Thursday: Teen, Guerilla Toss
    Friday: Vomitface, Whiskey Bitches
    Saturday: Against Me!, Blonde Redhead, City Walls Autumn Falls, Xui Xiu
    Sunday: Sleigh Bells, Animal Years

     

    -Zoe Marquedant