The year that I went to The Flaherty Seminar, it was programmed by John Gianvito. The theme was “Witnessing the World” and Gianvito was described to me as a programmer interested in social documentary and political action. Indeed, with filmmaker guests like Avi Mograbi (Israel), Franny Armstrong (UK), Paul Chan (USA), Peter Wintonick (Canada) and Tsuchimoto Noriaki (Japan), the line-up was heavy on human rights, politics and the environment. What I remember most about the experience was at some point through the week of intense screenings and discussions, seriously reconsidering if film could make any change in the world. After all Tsuchimoto was documenting the Minimata mercury disaster in the 60s and to watch Armstrong’s Drowned Out about dam construction in India, it was clear that governments still hold economic and corporate interests over the lives and health of citizens. If those images of suffering children in Japan couldn’t make change, what could? It was depressing.

But, good programming means taking your flock on a journey. So, as difficult as the issues we were confronting were and are, Gianvito had some hope to share with us. We watched some WITNESS films that included the work of Joey R.B. Lozano. He was a journalist and WITNESS partner (and board member) in the Philippines, where he covered indigenous rights and the environment, which nearly cost him his life on many occasions. In the film we watched, we see Joey training villagers how to use their video cameras to document when the overlords came to brutalize them to silence their land rights claims. While training them, an attack happens and while Joey survived, a villager was not so lucky. He died right in front of the camera. It was a profoundly sad story.

Sami Al-Arian was a tenured professor at the University of South Florida. His family immigrated to the US after the 1948 expulsion of Palestinians from Israel. Al-Arian was 17 years old when he began his life in the United States. During his adult life, he remained concerned about the fate of Palestinians and was an activist on behalf of his homeland. Using the Patriot Act, the US government listed many foundations, activist organizations and nonprofits working on behalf of Palestinians as terrorist organizations. The government then used Al-Arian’s association with some of these groups as the basis for prosecuting him. And though he was found not guilty by a jury, the judge in the case took the unusual step of overriding the jury’s decision and keeping him in prison. His and his family’s story is recounted in USA vs. Al-Arian by Line Halvorsen.

Steve Kurtz awoke to find his wife of 20 years, Hope, dead beside him. He called an ambulance in an attempt to save her, but when the paramedics arrived, they saw scientific implements that worried them. Not understanding what they were seeing or why it would be in a private home, they called in the haz mat team and FBI to investigate potential bioterrorism. Kurtz is, in fact, an artist whose work examines genetically modified foods and demystifying germ warfare. His work has been exhibited at venerated institutions such as Mass MoCA and the Corcoran Gallery in DC. And while all evidence points to Kurtz’ using benign materials, and being trained and supervised by respected geneticists, prosecutors are pursuing prosecuting Kurtz for criminal mail fraud–an unprecedented legal action with far-reaching implication should they succeed. His case has not yet gone to trail. He is a professor at SUNY Buffalo, and his story is recounted in Strange Culture by Lynn Hershman Leeson.

The 2007 Human Rights Watch Film Fest also kicks off this week in New York City. The opening night film on Friday is Strange Culture. They have been keeping mum on the film since their Sundance screening so I’ll be seeing it at HRW when I get back from DC.

Films to check out include Sari’s Mother by James Longley, the director of Oscar-nominated Iraq in Fragments, Banished by Marco Williams, and Katy Chevigny’s Election Day. I’m going to miss it but I’ve been trying to catch up with Manufactured Landscapes by Jennifer Baichwal. If anyone catches it on Saturday, let me know what you think.