The Bar Human Rights Committee has partnered with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival for a series of screenings of documentary films The Settlers and They Call Us Monsters, taking place at the Barbican and Picturehouse Central in March 2017.
The Settlers
The Settlers cracks open the world of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank: their daily lives, their worldviews, and their position within Israel. With uninhibited access, the film captures the casual zealotry, racism, and untroubled certainty of many settlers in this contentious and controversial space. The existence and development of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is complex and elusive, and increasingly wild and tragic. Along with personal profiles, Dotan unpacks the history of the settlements, laying out the facts with extraordinary care and lucidity, to allow us to see the progression of actions and reactions that have led to the current volatile situation.
They Call Us Monsters
In this powerful documentary, Juan, Jarad and Antonio, ages 14 to 16, face decades in prison in California, where juveniles older than 14 can be tried as adults for violent crimes. While incarcerated, they sign up for a screenwriting class and while collaborating on a short film that collectively fictionalises their lives and dreams, all three inadvertently grant the audience a remarkable insight into their minds and experiences. While the gravity of their crimes haunts every frame, these youths are still children. To penal reform advocates, they are kids. To the law, they are adults. To their opponents, they are monsters.
For screening times and tickets visit the Human Rights Watch Film Festival website.
