Human Rights International Film Festival Starts

The Peabody Essex Museum, the MFA Film Program, and Human Rights Watch, are proud to present the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, January 17-22. This year's program includes 15 documentaries from countries around the globe and four feature films from Tibet, India, Lebanon, and Argentina.

The Peabody Essex Museum opens its portion of Festival screenings on Saturday, Jan. 20, with a series of six stellar films and documentaries. Total Denial, a documentary about the lawsuit of Burmese villagers against U.S. oil giants, starts off the PEM screenings at 1 p.m. It is followed by Men on the Edge - Fishermen's Diary at noon, and Rosita at 5 p.m. The Saturday screenings close with The Refugee All Stars at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, Jan. 21, the museum screens two more captivating films:Rain in a Dry Land at 1 p.m. and Amu at 3 p.m. PEM is the only venue to screen Total Denial, The Refugee All Stars, and Rain in a Dry Land during the Festival.

Please note: Award-winning filmmaker Janet Goldwater will be available for questions and discussion following the screening of her film, Rosita, on Jan. 20.

About the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a distinctive human rights theme. Works featured help to put a human face on threats to individual freedom and dignity, and celebrate the power of the human spirit and intellect to prevail. In selecting films for the festival, Human Rights Watch concentrates equally on artistic merit and human rights content. Each year, the festival's programming committee screens more than 500 films and videos to create a program that represents a range of countries and issues. Though the festival rules out films that contain unacceptable inaccuracies of fact, no films are barred on the basis of a particular point of view.

Ticketing Information

PEM: Tickets are included with museum admission. Reservations suggested. General museum admission: Adults $13; seniors $11; students $9. Members, youth 16 and under, and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission. -- www.pem.org