Documentary Film: Lost in Lebanon, dir. Sophia Scott, Georgia Scott

Lost in Lebanon
Sophia Scott, Georgia Scott
2016 Arabic, English 80 minutes

As the Syrian war continues to leave entire generations without education, health care, or a state, Lost in Lebanon closely follows four Syrians during their relocation process. The resilience of this Syrian community, which currently makes up one fifth of the population in Lebanon, is astoundingly clear as its members work hard to collaborate, share resources, and advocate for themselves in a new land. With the Syrian conflict continuing to push across borders, lives are becoming increasingly desperate due to the devastating consequences of new visa laws that the Lebanese government has implemented, leaving families at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation. Despite these obstacles, the film encourages us to look beyond the staggering statistics of displaced refugees and focus on the individuals themselves.  https://www.filmlinc.org/films/lost-in-lebanon/

Documentary Film: The Force, dir. Peter Nicks

Director

Peter Nicks 

2017
93 minutes

The Force presents a deep look inside the long-troubled Oakland Police Department in California as it struggles to confront federal demands for reform, civil unrest in the wake of the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and layers of inefficiency and corruption. A young police chief, hailed as a reformer, is brought in to complete the turnaround at the very moment the #BlackLivesMatter movement emerges to demand police accountability and racial justice in Oakland and across the nation. Despite growing public distrust, the Oakland Police Department is garnering national attention as a model of police reform. But just as the department is on the verge of a breakthrough, the man charged with turning the department around faces the greatest challenge of his career—one that could not only threaten progress already made, but the very authority of the institution itself.

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-force/

Documentary Film: The Good Postman, by Tonislav Hristov

Tonislav Hristov  2016 Bulgarian 80 minutes

A quiet Bulgarian community on the Turkish border finds itself in the middle of a European crisis. This otherwise unremarkable village has become an important loophole for asylum seekers making their way through Europe. But Ivan, the local postman, has a vision. He decides to run for mayor and campaigns to bring life to the aging and increasingly deserted village by welcoming the refugees and their families. While some of his neighbors support the idea, it meets with resistance from others, who want to make sure the border stays shut. With surprising warmth, humor, and humanity, The Good Postman provides valuable insight into the root of this timely and internationally relevant discussion.

“How amazing to find a little forgotten town where all the European Union and US discussions and politics about refugees and immigration are distilled so clearly. The Good Postman has great characters and surreal moments – genuine and moving.”

—Bill van Esveld, senior researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

Documentary Film: Muhi - Generally Temporary, by Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander and Tamir Elterman

Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman  2017 Arabic, Hebrew 87 minutes

For the past seven years Muhi, a young boy from Gaza, has been trapped in an Israeli hospital. Rushed there in his infancy with a life-threatening immune disorder, he and his doting grandfather, Abu Naim, wound up caught in an immigration limbo that made it impossible for them to leave. With Muhi’s citizenship unclear, and Abu Naim denied a work permit or visa, the pair reside solely within the constraints of the hospital walls. Caught between two states in perpetual war, Muhi is being cared for by the very same people whose government forbids his family to visit, and for him or his grandfather to travel back. Made by two filmmakers from Jerusalem, this documentary lays out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in human terms, documenting the impact these paradoxical circumstances have on individual lives. Screening followed by discussion with filmmakers and Omar Shakir, Researcher, Middle East and North Africa division, HRW.

“A beautiful, haunting film about a man and a child who find themselves sheltered and also trapped in an absurd, extraterritorial corridor between Israel and Palestine, at war with each other…This story challenges the notion of enemies and shows ordinary human beings trying to be human in a world that has betrayed humanity.”

—Sari Bashi, Israel/Palestine advocacy director, Human Rights Watch

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/muhi-generally-temporary/

Documentary Film: City of Ghosts, dir. Matthew Heineman, HRW Film Festival 2017

City of Ghosts

Matthew Heineman  2017 91 minutes
Post-Screening Discussion

With deeply personal access, this is the untold story of a brave group of citizen journalists forced to live undercover, on the run, and in exile—risking their lives to stand up against one of the most violent movements in the world today. City of Ghosts follows the efforts of anonymous activists in Syria who banded together to form a group named “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS) after their homeland was taken over by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. Finding safety is no easy task either, as growing anti-refugee sentiment in Europe greets them with anger and rejection and ISIS pledges to target them wherever they go. Terror, trauma, and guilt similarly follow the men at the center of the film, having left loved ones behind to expose the horrors happening in their town. The strength and brotherhood that bonds the men is clear: the film is full of affecting intimacy and humanity in a situation where little else can be found. Screening followed by discussion with filmmaker Matthew Heineman and Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.

“Matthew Heineman’s film shows us the valor of ordinary Syrians putting their lives on the line to document the brutality of ISIS as it rules their city, Raqqa. The film reconnects us to the human toll inflicted by the war in Syria, through the personal journeys of young citizen journalists who are driven from their homes but remain tethered to the country’s struggle for freedom and justice.”

—Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/city-of-ghosts/

Theater: Invincible, by Torben Betts at 59E59

The Original Theatre Company & Ghost Light Theatre Productions presents

INVINCIBLE

By Torben Betts

Directed by Stephen Darcy

with Elizabeth Boag, Emily Bowker, Graeme Brookes, Alastair Whatley

With the recession biting hard, Emily and Oliver have decided to downsize and shift their middle- class London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England.

One night they open their doors and invite next door neighbours, Dawn and Alan into their home. Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx and abstract art; class and culture collide where the consequences are as tragic as they are hilarious.

From one of the most exciting playwrights to emerge since Alan Ayckbourn, Torben Betts, and produced by the award-winning Original Theatre Company comes this "riotously funny" production.

http://www.59e59.org/moreinfo.php?showid=282

Theater: My Eyes Went Dark, by Matthew Wilkinson at 59E59

107group in association with Traverse Theatre and Cusack Projects Ltd presents

MY EYES WENT DARK

By Matthew Wilkinson

Directed by Matthew Wilkinson

With Declan Conlon, Thusitha Jayasundera

Following sold out performances at the Finborough Theatre, London and the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Matthew Wilkinson's taut, brilliantly acted two hander arrives at 59E59.

Declan Conlon and Thusitha Jayasundera give electrifying performances in a searing modern tragedy about a Russian father driven to revenge after losing his family in a plane crash. Inspired by real events.

http://www.59e59.org/moreinfo.php?showid=284