The Patois New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival launches its eleventh edition this weekend at the Broad Theater. The festival focuses on a broad range human rights topics, ranging from LGBTQ figures, to police violence, to civil rights history, to locally pressing issues. The programming draws parallels between New Orleans and events happening around the world, highlighting activist movements that are pertinent to understand in relation to our city.
The festival opens tonight with Agents of Change, a powerful documentary that provides a view into the racial conditions on campuses across the U.S. prior to student protests in the 1960s. The film sheds light on the political intersections taking place at that time, including civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements that mobilized students. Co-director Frank Dawson and San Francisco State activist Dr. Ramona Tascoe will be in attendance for the screening, and local activists will join them after the film to discuss the historical protests, the current state of education, and any other questions you’d like to ask.
Fresh off of its Sundance premiere, Whose Streets? is an intimate look at the Ferguson uprisings following the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Co-directors Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis examine the emotional and psychological toll of oppression and racism in black communities as they highlight the resistance that emerged to take a stand against police brutality. The screening will also feature two short films about the Baton Rouge community, made after Alton Sterling was killed by police officers (including one from NOVAC Baton Rouge’s Jillian Hall).
We’re happy to be a Community Partner for Annemarie Jacir’s award-winning drama, When I Saw You. Set in 1967, this moving drama portrays the plights of Palestinian refugees after migrated to Jordan. Young Tarek and his mother Ghaydaa are separated from Tarek’s father during their trek to Jordan. Life in the refugee camp is difficult for Tarek, so he sets off with a group on a journey to find his father. Although the film is a fictionalized account, the subject matter continues to feel urgent given not only the current state of Israel and Palenstine, but the critical refugee situations happening worldwide.
You can see the full lineup, and purchase tickets in advance, on their website.
