ScreenPeace Film Festival 2017
Join us for the annual ScreenPeace Film Festival, presenting six critically acclaimed films that deal with a wide range of human rights issues from around the globe.
All films are FREE, but ticketed. Call the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at 574-631-2800 to reserve tickets, order them online at performingarts.nd.edu, or pick them up at the box office.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Fire at Sea/Hollow Land 6:30 p.m.
Fire at Sea (full-length documentary):
Situated 150 miles south of Sicily, Lampedusa hit headlines as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern refugees hoping to make a new life in Europe. After spending months living on the island and engaging with its inhabitants, the film’s director Gianfranco Rosi accumulated an incredible array of footage, portraying the history, culture and daily lives of the islanders. Focusing on 12-year-old Samuele, as he explores the land and attempts to gain mastery of the sea, the film slowly builds a breathtakingly naturalistic portrait of the Lampedusan people and the events that surround them.
Hollow Land (14-minute animated film):
A story about the eternal human search for a place to call home, this film begins with the dream of utopia. Solomon and Berta are two seekers who arrive—their treasured bathtub improbably in tow—in a seemingly sun-washed land that promises respite from their many journeys.
Introduction and discussion led by Maurizio Albahari, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.
Ixcanul 9:30 p.m.
María, a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya, lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active volcano. María is promised in marriage to the farm’s foreman, but she longs to run away to the United States with the coffee-harvester. When this man leaves her behind, María discovers her own world and culture anew. Director Jayro Bustamante grew up in the region of the Kaqchikel Maya in Guatemala and returned there to make his film. He held workshops, asked people to tell stories from their own lives and examined the current living conditions of the Maya at close range. In doing so, he learned about the special connection the women there have with the rituals of their mothers and grandmothers. The plot picks up the rhythm of a life defined by ancestral beliefs and traditions. An unfamiliar daily routine awaits the audience, far from the globalized world. Ixcanul is not a film about indigenous culture, but one that was developed from within it.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy 6:30 p.m.
In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those who survived this tragedy and who still bear the scars of the horror in their flesh and in their souls. Through their courage and determination, the victims accomplish an unprecedented feat in the history of Africa by bringing a head of state to trial.
Introduction and discussion led by Jaimie Bleck, Ford Family Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame.
Do Not Resist 9:30 p.m.
Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, Do Not Resist—the directorial debut of Detropia cinematographer Craig Atkinson—offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action. From a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police-training seminar that teaches the importance of “righteous violence” to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments, this film explores where controversial new technologies, including predictive policing algorithms, could lead the state of policing in the future.
Introduction and discussion led by Jason Springs, Associate Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Peace Studies, Director of Doctoral Studies at the Kroc Institute.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Time to Choose 3 p.m.
Academy Award® winning documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson (Inside Job, No End in Sight) turns his lens to address worldwide climate change challenges and solutions in his new film Time to Choose. Ferguson explores the comprehensive scope of the climate change crisis and examines the power of solutions already available. Through interviews with world-renowned entrepreneurs, innovators, thought leaders and brave individuals living on the front lines of climate change, this film takes an in-depth look at the remarkable people working to save our planet.
Featuring narration by award-winning actor Oscar Isaac, Time to Choose leaves audiences understanding not only what is wrong, but also what can to be done to fix this global threat. A panel discussion will follow the screening.
Panel discussion led by Tess Clarizio (President of GreeND and Environmental Engineering major), Rachel Novick (Director of the Minor in Sustainability), Philip Sakimoto (Director of the Program in Academic Excellence, First Year of Studies), John Sitter (Mary Lee Duda Professor of Literature), and Adam Wiechman (co-Director of Campaigns for GreeND and double major in Environmental Engineering and Political Science).
The ScreenPeace Film Festival is presented in partnership with the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame.