2007 Human Rights Conference Films
All screenings and events are presented by WPIRG and free of charge. For more information, contact us at info@wpirg.org or 519.888.4882
Film List
A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman
Thursday, October 4th, 7:00 PM
Room 1015, EIT (the building with the dinosaurs), University of Waterloo
Free admission.
Debuting at the September 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, Peter Raymont's new film A Promise to the Dead follows Chilean exile Ariel Dorfman's return to the country he fled. Raymont, who just received a Best Producer Emmy for his documentary of Romeo Dallaire's Shake Hands With the Devil, trails Dorfman as he relives his former life in Chile as Cultural Advisor to Allende's ill-fated socialist government. Forced to flee after the military coup of September 11th, 1973, Dorfman was told his life was spared because "someone had to live to tell the story".
Born in Argentina, but raised in New York, Ariel Dorfman and his family fled to Chile during the Red Scare. Dorfman is the author numerous works of fiction, plays and essays in Spanish and English. Dorfman's books (including 'Death and the Maiden', 'In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land', 'How to Read Donald Duck' and 'Other Septembers') have been translated into over 40 languages and his plays performed in more than 100 countries.
Opening to rave reviews at TIFF, A Promise to the Dead has not yet been released to theatres. This is a special screening in a series of Raymont's films leading up to his keynote address at WPIRG's Human Rights Conference. The keynote will be happening Friday, November 2nd at 7:30 PM in the University of Waterloo's Humanities Theatre.
Between Two Worlds
Thursday, October 11th, 7:00 PM
Room 1015, EIT (the building with the dinosaurs), University of Waterloo
Free admission.
Though he is now virtually unknown, Joseph Idlout was once a prominent Canadian cultural figure. Gaining fame for being one of the Inuit hunters featured on Canada's $2 dollar bill, Idlout became a symbol of his people and a point of fascination for white Canadians. Between Two Worlds, a film by Peter Raymont, follows Idlout's life through the eyes of his son, Peter Paniloo.
Paniloo is caught "between two worlds"; his father's world of hunting and fur-trapping and the world of white Canada where Paniloo tries to improve his family's lot in life.
Struggling through changes in the Canadian North that Idlout never would have imagined possible; Paniloo discovers he does not know who he is or where he belongs.
Bhopal: The Search for Justice
Thursday, October 18th, 7:30 PM
Room 1015, EIT (the building with the dinosaurs), University of Waterloo
Free admission.
In Bhopal: The Search for Justice, Peter Raymont documents the efforts of Raajkumar Keswani, the local journalist who forewarned the Union Carbide disaster. Keswani struggles through a backdrop of corruption and greed to find justice for the people of Bhopal.
Shake Hands with the Devil
Thursday, October 25th, 7:30 PM
Room 1015, EIT (the building with the dinosaurs), University of Waterloo
Free admission.
Shake Hands with the Devil is the story of Rwanda as told by Dallaire. Producer and Director Peter Raymont eloquently portrays Dallaire's effort to keep peace and prevent wide scale slaughter while fighting against apathetic UN officials, senior members of the Clinton administration and Belgian policy makers for reinforcements and revised rules of engagement.
This film received the following awards:
- Best Documentary, 2007 News and Documentary Emmy Awards
- Audience award, World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
- Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Philadelphia Film Festival