Event

HRWFF: Enemies of Happiness / Sari's Mother

Enemies of Happiness is a film about personal courage and conviction. It centers on Malalai Joya, who became one of Afghanistans most famous and infamous women in 2003 when she challenged the power of warlords in the countrys new government. Two years later, the 28-year-old ran in her countrys first democratic parliamentary election in over 30 years. A survivor of repeated assassination attempts, she campaigned surrounded by armed guards. How do you introduce democracy in a country where a majority of the people are illiterate, votes are for sale, and warlords use threats and bribes to control the ballots, and many women cannot leave their children to vote? As the film eloquently illustrates, it takes more than Western soldiers and diplomats. Joya is a controversial voice for a nation ruined by war, still ruled by fear, but desperate for a change for the better. * Winner of the 2007 HRWIFF Nestor Almendros Prize and the Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Prize: Documentary
Film's website: http://www.enemiesofhappiness.com/

In Saris Mother, filmed in Iraq over a period of one year, filmmaker James Longley (Gaza Strip; Iraq in Fragments) follows a courageous mother as she struggles to get proper medical help for her 10-year-old son, Sari, who is dying of AIDS. An intimate, revealing portrait, uncovering a side of life in Iraq that few outside the country have witnessed. *Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival 2006
Film's website: http://www.daylightfactory.com/sarismother/