The Human Rights Film Festival shares stories and engages dialogue
4 Dec 2018.

by Drew Rowsome -

Saturday, December 10 is the 70th annual worldwide Human Rights Day. You'd think we'd have it right by now. But we don't. Fortunately there are artists documenting the failures, the struggles and the hopes for the future. The 7th annual JAYU's Human Rights Film Festival has collected 16 films that cover a broad spectrum of current human rights issues and abuses.

All 16 films intrigue but three of the films are focussed specifically on LGBT human rights. Those are the films that I was invited to screen, though the experience was a potent reminder that all human rights are important and that there are an overwhelming number of stories that remain undocumented and waiting to be told.

Being Okey introduces the amiable and charming Okey to the world. A self-described "herbal doctor," he is trapped in limbo. A refugee from Nigeria where his sexuality is a death sentence, he lives in Switzerland where he is, so far futilely, trying to get asylum. The government acknowledges his plight but there is no legal standing for his claim. He describes his harrowing journey in a matter of fact manner, maintaining a smile, but the bureaucracy is too much to bear. The loss of the love of his life is heartrending, as is the contrast between the lush Swiss countryside and Okey's impossible situation. Grace under pressure is an understatement.

Love, Scott documents the recovery of musician Scott Jones from a stabbing that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He was attacked because he was gay. In Nova Scotia. Jones is extraordinarily open and lets the camera record his ever-evolving emotions in all their complexity. In an era of reality TV, it is almost voyeuristic to view someone being so candid and vulnerable. When the film focuses on Jones' compelling words and guileless face, it is breathtaking. His no-nonsense well-meaning mother contributes some great moments and three scenes where he overcomes obstacles are tearjerkers. There is an unfortunate degree of soft-focus mood cinematography but when Love, Scott keeps its subject the centre of the frame, it is riveting.

Jones will be in attendance for the screening and for the Q&A afterwards. He is someone, a strong gay man, we all should be so lucky to meet. Music plays an important role and the film deftly shows how the ubiquitous coming out story can become, by a random act of violence, something quite different and horrific. Jones mulls the concept of forgiveness, but the film is unequivocal in its condemnation of homophobia and the Canadian government's inexplicable refusal to deal with hate crimes.

TransMilitary is an absorbing visit with four accomplished members of the United States military. They are among the approximately 15,500 trans people currently serving, making the US military the world's largest employer of transgender people. However their gender also makes them pawns in the nasty politics down south and their status as members of the military is constantly threatened. Through the film they live, love and struggle with a bureaucracy that reduces them to an other instead of the decorated contributors that they are. Bravery on the battlefield - "In this war zone, I'm just a regular guy" - is nothing compared to battling the army brass for basic inclusion.

The filmmakers and captivating star Laila Villanueva will be in attendance for a Q&A. Also screening in the festival are A Year of Hope about Manila's impoverished street youth, Charm City chronicling an attempt to break the cycle of racial violence in Baltimore, The Distant Barking of Dogs which explores the effects on children of living in a war zone, The Rescue List which delves into the cost of human trafficking, and many more. The JAYU's mandate is to share human rights stories and engage in dialogue through the arts, the Human Rights Film Festival has 16 of those stories and artistic dialogue instigators.