SEPT 23 THUR 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
PERSONS OF INTEREST
US 2004
DIRECTORS: ALISON MACLEAN, TOBIAS PERSE After the September 11th terrorist attacks, more than 5000 people, mainly non-U.S. nationals of South Asian or Middle Eastern origin were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and held indefinitely on grounds of national security. Muslim immigrants were subject to arbitrary arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. Many were denied access to legal representation and communication with their families. During a period when the State Department has made every effort to depersonalize these detentions, refusing to reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices of those affected—their testimonials and experiences— become our only window into the human costs of post September 11th immigration policies. Through interviews, family photographs and letters from prison, the directors have fashioned a compelling and poignant film, allowing those affected a chance to tell their own stories. Official Selection, 2004 Sundance Film Festival. (63 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
JUVIES
US 2004
DIRECTOR: LESLIE NEALE From award-winning documentary filmmaker Leslie Neale (ROAD TO RETURN) comes a riveting look at a world most of us will never see: the world of juvenile offenders who are serving incomprehensibly long prison sentences for crimes they either did not commit or were only marginally involved in. For two years, Neale taught a video production class at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall to 12 juveniles who were being tried as adults. JUVIES is the product of that class. The film builds a powerful argument, questioning what in our American culture has caused us to demonize our youth and allow the collapse of the juvenile justice system, which has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now annually sends over 200,000 kids through the adult system. (66 mins.)

SEPT 30 THUR 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
DEADLINE
US 2004
DIRECTOR: KATY CHEVIGNY, KIRSTEN JOHNSON On the eve of his departure from office, George Ryan—longtime conservative Republican, supporter of the death penalty, and governor of Illinois-surprised the nation by commuting the sentences of all 167 prisoners on Death Row. Directors Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson bring us directly into the debate and the legal process that is set into motion when a group of Northwestern University journalism students uncover evidence that many people on Illinois' Death Row are innocent, undermining the credibility of the state's entire capital justice system. In the wake of this evidence, Ryan orders special clemency hearings for every prisoner awaiting execution. Within these courtrooms is human drama in its most distilled form. Using unique access to the hearings, prisoners on Death Row, and Governor Ryan, Deadline delivers a measured sense of justice for all its subjects and contributes reason and passion to the ongoing debate about whether nations should employ the ultimate punishment and how justly it is administered. Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2004. (90 mins.)

OCT 7 THUR 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
GOODBYE HUNGARIA
US/HUNGARY 2004
DIRECTOR: JON NEALON Both political tale and love story, GOODBYE HUNGARIA begins in a refugee camp in Hungary, home to hundreds of men, women and children fleeing war and oppression from every corner of the globe. To the refugees, Eastern Hungary is a cold and unwelcoming place; asylum is rarely granted, and there are few opportunities for work. For most, the only way out of this legal limbo is through a thriving underground smuggling ring. Jon Nealon's cinema verité documentary chronicles the lives of Abed Al-Sahli a Palestinian refugee who acts as advocate and de facto translator for the camp's Arab population, and Charu Newhouse, an American volunteer. As both Abed and Charu struggle to make life better for the refugees caught in red tape and subject to the vagaries of international politics, their fates become connected. The film traces their unlikely love story from the hopelessness of the camp, to a dramatic arrival in New York City where they come to start a new life, together. (56 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
THE SIXTH SECTION
US 2004
DIRECTOR: ALEX RIVERA Grupo Union is an extraordinary transnational union created by a community of Mexican immigrants living and working in upstate New York. Through their collective efforts they have raised tens of thousands of American dollars to rebuild their Mexican hometown in Boqueron, Puebla. In the past few years, Grupo Union has brought electricity, an ambulance and, most dramatically, a 2,000-seat baseball stadium to Boqueron, in this redefining of "The American Dream." (26 mins.)

OCT 14 16 17 THU 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE
CAMBODIA/FRANCE 2002
DIRECTOR: RITHY PANHA The Cambodian genocide of 1975-–1979, in which approximately 1.7 million people lost their lives (21% of the country's population), was one of the worst human tragedies of the last century. One scene of horror was Tuol Sleng High School in Phnom Penh, which served as the notorious “S21” detention center where 17,000 people passed through the doors. Only seven survived. Filmmaker Rithy Panh, who himself spent four years in a Khmer Rouge labor camp, works in a meticulous and relentless pursuit of truth to explore the unbelievable reality. He accompanies the detention center's official painter, Vann Nath, on his first visit to S21 in more than 20 years, during which he confronts several of his former captors and tormentors. Panh uses cinema to get the facts on record: the guards re-enact their former routines, victims are remembered and named, and their stories are told. And we learn that the terror of the Khmer Rouge was felt by torturers and victims alike: for four years, an entire society was held in a murderous grip. A potent, scrupulously constructed act of witness, and a step toward reconciliation with an unfathomable past. "The movie is unforgettable. . . as horrific an exposure to evil as Claude Lanzmann’s SHOAH."—J. Hoberman, THE VILLAGE VOICE. (101 mins.)

OCT 20 WED 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
REPATRIATION
SOUTH KOREA 2004
DIRECTOR: DONG-WON KIM In the spring of 1992 documentary filmmaker Dong-won Kim met Cho Chang-son and Kim Seak-hyoung, two North Koreans arrested by South Korean authorities years before. Convicted of spying for the North, they were incarcerated and spent 30 years as political prisoners. These men, and many others like them, underwent conversion schemes in prison that involved torture: those who renounced their communist beliefs were released from prison early. The others, known as "the unconverted," served their full terms. None could return home to the North, however, until the turn of this century, when tensions between North and South eased significantly. Director Dong-won Kim followed these men for ten years, documenting how they survived—both physically and psychologically — the dehumanizing time spent in prison, and their quest, once released, to finally go home. Winner of the Freedom of Expression Award, Sundance Film Festival 2004. (149 mins.)

OCT 28 THUR 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
THE KITE
FRANCE/LEBANON 2004
DIRECTOR: RANDA CHAHAL SABBAG Lebanon's official submission for this year's foreign film Oscar, THE KITE tells the touching story of 16-year-old Lamia, who, on her wedding day must cross over the barbed wire barrier that separates her Lebanese village from that of her cousin and fiancé Samy, whose village has been annexed by Israel. Between the villages, the border is heavily patrolled. The checkpoint, controlled by both sides, permits newlyweds and corpses to return to their home villages. Lamia reaches the family of her fiancé, abandoning her younger brother, her school, her kite, her mother, her past. But she refuses to consummate her marriage; instead she gradually falls in love with a soldier who has been watching her since the day she crossed the border for the first time. (80 mins.) In Arabic with English subtitles.

NOV 4 THUR 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
WHAT THE EYE DOESN’T SEE
PERU 2004
DIRECTOR: FRANCISCO J. LOMBARDI Set in the final days of Alberto Fujimori's presidency in Peru, Lombardi’s ambitious film explores the corruption plaguing many Latin American governments as seen through the eyes of everyday people. WHAT THE EYE DOESN’T SEE focuses on the scandal caused by the release of hidden camera tapes of presidential advisor Vladimir Montesino blackmailing high-level government officials — which eventually led to the end of Fujimori's presidency. But rather than recreate true stories, Lombardi uses a colorful array of fictional characters to show the ramifications of dishonest government on individual lives. Six interweaving stories give us pictures of Peru’s social reality as its citizens attempt to cope during a critical juncture in their history. (149 mins.) In Spanish with English subtitles