Human Rights Week Underscores Humanitarian Concerns

The festival poster

For five consecutive evenings (October 15-19), movie productions tackling selected works on injustice were shown in West Hall. The movie week, organized by the Human Rights and Peace Club (HRPC) in collaboration with the Cine Club, aimed at raising awareness among students of the scope of human rights violations.

The program started with Michael Moore's Sicko, in which light was shed on the shortcomings of the US health care system, especially when seen in sharp contrast to the more efficient systems in Canada and Europe. The film portrayed the everyday hardships encountered by US citizens, owing to failure by health care officials to guarantee even the most basic medical attention.

The following evening's showing of Women Beyond Borders by Jean Chamoun was particularly moving and stirred up interesting points in the subsequent discussion with the director. Chamoun expanded on the strength of character enjoyed by the movie's protagonist, Palestinian ex-prisoner Kifah Afifi, who suffered unbearable abuse in the Lebanese Khiam prison, yet still managed to forge warm friendships with her fellow inmates.

Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nations gave an exhaustive dissection of the US fast food industry, uncovering a very dark side to the typical American meal. Burgers were revealed to be devoid of any nutritional value. Consideration of the ingredients would make health-conscious members of the AUB community heading towards a Bliss Street fast-food outlet turn back in their tracks.

On gun trade to Africa, Hubert Sauper's Darwin's Nightmare explored the dismal picture of "fit" capitalistic aspirations "surviving" and thriving at the expense of the weak Africans.

Last shown but not least touching were Invisible Children and 100% Asphalt by Carol Mansour. The two documentaries were concerned with the tragedies of abandoned youngsters that constitute the Lebanese child workforce and street children in Egypt.

The movie week enjoyed a fortuitous coincidence with the Trade Week of Action, which calls for justice in global trade, and towards that end, HRPC maintained a stand outside West Hall for the entire week to inform students about trade injustices and inspire them to help take action.