Amnesty International chapter film fest highlights children's rights
Contact: Christina Chapple
11/5/08
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s student chapter of Amnesty International is hosting a festival of films highlighting children’s human rights, Nov. 18-20.
The free festival is open to the campus and community, said Jason Granger, a social work major from Amite who is the chapter’s coordinator.
The International Children's Human Rights Film Festival will feature three documentaries, “Invisible Children,” Nov. 18; “Stolen Childhoods,” Nov. 19; and “Katrina’s Children,” Nov. 20.
Films will be shown in the Music Recital Hall at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“Invisible Children” is a film about the plight of child soldiers in northern Uganda. Filmed in 2003, the documentary chronicles the experience of three young southern Californians learning firsthand about a conflict largely unknown to the international community, while also informing audiences about the great humanitarian crisis of child soldiers. The filmmakers co-founded the nonprofit Invisible Children, Inc., an awareness and development organization.
The New York Times calls “Stolen Childhoods,” narrated by Meryl Streep, an “earnest, unsentimental documentary” that “describes the lot of the 246 million children for whom life is nothing but work." Television documentary maker Len Morris traveled to eight locations -- from a coffee plantation in Kenya to a stone quarry in Orissa, India -- to interview children, parents and local activists about the banned, but still flourishing phenomenon of under-age labor.
“Katrina’s Children” is a feature-length documentary exploring the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the lives of 19 children from different New Orleans neighborhoods. Told entirely from the children's point of view, the film explores their stories, their play and their art.
For additional information about the film festival, contact Granger at (985) 748-8559 or amnesty.selu@gmail.com.
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