2009 catalogue

Protocol Observed

“That the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government, is a principle universally acknowledged as sacred throughout the civilized world.”
- Nelson Mandela

  • Behind the Rainbow
  • Japan a Story of Love and Hate
  • Letters to the President
  • The Reckoning

Behind the Rainbow
SA, 2009, 138min
Director: Jihan El Tahri

Acclaimed director Jihan El Tahri unravels the construct of the African National Congress, South Africa’s once liberation, now ruling party through the evolving relationships between key figures within the movement.

The film affords the viewer a comprehensive understanding of various power structures and their importance to the party as the movement makes the difficult structural and ideological transition from revolution to liberation and ultimately governance.

Leading to the decisive rift within the ANC, the filmmaker offers a riveting, thorough portrait of the ANC through interviews with leaders and former leaders including Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, Terror Lekota, and Pallo Jordan.
Courtesy of the Director
Click here to view Trailer on YouTube
Japan: A Story of Love and Hate
African Premiere
United Kingdom/Japan, 2008, 70min, English Subtitles
Director: Sean McAllister
www.seanmcallister.com

Japan, a beacon of efficiency, innovation and prosperity, is explored from an extraordinary angle in this film by Sean McAllister. McAllister rejects the neon bubble and pop of Tokyo to intimately focus on the complex life of 56 year old rebel Naoki and his 29 year old girlfriend Yoshie.

Naoki was a successful entrepreneur in Japan’s economic heyday, but lost it all when recession hit in the early nineties. He is now entirely dependant on his overworked and prescription-medicated girlfriend and would be homeless if not for her tiny one-room windowless flat. Yoshie works three jobs fuelled by sleeping pills and anti-depressants while Naoki works part-time at a post office. In his spare time he contemplates Japan’s high rates of suicide and mental illness, and rebels against poverty and social restrictions through small, meaningless acts of resistance.

He is old enough to be her father, she is his begrudging patron; the couple are compelling in their dysfunction. The filmmaker himself is drawn into the dynamics of their relationship as he becomes an increasingly significant part of their life.
Courtesy of the Director
Letters to the President
African Premiere
Canada, 2009, 72min, English Subtitles
Director: Petr Lom
www.letterstothepresident.com

Allowed to travel on several of Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s populist trips to the countryside, the filmmaker describes a man different to portrayals by the international media- this portrait presents a charismatic politician rather than a dangerous firebrand.

During his trips the President receives many letters – the government claims ten million – from poor Iranians asking for help. While not finding evidence for the government’s claim that it helps these letter-writers, the film does show that promises and propaganda ignite a desperate hope from those in need.

This hope finds different outlets, particularly for the religious poor. They turn to belief in a Shia messiah, the Mahdi, who will come at the end of time to bring the world justice. At the holy Mosque where the Mahdi will one day reappear, the poor have begun to readdress their letters to their new patron with the belief that maybe he will offer salvation.
Courtesy of the Director
The Reckoning
African Premiere
USA, 2009, 95mins, English
Director: Pamela Yates
www.thereckoningfilm.com

Late in the 20th century, in response to repeated mass atrocities around the world, more than 120 countries united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC)—the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators (no matter how powerful) of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

The Reckoning follows dynamic ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team for 3 years across 4 continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.

Building cases against genocidal criminals presents huge challenges and while the Prosecutor has a mandate, he has no police force. He must pressure the international community at every turn to muster political will for the cause. As the tiny court in The Hague struggles to change the world and forge a new paradigm for justice, innocent victims suffer and wait. Will the Prosecutor succeed? Will the world ensure that justice prevails?
Courtesy of Director