Social justice films unspool at Toronto film fest

When the "first blush" of an international calamity wears off and media coverage winds down, it's often filmmakers who continue to examine how life continues, according to the chair of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.

The seventh edition of the annual festival opens in Toronto on Wednesday with a slate of documentary and feature films from around the globe that explore the stories of activists, victims and survivors fighting for freedom, social justice and basic human rights.

"These are kind of films [where] when the first blush is gone from newspapers and television, this is the followup," festival chair Helga Stephenson told CBC News.

As programmers of a festival in a film-aficionado city like Toronto, "basically what we look for is a combination of a strong issue and a great film.... We look for a topical issue done in a great way," Stephenson said, noting that all titles are also vetted for accuracy by researchers at Human Rights Watch. 

"[The festival is] for people who want to know what's going on around the world.... It's for people who are really more globally minded and who have a general curiosity about what's going on out there and how it works."

Dramas and documentaries featured

This year's slate of 10 films ranges from a trio of tales exploring the plight of women in Africa to a look at Iran's sex change program.

'The situation in Juarez is not exclusive of that place. There are lots of places [where] women are murdered just because they live there, because of machismo and lack of respect for life in general.'—Director Carlos Carrera

Though his gritty drama Backyard focuses on the horrific and ongoing kidnapping, murder and mutilation of young women in Juarez, Mexico, director Carlos Carrera said it's important for audiences everywhere to watch these films.

"The situation in Juarez is not exclusive of that place. There are lots of places in Mexico and [elsewhere] that women are murdered just because they live there, because of machismo and lack of respect for life in general," he said in an interview from Mexico City.

Inspired by real-life figures, Carrera's film is a gripping tale of the more than 1,000 women who've gone missing or been brutally killed and dumped in the desert of places like Juarez over the past 15 years.

It weaves together the many complex factors to blame: from rampant gang and drug activity to the basic objectification and disrespect of women.

The filmmaker, his cast and crew were intimidated and received death threats throughout the making of Backyard and were even forced to suspend filming for a week because of violence in Juarez. Mexican reaction to the film has been divided.

"Many people loved it and especially the people in Juarez…. Many were happy that the things going on there were shown in a movie," Carrera noted.

Others criticized him, saying their home was now "stigmatized as a place where women are killed."

Overall, however, those who have seen Backyard have approached him, eager to take action to improve the situation.

"They always think those things only happen in far away places and they are not aware of how women are treated in many other cultures…. They have that [desire] to do something, which is nice," Carrera said.

"I think that, probably, the movie can change the way [people] act in their daily life."

The seventh annual Human Rights Watch International Film Festival opens Wednesday night with a screening of Chinese-Canadian director Linxin Fan's award-winning documentary Last Train Home. The festival continues through March 6.