The annual RightsFest brings audiences a diverse range of social justice films as well as panels to discuss history, activism, filmmaking, and community-bridging solutions
Date: 9/6 -9/8
Time: 7pm -9pm
Tickets: $8 per night
Location: Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St, NY 10013
Website: www.rightsfest.org
FB Event Page: RightsFest FB
Special Guests: Tommie Smith (Olympic gold medalist) and
Soledad O’Brien (CNN Journalist)
Program:
Thursday 9/6, 7-9pm
THE 90TH MINUTE directed by Jun Stinson (Director will be present for Q&A)
The 90th Minute (2011) compels viewers to think about the way we value women’s sports. More than a decade after the 1999 Women’s World Cup, when players like Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain inspired girls across the country to take up soccer, the Women’s Professional Soccer league still struggles to survive.
JESSE OWENS directed by Laurens Grant (Director
will be present for Q&A)
Jesse Owens (2012) delves beyond the sprinter’s stunning four-time gold medal performance at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. The film, which premiered this year as part of the American Experience series, tells the story of the son of a sharecropper who triumphs over adversity to become a world champion, only to be confronted by the harsh realities of celebrity.
Friday 9/7, 7-9pm
TRANSCENDING: THE WAT MISAKA STORY directed by Bruce & Christine
Johnson (Directors will be present for Q&A)
Transcending (2008) tells the story of Wat Misaka, the first minority
basketball player to be drafted into the NBA. Amidst a hostile racial climate
that incarcerated 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans during World War II,
Misaka prevails as a top college basketball player who is ultimately drafted by
the New York Knicks in 1947.
IN HER CORNER reported by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien
(Soledad O’Brien will be present for Q&A)
In Her Corner (2011) traces the journey of Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza. The 2012 Olympic Games are the first to allow women’s boxing, the last female sport to be included in the world’s most prestigious sporting competition. In Her Corner reflects the lives and many struggles of female boxers in this country.
Saturday 9/8, 7-9pm
BLIND AMBITION directed by Chris Bridger
Blind Ambition (2011) introduces us to Simon Hill, a Paralympic soccer player who competes in England’s blind football league. In the world of professional soccer, celebrities and endorsements often drown out individual stories of struggle and sacrifice. Blind Ambition is a refreshingly beautiful portrait of one man’s pure love of the game.
BLACK POWER SALUTE directed by Geoff Small (Director and Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith will be present for Q&A)
Black Power Salute (2008) examines one of the most iconic sports images ever captured: the raised fists of two sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, as
they receive their medals during the 1968 Olympics. With the world watching,
this single gesture of courage forces the spotlight onto the harsh reality
faced by Black Americans.