The images of millions of Iranians protesting in the streets after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 flooded the Internet and television news from the cell phones of those at the scene. 

Days later, the riot’s violent turn to clashes between demonstrators and authorities were likewise visible in seconds.

The idea of human rights being affected by information spreading rapidly across the globe has inspired the addition of the Digital Witness Symposium to Illuminating Oppression, the eighth annual Human Rights Film Festival that begins Thursday.

‘It is a smaller and smaller world,’ said Tula Goenka, associate professor of television, radio and film and the festival’s co-director.

The symposium will discuss human rights media and how rapidly information can be disseminated, thanks to digital innovations. Getting students talking about human rights issues is the purpose of Illuminating Oppression, Goenka said.

The three-day festival, which will go through Saturday, showcases award-winning documentaries from around the world.  The event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse III.

Illuminating Oppression is part of the SU Humanities Center’s 2010 Syracuse Symposium, ‘Conflict: Peace and War.’ The festival combines creative approaches to film, with a focus on bringing human rights issues to light.

Goenka said the films are supposed to inspire students to take on the responsibility of creating change, even if it’s change near home. Films featured will deal with topics ranging from contemporary slavery in Brazil to a family coping with teenage pregnancy in New York.

Goenka and co-founder Mallika Dutt, executive director of the human rights organization Breakthrough, began the festival in 2002. Because of Sept. 11, there was a lot of interest in conflicts in South Asia when the project began, Goenka said. In 2007, the festival was expanded to include a broader range of topics and global regions.

In past years, opening night has attracted 250 to 300 people, filling the auditorium, Goenka said.

‘We’ve had a decent turnout in the past, but we always wish for more,’ Goenka said.

Opening night will begin with a screening of the film ‘The Response,’ directed by Adam Rodgers, at 7 p.m. ‘The Response’ presents a conflict between human rights and uncertain security or terrorism threats in a vivid and realistic setting, said William Banks, director of SU’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism.

A discussion panel will follow the screening and will be led by Banks; David Crane, professor of practice in the College of Law; and others from outside SU. 

‘We expect to have a lively discussion of the issues of detention and trial with a panel of experts in human rights and military law and with professional actors from the cast of the film,’ Banks said.

One of the documentaries featured is ‘October Country,’ a film about a family from Herkimer, N.Y., that struggles with war, teen pregnancy and child abuse.

The issues of slavery, homophobia, racism and class divides will also be addressed throughout the festival on both global and local levels. 

Bill Spaulding, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, said he did not know about the festival, but thinks SU students should attend.

‘I do think it sounds important for SU students,’ Spaulding said. ‘In today’s world, it’s very important that we are prepared to leave SU with a broad understanding of human rights.’

bquaglia@syr.edu

Published on September 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm