CQL Announces December Film Schedule

BISBEE, AZ – In conjunction with other Arizona Humanities Council programming and sponsored by the Friends of the Copper Queen Library, the Copper Queen Library will present a series of films in December to commemorate Universal Human Rights Month.

Beginning December 3 at 5:30pm and continuing throughout the month, The Monday Night “Did You Know…?” Documentary Film Series will screen new titles from the library’s collection that are related to human rights issues and challenges throughout the world.

On December 3, “Roads Across the Plains” and “Attack on Culture,” the final chapters of 500 Nations, "an eight-part documentary that looks back at life in North America before the arrival of the Europeans, then follows the epic struggles of Indian Nations as the continent is reshaped by contact” will be screened. These are the final two chapters in a film that has been airing as part of the library’s November observance of Native American Heritage Month.

To continue the month’s human rights theme, Edet Belzberg’s Children Underground will be screened on December 10. This film documents a year in the lives of five Romanian children who make their home in a subway station in Bucharest, homeless in part as the result of the policies of deposed Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu.

The following week, December 17’s Teaching Tolerance will present a documentary on the work of Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The film will provide a brief overview of the Civil Rights Movement and the progress that has been made in part because of the SPLC, which provides free legal assistance and has won many cases in court for minority victims and their families. The library will provide information about The Center’s free “Teaching Tolerance" curriculum, and local resident Damion will present briefly on the importance of the Center’s work and its Tolerance curriculum.

On December 24, A Place Called Chiapas will air. Directed by Nettie Wild, the film focuses on the Zapatista National Liberation Army. In 1994 the Army, made up of impoverished Maya Indians, took over five towns and 500 ranches in southern Mexico. Fighting for indigenous Mexicans to regain control over their lives and the land, the Zapatista Army, led by Subcommandante Marcos, started sending their message to the world via the Internet. The result was what the New York Times called "the world's first post-modern revolution." Here the filmmaker, who traveled to the jungle canyons of Southern Mexico to cover the uprising, effectively captures the human dimensions behind the war.

Finally, on December 31, the Friends’ documentary series will usher in the New Year with a screening of Ronit Avni & Julia Bacha’s hopeful and uplifting Encounter Point. Premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, its West Coast premiere was at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film subsequently won the 2006 Audience Award for “Best Documentary” at the Rencontres Film Festival in Montreal, the “Best Musical Score” award at the Bend Film Festival, and the 2006 “Spirit of Freedom Award” at the Bahamas Film Festival. It has screened in Dubai, Jerusalem, Jenin and more than 35 cities worldwide.

Created by a Palestinian, Israeli, North and South American team, Encounter Point moves beyond sensational and dogmatic imagery to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother, and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who all risk their safety and public standing to press for an end to the conflict. They are at the vanguard of a movement to push Palestinian and Israeli societies to a tipping point, forging a new consensus for nonviolence and peace. Perhaps years from now, their actions will be recognized as a catalyst for constructive change in the region. Encounter Point is a film about hope, true courage and, implicitly, about the silence of journalists and politicians who pay little attention to vital grassroots peace efforts.

Encounter Point, and all Friends documentaries, are screened free of charge at 5:30pm in the Library Meeting Room.

For further information about the Friends December documentary series, or any library programming, contact the library at 432-423.