By Becka McFadden

Here's a brief review by Provokator.org of some of the hightlights of the One World Festival so far ........

Monday 10.03

Septembers by Spanish director Carles Bosch, follows the stories of seven competitors in a singing competition held each September in Spanish prisons.

In a Q&A session after the screening, Bosch discussed the film’s inspiration: he stumbled upon the singers in rehearsal while on a visit to a friend in a Madrid prison, then built the film from the stories of the competitors.He explains his decision to work with what he found, rather than seek out stories: “I find you can’t choose the characters when the theme is universal.” We experience an entire year of the competitors’ lives, witnessing the beginnings of love, weddings and births – all within the microcosm of prison. The film is made richer by Bosch’s decision to follow the lives of the prisoners’ families outside. We meet parents, children and spouses, often seen for the first time in still, portrait-like shots, which then come to life.

Tuesday 11.03
A Jihad for Love. The literal definition of jihad is struggle. That struggle can take any form, and it can be internal as well as external. This film, by director Parvez Sharma, explores attitudes towards homosexuality in Islamic communities and countries throughout the Middle East, Africa and Europe. From an openly gay imam in Capetown, South Africa, whose willingness to discuss his sexuality has led to death threats, to a lesbian in Egypt, who tells her partner she wishes she could be punished, “because maybe it will relieve me,” Sharma’s subjects are experiencing their own jihads, as they struggle to reconcile their sexuality with the demands of their religion and cultures. It’s telling that many of the subjects have requested that their faces be blurred, fearing for their families in Iran, but still, the film’s message is not one of hopelessness and leaves open the possibility for reconciliation, if not externally in all cases, then at least from within.

Lake of Fire. Thirty-five years after Roe v. Wade, abortion remains one of the most divisive issues in American domestic politics. So divisive, that activists on opposite sides of the debate are rarely capable of speaking constructively with each other. Tony Kaye’s Lake of Fire transcends the propaganda with an in-depth investigation of the issue and an adamant refusal to look away. At two and half hours, this film is not for the faint hearted, but is a brave, unflinching portrait of a conflict. Featuring interviews with Noam Chomsky, Alan Dershowitz, Randall Terry and “Jane Roe,” the film parses the dialectical nuances of the debate. Kaye’s decision to film black and white is genius. Not only does it allow the inclusion of images that would otherwise seem sensational, but it’s also a metaphor for the questions at stake – many shades of grey.

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