City of Davis

Film Descriptions

5:15 PM Blood of Yingzhou District (39 minutes)

*2007 Best Short Documentary Oscar Winner*
China/USA Director Ruby Yang/Producer Thomas Lennon
No one knows how old Gao Jun is. Whatever his biological age, he has none of the verbal babble, or ready tears, of a child his age. The film tracks this orphan for a year as his closest surviving kin - his uncles - weigh what to do with him. The older uncle's dilemma: if he allows his children to play with Gao Jun, who is HIV-positive, they will be ostracized by terrified neighbors. The younger uncle's dilemma: so long as Gao Jun remains in the house, the young man may not be able to find a wife. Gao Jun is one of just a handful of children we come to know in this film: Nan Nan who after her parents' death, was shunned by relatives and left to live without adult care, with "Little Flower," her teen-age sister; and the Huang siblings who vividly describe their ostracism at school. The result of misinformation about the nature of the disease, the suffering of these orphans is all the more devastating for being largely unnecessary.

6:00 PM True Whispers (59 minutes)

USA Director Valerie Red-Horse/Producers Valerie Red-Horse and Gale Ann Hurd
True Whispers tells the moving and personal story of the World War II Navajo Code Talkers. Recruited as teenagers from harsh government and mission schools where they were forbidden to use their native language, they served as U.S. Marines and used that very language to transmit vital coded messages that were key to victory in the Pacific. The wartime contributions of these Native Americans went unrecognized for over fifty years. This documentary, uniquely positioned from their point of view, including cultural, personal and intimate moments, provides a part of the long overdue tribute they deserve. The film is narrated by noted actor William H. Macy, and features original Navajo music.

7:00 PM Malaria: Number One Killer (20 minutes)

Ethiopia/Kenya Director/Producer: IRIN Films
Malaria claims three million lives every year worldwide, most of them in the countries south of the Sahara. Among the places hardest hit is Ethiopia. Here malaria can wipe out the lives of hundreds of thousands of villagers, mainly women and children, in a single epidemic.

Discussion by Greg Lanzaro, Ph.D.
Director, UC Mosquito Research Program and UC Center for Vector Borne Diseases.

7:30 PM The Tsunami Generation (52 minutes)

Germany/Indonesia Director/Producer: Folke Ryden
This is the untold story of the Aceh province in Indonesia in the wake of the Tsunami disaster in which 200,000 people perished and half a million became homeless. In the ensuing turmoil, the Indonesian government, religious organizations, and the GAM guerrillas all aspired to gain respect from the new situation with promises of rebuilding Aceh. At the same time hundreds of NGOs descended upon the province with more donor money than ever before. Through compelling stories of remnants of families, this film is an emotional account of how the year following the tsunami came to be almost as turbulent as the tsunami itself. They are The Tsunami Generation - a generation of people with a glimpse of hope in their eyes, despite the overwhelming struggle that remains to get life back to normal.

8:30 PM Rights on the Line: Vigilantes on the Border (25 minutes)

Mexico/USA Director/Producer: WITNESS
Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border exposes the anti-immigrant politics that lurk behind the Minuteman Project and shows the continuum between official border militarization and vigilante action. This video was shot by human rights activists and residents of border communities. It tells the story of border tensions from the point of view of those affected and reveals the underlying motivations of the vigilantes through interviews and disturbing footage of their nighttime patrols.

9:00 PM Between Two Stones: Nepal’s Decade of Conflict (21 minutes)

Nepal Director/Producer: IRIN Films
In February 1996, the first shots of Nepal's civil war rang out across the Himalayas. Ten years into the conflict, more than 12,000 people have lost their lives as Nepal’s ruling monarchy battles with Maoist rebels seeking to establish a communist republic. The civilian population, meanwhile, is trapped in the middle. This film, containing unique footage, is a rare glimpse into a struggle most people know little about.

9:30 PM Rosita (58 minutes)

Nicaragua/Costa Rica/USADirectors/Producers: Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
Rosita, a documentary by award-winning filmmakers Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater, traces a young girl's journey from innocent victim to unwitting victor. When a nine-year-old Nicaraguan girl becomes pregnant as a result of a rape, her parents - illiterate campesinos working in Costa Rica - seek a legal "therapeutic" abortion to save their only child's life. Their quest pits them against the governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the medical establishment, and the Catholic Church. When their story gains international media attention, the repercussions ripple across Latin America and Europe.