Undocumented
Friday, August 13, 2004
8:30 - Middle-eastern music by Tamarind, featuring Michael Bates
9:00 - Short films from the unseen world
At the River Project, Pier 26 at N. Moore Street, on the Hudson.
Dress warmly (it's cooler by the river than in the streets).
In the event of rain the show is indoors and under tents at the same location.
Undocumented
A passport. A bill of sale. A label that reads "Made in China." These documents trace our movements in the world, they are the imprints of our existence. But they're all just pieces of paper, and as often as they verify your existence, they negate your humanity.
That label says the Mardi Gras beads you bought were made in a country, but doesn't say they were made by a human being, a 14-year old girl in Fuzhou. That label won't tell you the conditions in which Lio Lila works; it won't explain why you pay more for one trinket than she earns making hundreds of identical objects per day; it won't explain her befuddlement at revelers' fighting and flirting for the plastic junk she churns out. And the label won't tell you that, for all the injustice, Lio Lila doesn't want you to stop buying beads; she just wants someone to stop her boss from punishing her on days when she makes less than 200 strands.
Lio Lila was sent by her family to Fuzhou and lives on the factory compound, and she knows she'll probably never leave. When asked about her plans for the future, she replies, "It is meaningless for people like me to have plans." You need money to travel, and a passport. You can't cross borders without a passport, and you can't go back if it's taken upon arrival. Around the world, people are sold across borders, stripped of their papers, their freedom.
From the pre-civil war American slave trade, to contemporary sex slavery in Cambodia, from a film crew in occupied Palestine to kids playing in poverty-stricken Brooklyn, tonight at Rooftop Films we'll show you people around the world who are undocumented by governments, societies, and media. Here, now, are their documents.
THE FILMS:
Like Twenty Impossibles (Annemarie Jacir, 17:00)
Using a neo-realist narrative style in the vein of the new Iranian masters, Annemarie Jacir tells a too true story of an ethnically mixed documentary film crew stopped at an Israeli checkpoint in Palestine.
Mardi Gras: Made In China (David Redmon, 21:00)
David Redmon follows "The Bead Trail" backwards from the bacchanalia at Mardi Gras to the factories in Fuzhou where the beads are made, to the oil fields in Iraq where American companies mine the petroleum products that go into plastic. When each group is shown images of the other, the cycle of misunderstanding goes a long way to explaining how the unjust system is kept in place.
Bid 'em In (Neal Sopata, 2:10)
Using as a score a recording by legendary singer, songwriter, actor, artist Oscar Brown Jr., this harrowing animation shows the dehumanizing cruelty of a slave auction.
Something Between Her Hands (Sonya Shah, 17:00) *
In Cambodia, an estimated 1 in 5 women works in the garment industry, and an estimated 1 in 10 works in the sex industry. Little is known about the rest. The prospects for work or education are so slim, that many families, knowingly or not, sell their daughters into slavery, often sending them to other countries, from which they can never return. In this intimate and expansive documentary, Sonya Shah talks to dozens of women about their brutal experiences.
Stockholm Street (Mans Mansson, 6:00)
Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, veteran Rooftop director Mans Mansson (Clyde: A Tough Guy, 07/16/02) finds another Stockholm in his adoptive home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Sunlight spills through each shot, highlighting the beauty of Rooftop Films' former neighborhood, an area of New York which has been ravaged by highway construction, blackout riots, and economic injustice. In these portraits, local residents speak of the difficulties and pleasures of living where they do.
Mexican Link (Tepeyac Television Service, 9:00)
Rooftop Films became acquainted with the Tepeyac Association in the aftermath of September 11th, when we helped them raise money for the families of undocumented Latino workers who died in the Windows On The World restaurant. Now, Tepeyac returns to Rooftop with a cutout animation which tells the real stories of undocumented immigrants, demonstrating that although these workers are the backbone of the American economy, they benefit the least. To find out more, visit tepeyac.org.
And Then (Jack Holden and Hamish Dunbar, 13:00)
In two small European villages, the filmmakers document the beauty of rituals that are celebrated both by individuals and collectively by communities, activities that are in danger of disappearing due to contemporary pressures. In Northumberland, England, Joe Smith works as a "Sea Coaler," someone who harvests wasted coal from the abandoned mines. In the 1950s, when Joe began, the mines were active, the town was vibrant, and there wouldØve been over 50 sea coalers at work each day. Today, Joe is the last one, and, as he says, "I make no money, but at least I keep myself warm." Meanwhile, in San Bartolome De Pinares, seventy miles west of Madrid, a festival is held every year in honor of San Anton, Spain's patron saint of animals. The festival has its roots in religious folklore and is believed to cleanse both the villagers and the horses and get rid of all illnesses. Although the horses are soaked in wet fabric before the procession so as to minimize pain, two years ago the residents were taken to court over the festival and it was ruled that the riding of horses though the fire is now illegal.
NOTE: There may be some additions to this program.
THE MUSIC: Michael Bates is a double bassist/composer concentrating on original music and a member of several collaborative projects involving composers and improvisers from around the world. His group Tamarind performs an exciting style of music that draws largely from middle-eastern influences. Performing with Michael will be Ohad Talmor-clarinet, Brian Prunka-oud and Take Toriyama-percussion. For more information, please check out Michael Bates' website at www.outsidesources.org.
