All three films/documentaries I saw last week at the HRW Film Festival were excellent. The first one was a harrowing documentary on the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib - 'The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib'. Ever since my stint at Ahmedabad following the riots in 2002 I have been gripped by how cruel human beings are against their own. I can not forget some of the faces and voices I heard then. When one moves away from such experiences you tend to get comfortable with your comfort zones and always place events such as Abu Ghraib as something that is outside our realm of reality and therefore not of our concern. Documentaries like this one remind you that it could happen to anyone and worse someone who knows you could harm you.

'Hothouse' is a film about Palestinians within Israeli prisons traces the events from the announcement of elections in Palestine early last year to when Hamas displaces Fateh to take control of the Palestinian Government. The film is shot almost entirely within two main prisons in Israel and explores the complexities of the situation within the prisons, without taking sides. This is a commendable achievement considering the emotions the situation in the region raises. Shimon Doten, the director strikes a bond with almost all the prisoners he interacts with. Again, this makes you wonder, how do we reconcile the many faces of mankind?
The last documentary we watched was about how corruption and greed with an absent democracy can destroy a country. 'Suffering and Smiling' is about Fela Kuti and his son Femi Kuti's fight against the corruption in Nigeria using music. What struck me about the documentary was the noise, colours and the chaos of Lagos and the concerts where Femi sings and urges his countrymen ( all of whom looked like they were pitch drunk) to rise and protest against Obsanjano. There were no women at any of his concerts in Nigeria except for the dancers who accompany his act. Oh, and did I tell you these dancers were dancing from inside a barbed wire cage like contraption!!?? I came out of the movie hall and the first thing I said was- 'Wow, India is such a nice country! Our corruption is not this bad.' Like they say- perceptions are all relative.