EXCLUSIVE: The inaugural West Hollywood Human Rights Film Festival is set to unfold November 20 and 21, a cinematic showcase of “award-winning documentaries on global human rights, social justice and civil liberties.”
In addition to Oscar-contending nonfiction features and shorts, the new festival will highlight one important narrative feature – a 20th anniversary screening of Blood Diamond, the drama directed by Edward Zwick and starring Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou.
“Twenty years after Blood Diamond brought the devastating human toll of conflict diamonds to a global audience, the evening offers a timely look at the film’s enduring legacy and at what has, and has not, changed in the two decades since the film’s release,” festival organizers note. “The film’s cultural impact is undeniable. The term ‘blood diamond’ has entered the global vocabulary, and the film continues to resonate with new generations of viewers.”
The West Hollywood Human Rights Film Festival’s documentary slate boasts 14th, the new documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay that explores the U.S. Constitution’s crucial 14th Amendment, and threats to it under President Trump (including, but not limited to, the administration’s attempt to circumvent the amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship). Also in the lineup: American Doctor, director Poh Si Teng’s examination of three U.S. physicians who volunteered their medical expertise to treat Palestinian children severely injured in Israel’s yearslong attack on Gaza. American Doctor and 14th recently made DOC NYC’s shortlist of the year’s best documentaries.
Admission to the screenings is free. Scroll for the complete lineup. The festival is organized by West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman together with veteran impact producers Bonnie Abaunza and Kathleen Rodgers of GSD Group.
“In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of authoritarian regimes all around the world,” commented Mayor Heilman. “We’ve seen organized hostility to women, ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBTQI+ people and people with disabilities. We are seeing incredible backsliding rather than progress on human rights. The West Hollywood Human Rights Film Festival provides a forum to highlight human rights violations and to honor those filmmakers who are highlighting the work of human rights defenders.”
Heilman added, “West Hollywood is the right place for this festival because of the City’s long-standing commitment to human rights for everyone, but also because so many writers, producers and film-making businesses call West Hollywood their home.”
In a statement, GSD Group co-founders Kathleen Rodgers and Bonnie Abaunza said, “Hollywood became a cultural force because it was willing to tell bold stories that meant something. That willingness is under real pressure right now, from corporate consolidation and threats of censorship at the highest levels of government. This festival is a place to remember what those stories can do, and to gather around the values that brought so many of us to this work in the first place.”
In November 2027, the festival intends to expand to an annual three-day event that adds narrative feature films to the program. This year’s inaugural edition will open Friday, Nov. 20 at Pacific Design Center with the Blood Diamond event. On Saturday, Nov. 21, the festival presents its “all-day Showcase of current documentaries and documentary shorts that spotlight critical human rights stories,” with the London Hotel in West Hollywood serving as the host venue.
A nine-member judging committee reviewed the submissions and selected winners across several human rights categories, the festival notes. The committee included three human rights activists, three documentary filmmakers and three West Hollywood representatives. The selected films will screen throughout the day, each followed by a panel discussion and awards presentation.
This is the lineup for the inaugural West Hollywood Human Rights Film Festival:
Friday, November 20:
Opening Night: Blood Diamond screening
Saturday, November 21:
Documentary Films Selected
American Doctor (director Poh Si Teng)
Birds of War (directors Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak)
Everybody to Kenmure Street (director Felipe Bustos Sierra)
14th (director Ava DuVernay)
Rehearsals for a Revolution (director Pegah Ahangarani)
Documentary Shorts Selected
The Baddest Speechwriter of All (director Ben Proudfoot)
La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave) (director Cristina Costantini)
Maybe Tomorrow (directors Waad Al-Kateab and Wafa Mustafa)
English (US) ·