New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival
The New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival continues through the Sunday night showing of Bamako. Director Abderrahmane Sissako seizes upon an unconventional idea to explore the global issues underlying African debt and underdevelopment. A small community puts the Western world on trial, and locals present evidence in the makeshift courtyard-turned-courtroom of a couple who live in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Mélé is a lounge singer and Chaka is unemployed and unhappy, but they host the proceedings as neighbors testify about their lives. Other screenings this week include a collection of local student films; Garlic and Watermelons (pictured), about gypsies in Greece, and films about the Middle East. Most screenings take place at Ashé Cultural Arts Center and Zeitgeist's temporary home at the Tulane School of Architecture. Check the Web site for locations. Tickets $6 for most screenings. —Will Coviello
New Orleans International Human Rights Festival
April 17-22; www.nolahumanrights.org
