Todo Cambia, Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ęās annual Human Rights Film Festival, is about more than film this year.
Thekicks off Saturday, March 1 with a talk and readings by a former Texas state poet laureate. Days later, a UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus will discuss his book about the scourge of housing discrimination. The next day, an artist and longtime Merced resident will share his graphic novel about an immigrant family.
To be sure, the festival also has films. Lots of films. For the first time, these include work from Central Valley creators who answered a call for submissions.
Todo Cambia runs through March 7 at locations at Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ę and in downtown Merced. All events are free to attend.
The theme of this yearās festival is āBeyond Approval.ā , the eventās artistic director and a Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ę professor of media and performance studies, explained:
āSometimes, when we are in a creative process, we look for others to approve of us. Our aim is to create a space where weāre not waiting for approval. We are shaping our vision and listening to our communities. With that, we shape our sense of justice, especially when laws do not necessarily represent justice.ā
Highlights of the festival (here's a, plus a formĢżto ):
On opening night at The Mainzer in downtown Merced, ireāne lara silva, prize-winning author of poetry and short stories, will read from recent works and talk about the power of exploring creativity without fear. The 2023 Texas state poet laureate also wrote āVenderal,ā a graphic novel.
The festivalās first call for work by Valley filmmakers attracted about 120 submissions. A quarter were selected for screenings, which will begin at 1 p.m. March 2 at the Mainzer. āThey are all beautiful visions and portraits,ā Sharim said, āmost of them created by Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ę students as well as students from Fresno and Sacramento.ā
In 2006, two brothers were sentenced to San Quentin Prisonās Death Row in the 1995 killing of five people at Patoās Place, a bar in the San Joaquin Valley city of Tulare. Allegations of mishandled evidence and prosecutorial misconduct, along with the questionable motivations of the prosecutionās star witness, have haunted the case. āReasonable Doubts,ā a three-channel video experience created by Sharon Daniel, makes a case for the exoneration of one of the brothers, Timothy James Young. āReasonable Doubtsā will be shown at 1 p.m. March 3 in Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ęās COB2 390.
An annual feature of Todo Cambia is a retrospective of a respected film. This year, itās āA Woman Under the Influence,ā directed by John Cassavetes. Gena Rowlands was an Oscar nominee following her role as a wife and mother institutionalized due to increasingly erratic behavior. The 1974 film explores the definitions of love, responsibility and societyās expectations. It will be screened at 6:30 p.m. March 4 at COB1 102.
George Lipsitz, professor emeritus of Black studies and urban culture at the University of California Santa Barbara, will talk about his book, āThe Danger Zone is Everywhere,ā which asserts that housing discrimination is not just a civil and economic injustice but also a menace to public health. His talk will start at 1 p.m. March 6 in COB2 390 and .
At 6 p.m. March 5 at the Multicultural Arts Center in downtown Merced, join Merced artist and Āé¶¹ĪŽĀė°ę student Oscar Torres for a presentation of his bilingual graphic novel, āMi Abuelo Genaro.ā In words and with a distinct art style, Torres describes a boy and his grandfather in their emigration from Mexico to the U.S. and the racial injustices that unfold around them.
Documentarian Kristy Guevara-Flanagan will appear at 11 a.m. March 6 at COB2 390 to show and talk about āAs Long as We Can,ā her film about a turbulent day at an Arizona reproductive health clinic following the 2022 Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade. Guevara-Flanagan, a UCLA professor, also will discuss the role of film in shaping social change.
The festival wraps up March 7 with three documentaries starting at 4 p.m. in COB1 102. āNo Other Landā is about an alliance that forms between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist amid the destruction of a West Bank community. āSeparatedā looks at the U.S. policy of taking children from families at the southern border. āDahomeyā follows the journey of plundered royal treasures as they are returned from Paris to the West African nation of Benin.
Sharim said he is pleased to share the creative breadth of this yearās Todo Cambia. āThe festival aims to bring together artists from separate fields who speak to one another, whether itās a poet or a filmmaker or a painter,ā he said. āThe festival invites all of us to a space of thinking and creativity.ā
Todo Cambia is supported by a grant from the Global Latinidades Project and by campus entities that include the Division of Equity, Justice and Inclusive Excellence, the deanās office of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts; and the Department of Global Arts, Media and Writing Studies.