Freedom House invites you to attend a preview and panel discussion of:
Making the Case: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law
A documentary film that is currently in production featuring Zimbabwe human rights attorney Beatrice Mtetwa
Please join Freedom House as we host a preview of the documentary-in-progress and discussion of Making the Case, Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law, a film that seeks to highlight the importance of the rule of law in Zimbabwe by focusing on renowned attorney Beatrice Mtetwa. Through interviews with Mtetwa and some of her defendants, Making the Case tells the story of what happens when rulers place themselves above the law and why defense of the rule of law is a crucial step in the building of a civil society. The film gives voice to those who have been victims of the regime and provides an insider's view on what it takes to fight back against the brutal and corrupt government.
To RSVP for this event, please visit the following link:
Making the Case: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law
Featuring Panelists:
Lorie Conway, Co-Producer and Director
Sandra Nyaira, Reporter, Voice of America
Joe Trippi, Campaign Consultant and Legal Strategist
Christina Lamb, Foreign Correspondent, The Sunday Times
Jeff Smith, Program Officer - Africa, Freedom House
Moderator: Daniel Calingaert, Vice President for External Relations and Public Policy, Freedom House
Light refreshments will be served.
Additional information on the film, filmmakers, and panel discussion participants below:
Making the Case: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law
Making the Case: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law is a feature length documentary supported by the International Bar Association, the US Institute for Peace, and the United Kingdom based BRITDOC Documentary Journalism Foundation. The producers are currently fundraising for completion funds so the film can be released in early 2013. The Filmmakers Collaborative is the fiscal sponsor, 501, C-3.
Co-producers of the film are Hopewell Chin'Ono, CNN African Filmmaker of the Year, 2009, who is based in Harare, Zimbabwe, Lorie Conway, whose last film Forgotten Ellis Island, was broadcast on PBS and told the story of the Ellis Island immigrant hospital that once served tens of thousands of sick immigrants coming to America, and Andrew Meldrum, who reported from Zimbabwe for over two decades before being expelled for his work by the Mugabe regime.
The producers are seeking outreach partners to help distribute the film in classrooms throughout sub-Saharan Africa and to organize screenings through NGO's and foundations. Please contact Lorie Conway, at bostonfilmvideo@gmail.com for more information about the film project.
Panelist bios:
Lorie Conway is Co-Producer and Director of Making the Case, Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law. Her past documentary work includes Forgotten Ellis Island, the first film (and companion book) to be produced about the abandoned immigrant hospital on Ellis Island. The film was broadcast on PBS and an abbreviated version is shown at the Ellis Island Museum. In January, Lorie traveled to Zimbabwe as a tourist carrying three small HD cameras in her backpack. Working with co-producer, Hopewell Chin'ono, she filmed several interviews with Beatrice Mtetwa and her defendants. Lorie is returning to Zimbabwe in June for a final round of filming and, if funding is in place, will begin editing the film later this summer, with broadcast distribution in early 2013.
Sandra Nyaira was born in the township of Glen Norah, in Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare; after finishing college she pursued graduate studies in journalism at City College in London. When she was hired in 1999 as political editor at the independent Daily News, Sandra was the first woman in Zimbabwe to hold that leadership position. During her tenure Nyaira was awarded several international prizes for her work covering the political and economic crisis in her country. She also suffered threats, intimidation and slander by government agents. In 2002, she left the Daily News a year before it was shut down by the Mugabe government. Like hundreds of other journalists from Zimbabwe, Sandra has been forced into exile. After spending a semester at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, she now broadcasts to Zimbabwe daily from Voice of America’s Studio 7.
Christina Lamb is a British journalist who is currently Washington Bureau chief for the Sunday Times. She has been a foreign correspondent for more than 20 years, living in Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa for the Financial Times and the Sunday Times. For her work, she has been awarded "Foreign Correspondent of the Year" four times. Christina was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where she met producer Lorie Conway who was in the same Nieman class. Lamb's book, House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe, was hailed as "a simple story to illuminate the complexity and paradoxes of present-day Zimbabwe."
Joe Trippi is a long-time Democratic campaign consultant and a mainstay in presidential politics. He has worked on the presidential campaigns of Edward Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Dick Gephardt, Jerry Brown, and John Edwards. He was campaign manager for former Vermont governor, Howard Dean, and during the race became widely acclaimed for using the Internet for fundraising and connecting to Dean supporters. Trippi has also helped train and provide strategic advice in emerging democracies including Zimbabwe. In 2009, Trippi campaigned for the release of Zimbabwean Roy Bennett from the Mutare prison where he was being detained and tortured. Roy Bennett is a leading member of the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party and during his ordeal was defended in court by Beatrice Mtetwa.
Jeffrey Smith is a Program Officer at Freedom House, assisting in the management of all Southern, Central, and West Africa programs. Since 2009, he has helped to implement a number of cutting edge projects in Zimbabwe that focus on voter and civic mobilization, accountability and good governance, and support for human rights defenders. Mr. Smith has a range of experience in human rights and democracy promotion work, including previous positions at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA), the Human Rights Institute, and the UNESCO Chair and Institute of Comparative Human Rights. Mr. Smith is a 2003 graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he also received a master’s degree in international relations and was the university’s first recipient of its distinguished Human Rights Graduate Certificate.
To RSVP for this event, please visit the following link:
Making the Case: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law