Martin Luther King Jr. Film Festival

The Montana Human Rights Network has celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Montanans for a decade, and this year is no exception. The Montana Human Rights Network is hosting the Human Rights Film Festival at the Myrna Loy Center for its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on January 19, 2009.

The nine-hour festival will include four feature films, a reception, and a short film series preceding each feature. Ticket prices are $30 for an all-day pass, $5 for the afternoon film, and $10 for an evening film. Tickets can be purchased by calling 442-5506 ext. 10 or visiting ww.mhrn.org.

"For 18 years, the Network has been organizing to promote the democratic values of justice, equality and pluralism," said Rachel Carroll of the Human Rights Network. "Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an opportunity to honor the man who was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement, to recognize the racial discrimination King and others protested, and to build a movement for social justice that addresses the modern day injustices faced by many. The Montana Human Rights Network brings the Human Rights Film Festival to Helena in order to provide an entertaining and meaningful event for the national holiday."

The Academy Award-winning afternoon film, "Mighty Times: The Children's March," is geared particularly for children ten and older. Airing at 2:00 pm, the film is the story of young people in Birmingham, Alabama, who braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees.

At 5:00 pm, the festival will feature "Strange Fruit," which is the exploration of Billie Holiday's haunting classic and the history of lynching through the interplay of race, labor, the left, and popular culture. The film will be followed by a wine and hors d'oeuvre fundraising reception featuring local attorney Shaid Haque-Hausrath of Border Crossing Law Firm on the topic of Immigrant Rights as Human Rights.

Following the theme of the reception, the 7:45 pm program pairs two films on the subject of immigration. The Charlie Chaplin classic drama, "The Immigrant," will precede Jenny Alexander's, "Detained: The New Bedford Immigration Raid." "Detained" is about two families affected by a 2007 Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid of undocumented immigrants, mostly women with small children, who were working at a factory producing vests for the U.S. military.

The final feature film of the night is at 9:20 pm and brings the topic of racial conflict in the U.S. full circle. The 1989 classic Spike Lee film, "Do the Right Thing," tells a tale of bigotry and racial conflict in a multi-ethnic community in a Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood on the hottest day of the year.

Preceding each feature film is a showcase of short films on important topics of the day. From gay rights to racial discrimination and heath care, the films are equally diverse in style and content. What all the films have in common is that they spark debate and action in 12 minutes or less.

This celebration is the Montana Human Rights Network's major fundraising event of the year. Funds raised will support the Network's mission of protecting human rights in Montana through education, community mobilization, and political action.

Ticket prices are $30 for an all-day pass, $5 for the afternoon film, and $10 for an evening film. Tickets can be purchased by calling 442-5506 ext. 10 or visiting ww.mhrn.org.