By Bill Kirtz Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor
Jan 26, 2001

 They scrimped. They scrounged. They "sold." And they went on filming. Inspired by their
heroic subjects, these documentary filmmakers kept recording the unrecorded stories that
they hope will promote worldwide discussions.

 When the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival's 12th season opened in Boston
earlier this month, some of the participants recalled the tribulations and triumphs of working
outside the edge of public acceptance.

 In "Daring to Resist," filmmakers Martha Lubell and Barbara Attie explore why some
people risk their lives to save others. The story is told through the lives of three teenage
Jewish girls who fought Nazi genocide.

 For "Homeland," Jilann Spitzmiller and Hank Rogerson spent three years tracing the
struggle of native Americans at Pine Ridge (S.D.) Reservation to overcome a grim heritage
of unemployment and alcoholism. In "Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends but the
Mountains," Kevin McKiernan spotlights the scarcely known plight of the world's largest
stateless ethnic group.

 The festival's organizers, eager to spark grass-roots discussion of human-rights issues, also
help community groups and colleges organize screenings.

 These filmmakers aren't after profits. They count themselves fortunate if they don't end up
too much out-of-pocket. They talk instead of penetrating the "maze" of funding for
nonmainstream productions, limping along on small grants, and frantically assembling
highlight footage to impress foundations.

 "It really bothers me that you have to sell yourself, but that's the game we have to play," Ms.
Lubell says. She fought to fund Daring to Resist, the story of underground resistance in
Holland, Hungary, and Poland during World War II. The former ABC and CBS researcher
calls herself "very lucky" to get PBS distribution for this gripping tale of three women facing
the Holocaust.

 One of her and Ms. Attie's aims was to dispel the idea that Jews went meekly to their death.
She says the inspiration of the three teenagers who risked their lives 55 years ago "really
kept me going" during tough times during production.

 For Lubell, success means connecting with audiences. To do this, she says, "passion" is as
important as cinematic skill. Ms. Spitzmiller agrees: "We can always play with technique,
but if you have nothing to say, what's the point?" The goal in Homeland for her and her
husband and co-director was to tell a story they felt the mainstream media has overlooked.
Shocked to find that the Lakota Indians have an 85 percent unemployment rate, they admire
 these native South Dakotans' "very fine, rich family life. It's not just alcohol and casinos."

 "Homeland" received an enthusiastic response at Mr. Rogerson's Groton (Mass.) High
School alma mater. "It was a whole new experience for these [elite] students," he said. He
hopes these teenagers and many others will "develop a sense of curiosity and want to learn
more" about the challenges and courage of American Indians, who try to maintain their
traditions in a modern world.

 While production money did dribble in, the couple also took other jobs and sold friends'
donated antiques to get by. "Your belief in your subjects really pulls you through," Ms.
Spitzmiller said.

 Good Kurds/Bad Kurds was shot by two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer
Haskell Wexler. It has been included in some 30 American and international festivals. Still,
Mr. McKiernan ruefully terms it "a made-for-television film that hasn't been on television."

 Despite eight challenging years spent filming around the world, McKiernan says making the
documentary turned out to be easier than getting people to watch.

 The story indicts Turkish "ethnic cleansing" of Kurds. It traces the US government's alleged
complicity in covering up the crimes of a strategic ally. And it follows an emigre family's
persistence, despite torture and deportation threats, in fighting for Kurdish rights.

 While he found great network interest in footage of Iraq's persecution of Kurds, he said he
encountered a "stone wall" when he showed Turkey - an American strategic ally -
perpetrating the same crimes.

 McKiernan, whose international journalistic experience includes photographs for The
Christian Science Monitor from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Turkey, said he received more
than 400 rejections for funding until a MacArthur Foundation contact persuaded colleagues
to reconsider.

 "When my voice is heard, I touch someone," McKiernan says, and when an audience
understands his work, the filmmaker knows he has succeeded.

 The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival will travel to St. Louis Jan. 30 to
March 6; London, March 29 to April 5; and New York, June 13 to 28. For more
information, call 212-216-1264 or log on to www.hrw.org/iff.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com