A selection of the best documentaries on topical issues and human rights

Internazionale's documentary retrospective has reached its tenth edition – the ninth at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni after the Ferrara festval – which means that at this juncture we have shared fully seventy films with the public in an effort to present the best documentaries on global topical issues in our drive to inform, involve and debate.
The challenge this year was to find themes that have not yet been addressed: genetics with Human Nature, which explores the impressive yet disturbing prospects of CRISPR technology, and the tragic theme of sexual abuse on minors in the Church with Prey, a theme that does not get much attention in Italy even in the face of such spectacular cases as the one recounted in the film. With Sakawa and Leftover Women we return to Africa and the Far East: the first film takes a dispassionate look behind the scenes at the online fraud that allows young Ghanaians to survive, while the second paints a touching picture of three young Chinese women as they cope with families' and society's scornful view of unmarried women.
The other beacon guiding the retrospective is, of course, the topical issue, and amid the growing climate of inhumane conduct and racism it is of crucial importance for us to take a fresh look at the Mediterranean and to concern ourselves with migration: Midnight Traveler is the riveting story, told in the first person, of a family's journey from Afghanistan to Europe, filmed on a common-or-garden mobile phone yet acclaimed at the most important festivals; while  Mission Lifeline takes us on board a German NGO vessel engaged in rescue work in the Strait of Sicily, but also among protesters in Germany crying "Let them drown!" The opinions we form depend on the information we are given, and that information is becoming increasingly mixed up with propaganda.
The commitment of the online collective of citizen journalists at the heart of Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World is more valuable than ever in such a disturbing scenario. We end with a documentary that contains within it everything we look for in a film: a great story, unforgettable characters and a narrative that shines the spotlight on our times, which is just what the trajectory of Chelsea Manning does, from Wikileaks to gender change and political commitment, a story told from an extraordinarily intimate angle in XY Chelsea.

Info
Palazzo delle Esposizioni - Sala Cinema
Admission via steps in Via Milano 9a, Rome
ADMISSION FREE WHILE PLACES LAST
Places will be assigned from one hour before the start of each screening.  Reservations may be made by membership card holders only.  There will no further admission once the event has started.