The In Light Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is a student-run festival promoting interaction between students, scholars, and practitioners who all share an investment in the many struggles for human rights occurring around the world. Established in 2015, the ILFF is held on even-numbered years. The festival features a series of screenings accompanied by Q+As and roundtables intended to foster dialogue between documentary filmmakers, scholars, and community members.
Documentary films have long been used as effective teaching aids and tools for facilitating public debate on contemporary socio-political issues. ILFF continues this tradition by creating an opportunity in Bloomington where people can find inspiration in this important work and connect with documentary films and filmmakers.
The 2026 festival was funded by a combination of IU partnerships, Bloomington businesses, and non-profit donors. Support came from the Center for Documentary Research and Practice, IU Cinema, the IU Media School, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Black Film Center/Archive, Theory Theater Performance, Environmental Futures, FAR Center for Contemporary Arts & Pictura Gallery, Bloomington Pub Quiz, Cardinal Spirits, Redbud Books, Bloomington Fine Art Supply, and Bloomington DSA. All events were free and open to the public.
Schedule
- Between Places & Passages, artist Andrew Ina, 2-day art installation on Thursday and Friday in Franklin Hall
- Natchez, dir. Susannah Herbert, the Moving Image Archive, Wells Library, 2:30pm
- Writing Hawa, dir. Najiba Noori & Rasul Noori, Q & A to follow, IU Cinema, 4:30pm
- The Shadow Scholars, dir. Eloise King, Q & A with filmmaker to follow, IU Cinema, 7:00pm
- Local Action Panel, a conversation with Samantha Bravo (from Slumlord Millionaire, Hugh Farrell (Center for Sustainable Living), Eli Beaton and Bryce Greene (Bloomington DSA), hosted by Cole Nelson (Redbud Books), 10:30am
- Seeds, dir. Brittany Shyne, Q &A with the filmmaker to follow, The FAR Center for Contemporary Arts, 2:00pm
- Pompeii: Below the Clouds (Sotto le Nuvole), dir. Gianfranco Rosi, IU Cinema, 7:00pm
- Localities & Memory, an artist talk with Andrew Ina, Q & A to follow with Andrew and the director of Writing Hawa, Najiba Noori, IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 10:30am
- Slumlord Millionaire, dir. Steph Ching & Ellen Martinez, The FAR Center for Contemporary Arts, 1:00pm
- Black Snow, dir. Alina Simone, Q & A with the filmmaker to follow, IU Cinema, 4:00pm
- How Deep Is Your Love, dir. Eleanor Mortimer, Q & A to follow, IU Cinema, 7:00pm
About the Films
Summaries of the films come from IMDb.
Directed by Susannah Herbert. A sharp look at the American South's unreconciled history through Natchez, a Mississippi town that mixes antebellum tourism with a community deeply divided over its past.
Directed by Najiba Noori and Rasul Noori. A 52-year-old Hazara woman, Hawa, embarks on a journey of self-emancipation after an arranged marriage, educating herself, starting a textile business, until their lives are disrupted by the Taliban's resurgence in 2021.
Directed by Eloise King. Professor Kingori explores Kenya's essay mills supplying work for students globally. Thousands of educated but underemployed Kenyans earn from this billion-dollar industry undermining education's integrity.
Directed by Brittany Shyne. A look into the lives of Black generational farmers, unveiling the challenges of maintaining legacy and the value of land ownership.
Directed by Gianfranco Rosi. Naples faces dual volcanic threats from Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Amid increasing tremors, archaeologists work as residents live anxiously, haunted by Pompeii's fate while emergency services strain.
Directed by Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez. In New York City's most quickly gentrifying neighborhoods, a group of fearless residents, activists, and nonprofit attorneys fight corrupt landlords and developers for the basic human right to a home.
Directed by Alina Simone. In a remote Russian mining town, black snow falls due to the extreme pollution. A Siberian eco-activist, dubbed the 'Erin Brockovich of Russia,' fights for her community.
Directed by Eleanor Mortimer. With deep-sea mining looming, biologists race to collect and name the undiscovered species of the abyss, the last wilderness on earth.