Intolerance has many faces, some more fierce than others. They range from mere indifference and apathy to palpable malevolence, prejudice and hatred. But so many are the little steps between indifference and outright violence. This is where we encounter some disturbing moral, social and political questions: Hasn’t in-tolerance been ever-present in human history? Is it inherent to human nature? Can tolerance be taught at all? And most of all, do we tolerate the intolerable? Given the large number of social variables (breakdown of family structures, migrations, rapid loss of traditional values, exposure to violence in the media and in daily life – to name but a few), the issue can - and often does - open up areas of concern and ambiguity.

Tolerance, on the other hand, is quite plainly an endangered virtue today. Few see it as harmony in difference; many rubbish it as weakness, even betrayal. How best do we remain open-minded? Where do we compromise and where not?

DirectDirectors whose films are in the ‘In-Tolerance’ Competition section will speak of their work and their journeys while making their films.

Bio-notes

Saleh Bakri
One of Israel's emerging Palestinian actors, Saleh Bakri is a graduate of the Beit Zvi School for the performing arts. He has appeared in several plays at Israel's most prestigious Theatres (Habima, Haifa Theatre, the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre, etc.). The Band's Visit is his first acting role in a feature film.

Zhao Liang
Born in 1971, Zhao Liang graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in 1992. He studied film at the Beijing Film Academy. He has worked as an independent artist, exhibiting his work (photographs, video installations and documentary films) in galleries and at festivals. In1999 he participated in the World Wide Video Festival in Amsterdam then took up a residency at the Pierre Schaeffer International Centre for Video Creation at Hérimoncourt in France. His documentary films have been selected for a number of European festivals.

Koji Wakamatsu
Koji Wakamatsu is one of the leading filmmakers in Japan and the most important director to emerge in the pink film genre. He started his film career with Nikkatsu in 1963 and founded the Wakamatsu Production in 1965. He has created many notable works such as Affairs Within Walls, a film that created a buzz in Berlin. His first self-produced film was The Embryo Hunts in Secret. Wakamatsu has directed more than one hundred films. His early films were usually in black and white with occasional bursts of colour for theatrical effect.

Amar Kanwar
Amar Kanwar is an independent filmmaker, based in New Delhi. Responding to conditions in contemporary India, his films primarily concern issues relating to violence, politics, ecology and sexuality. They have been screened in small rural film festivals as well as in international film festivals and museums like the Museum of Modem Art, New York and the National Museum in Oslo, Norway. Kanwar won the highest prize for international contemporary art in Norway - Edvard Munch Award in 2005.