FIRST TO STAND, 81min., Canada, Documentary
Directed by Irene Lilienheim Angelico, Abbey Jack Neidik
First to Stand opens in the streets of Moscow with protesters chanting to bring Putin down and brings us to the streets of Iran, where women dare to wave their hijabs on sticks in the streets of Tehran. Against the Russian backdrop, past and present, First to Stand follows Irwin Cotler and his team of young activists at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre as they take on the cases and cause of political prisoners and human rights activists battling the world’s most repressive regimes.

Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger sentenced to ten years and a thousand lashes for “insulting Islam.”

Bill Browder, the first to speak out against Putin and the creator of the Magnitsky Act.
Amal Clooney, international human rights barrister
Shaparak Shajarizadeh, imprisoned for protesting compulsory hijab.

Natan Sharansky, Russian refusnik..
Masih Alinejad, Iranian journalist, recently subject to an Iranian kidnapping attempt.
The First to Stand is about committed human rights activists who know if they stand up, it won’t be long before others are standing with them.

Director Statement
Like so many people worldwide, I have long admired Irwin Cotler for his crucial work on behalf of political prisoners and human rights activists battling against the world’s most repressive regimes. And I wasn’t that surprised when he told me, at the age of seventy-five, that he was starting the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Fight (RWCHR). Soon after, he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum. He called when he returned, inspired by the energy and ideas he experienced there, and asked if I would be interested in doing a film about human rights.

My parents are Holocaust Survivors and humanitarians. They left me with a legacy that I am committed to, no matter what. The one meaningful thing that came out of the horrors they and the other Survivors went through was the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, intended to protect people from the abuses of governments. Over time, virtually all States have accepted the Declaration, which is the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection to which everyone is entitled. Irwin is committed to defending those rights. But, today, we are witnessing a global threat to these rights as many world leaders openly seek power with appeals to racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and imprisonment of those who challenge their regimes. So, we decided to get to work and do our part.

Irwin and his team at the RWCHR helped set up access to many otherwise inaccessible situations. Sometimes we were admitted, mainly because of Irwin’s participation. Sometimes the discussions were too delicate and out travels were in vain.

We were greatly privileged not only to film with Irwin, but with several of the most important human rights activist who are standing up against the most repressive regimes -- Raif Badawi, imprisoned Saudi blogger; Shaparak Shajarizadeh, champion of women’s rights in Iran; Anatoly Sharansky, famed refusnik; Amal Clooney, defending journalist-at-risk: and Bill Browder is the Champion of the most important human rights tool of this century. He was Putin’s # 1 enemy when we started, but has probably slipped to second place after President Zelensky, after Putin’s unspeakable war crimes against the Ukrainian people.

But the film was riddled with challenges. We lost months of shooting time and, when we were just back on track, the pandemic hit. We found ourselves with a deadline to finish with only 70% the film shot.

What I have discovered in my filmmaking career is that the most impossible situations lead to the most imaginative solutions, often better than the easier original plan. Although we had to drop two important storylines, we were able to focus on Irwin’s most important Cases and Causes. We hope that in seeing their courage, others will be inspired to stand up, too.

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Director Statement
Like so many people worldwide, I have long admired Irwin Cotler for his crucial work on behalf of political prisoners and human rights activists battling against the world’s most repressive regimes. And I wasn’t that surprised when he told me, at the age of seventy-five, that he was starting the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Fight (RWCHR). Soon after, he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum. He called when he returned, inspired by the energy and ideas he experienced there, and asked if I would be interested in doing a film about human rights.

My parents are Holocaust Survivors and humanitarians. They left me with a legacy that I am committed to, no matter what. The one meaningful thing that came out of the horrors they and the other Survivors went through was the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, intended to protect people from the abuses of governments. Over time, virtually all States have accepted the Declaration, which is the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection to which everyone is entitled. Irwin is committed to defending those rights. But, today, we are witnessing a global threat to these rights as many world leaders openly seek power with appeals to racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and imprisonment of those who challenge their regimes. So, we decided to get to work and do our part.

Irwin and his team at the RWCHR helped set up access to many otherwise inaccessible situations. Sometimes we were admitted, mainly because of Irwin’s participation. Sometimes the discussions were too delicate and out travels were in vain.

We were greatly privileged not only to film with Irwin, but with several of the most important human rights activist who are standing up against the most repressive regimes -- Raif Badawi, imprisoned Saudi blogger; Shaparak Shajarizadeh, champion of women’s rights in Iran; Anatoly Sharansky, famed refusnik; Amal Clooney, defending journalist-at-risk: and Bill Browder is the Champion of the most important human rights tool of this century. He was Putin’s # 1 enemy when we started, but has probably slipped to second place after President Zelensky, after Putin’s unspeakable war crimes against the Ukrainian people.

But the film was riddled with challenges. We lost months of shooting time and, when we were just back on track, the pandemic hit. We found ourselves with a deadline to finish with only 70% the film shot.

What I have discovered in my filmmaking career is that the most impossible situations lead to the most imaginative solutions, often better than the easier original plan. Although we had to drop two important storylines, we were able to focus on Irwin’s most important Cases and Causes. We hope that in seeing their courage, others will be inspired to stand up, too.