Co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFC Center, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival begins in New York City today. The festival, which takes place in more than 20 cities around the world, highlights incisive and new cinema that looks at issues of social justice and oppression, per Human Rights Watch’s mission. 

A profile of the festival’s films by the New York Times highlights two documentaries that investigate America’s current political climate:

– Marc Silver’s “3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets,” the festival’s opening night selection which examines the shooting death of Jordan Davis in Florida in 2012

– Stanley Nelson’s “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” the closing film which documents the history of the Panthers leading up to the murder of Fred Hampton in a raid by Chicago police 

Click here to read the New York Times article, and click here for more information on the festival.