An extraordinary new documentary entitled  First to stand – the cases and causes of Irwin Cotler, will be released in Montreal at Cinéma du Musée on Sat. Dec.10 and Sun. Dec. 11,  with special screenings followed by a Q&A period.
Directed by Irene Lilienheim Angelico and Abbey Jack Neidik, the film will be introduced by human rights lawyer turned stand-up comedian Jess Salomon. After the screening there will be a discussion with Cotler, Shaparak Shajarizadeh, (sentenced to 20 years for waving her hijab on a stick in downtown Tehran and named one of the Most Influential Women in the World by the BBC), human rights activist Ensaf Haidar and the three filmmakers.


First to Stand follows 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 against the world’s most repressive regimes. Cotler began fighting for freedom and justice in law school with the landmark case of Russian refusnik, Natan Sharansky, for whom he devised his “mobilization of shame” against the human rights violator — essentially, a PR blitz against a superpower to convince them that holding a political prisoner is bad for their image. The strategy led to Gorbachev releasing Sharansky in 1986. First to Stand opens in the streets of Moscow with protesters chanting to bring Putin down.

This is a film of high stakes, emotion, and drama, which takes us from the streets of Iran, where women dare to wave their hijabs on the end of a stick to the strategy sessions and corridors of power, as Cotler meets with the heads of state arguing passionately for his client’s release.

With unprecedented access, the film follows their families and supporters, including: Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger who was sentenced to ten years and a thousand lashes for “insulting Islam” by advocating freedom of speech; Bill Browder, Putin’s #1 enemy, one of the first to speak out against Putin and the creator of the Magnitsky Act, the most important human rights tool of the last century; Amal Clooney, international human rights barrister, who is co-heading an international panel to protect media freedom;  Shaparak Shajarizadeh, named one of the most influential women in the world by the BBC for her protests and arrests fighting compulsory hijab in Iran;  Natan Sharansky, spokesman for the human rights movement, prisoner of conscience and leader in the struggle of Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel; Masih Alinejad, journalist, who spearheaded the current women’s protest in Iran; and Cotler’s work with the international team for Nelson Mandela and survivors of the genocide in Rwanda.
Info: https://firsttostand.com

By Mike Cohen