WATCH THE TRAILER

"Hard To Believe" will have the Brisbane Premiere, followed by a Q&A panel, on August 11 (Thursday), 2016, from 6:45 PM to 9:30 PM (AEST).

Guest speakers on the panel:

Ethan Gutmann, Award-winning China analyst and human-rights investigator (featured in the film)
Dr Sarah Winch, CEO Health Ethics Australia and Head, Discipline of Medical Ethics, Law and Professionalism, School of Medicine at The University of Queensland
Benedict Coyne, National President, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights

Timeline:

6:45 PM - 7:00 PM: Start
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Screening of Hard to Believe movie
8:00 PM - 8:30 PM: Q&A panel (see below for speaker biographies)
8:30 PM - 9:30 PM: Meet the panel and mingle (drinks and canapes provided)

Q&A Panel Speakers

Ethan Gutmann

Ethan Gutmann is the author of the award winning book Losing the New China: A Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal. He has written widely on China issues for publications such as the Wall Street Journal Asia, Investor’s Business Daily, Weekly Standard, National Review, and World Affairs Journal, and he has provided testimony and briefings to the United States Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency, the European Parliament, the International Society for Human Rights in Geneva, the United Nations, and the parliaments of Ottawa, Canberra, Dublin, Edinburgh, and London. A former foreign-policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, Gutmann has appeared on PBS, CNN, BBC, and CNBC. His most recent book is The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution To Its Dissident Problem.

Dr Sarah Winch

Dr Sarah Winch is a healthcare ethicist employed at the School of Medicine, The University of Queensland where she is Head of the Discipline of Medical Ethics, Law and Professionalism. Sarah consults to clinicians on issues of ethical concern, most commonly, on end of life matters. She has published over 50 academic journal articles and book chapters in ethics, the history of ideas, evidence based practice and research capacity building, and has acquitted over $3 million in competitive research funding. In her spare time she is the CEO of Health Ethics Australia, a not for profit charity that focuses on improving death literacy for Australians and compassion safety for clinicians.

Benedict Coyne

Benedict Coyne is a human rights lawyer based in Brisbane at law firm Anderson Fredericks Turner. He is also the national President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR). ALHR is a national network of Australian solicitors, barristers, academics, judicial officers and law students who practise and promote international human rights law in Australia. Benedict recently graduated with Distinction from a Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. In 2009 he completed his undergraduate law degree at Southern Cross University and was awarded the university medal for outstanding academic achievement. Benedict is a passionate advocate for human rights both domestically and internationally and has received numerous awards for his work including the Australian Lawyers Alliance/Amnesty International 2014 National Emerging Lawyer of the Year Award and the 2015 Qld Civil Justice Award.

Supported by:

The Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Australian Council for Human Rights Education

Local contact: Vlad 0410 331 851

Limited Seating - Book Now!

Film Synopsis

IT’S HAPPENED BEFORE: Governments killing their own citizens for their political or spiritual beliefs. But it’s never happened like this.

It’s happened so often that the world doesn’t always pay attention. But is economic influence the reason, that this time, it’s going largely unreported? It’s hard to believe that doctors would carve up innocent people so their organs could be sold. It’s even harder to believe that major media are not investigating. Yet it happened tens of thousands of times, and may be happening still.

Hard to Believe is a documentary that examines the issue of forced live organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners of conscience, and the response—or lack of it—around the world. Produced by Swoop Films, two-time Emmy Award-winning director/producer, Ken Stone, and Irene Silber.

WATCH HARD TO BELIEVE TRAILER 2

Reviews

“The first sustained examination into why the world is so willing to turn a blind eye to ‘one of the most catastrophic human rights violations in our time’.”

— Daily Mail

“An important, timely and deeply disturbing account of one of the great human rights abuses of our time.”

— Dr. Arthur Caplan, PhD, Founding Director of the Division of Medical Ethics, NYU

“Why the world has failed to act in the face of overwhelming evidence.”

— The Daily Beast

“Exposes the widespread Chinese government practice of executing political prisoners and selling their organs to ‘transplant tourists’.”

— Broadway World

“The first ever full insight into this trade and how the majority of the entire planet is turning a blind eye.”

— The LAD Bible

“Delves into the truth – or untruth – concerning live organ harvesting in China.”

— Kicker Daily News

“A scandal that sullies the image of organ transplantation – I strongly recommend viewing the shocking truth of how one country has transcended from giving the gift of life to the willful taking”

— Adnan Sharif, Consultant Nephrologist, Renal Medicine, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

“An important film that hopefully will shock the world and cause deep reflection.”

— Professor Katrina A. Bramstedt, PhD, Ethicist, Bond University, Australia

“HARD TO BELIEVE dives into a topic that is utterly disturbing for the medical profession and society in the 21st century. The true horror of this crime is summed up in the few words of Chinese surgeon, Dr. E. Tohti: “Remember… nothing happened today.”

— Torsten Trey, M.D., PhD, Executive Director, Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)