Politics and art. Clang! Cannot compute, sorry. They go together like a horse and marriage and there is enough earnest lecturing in the newspapers to let real world issues' invade our fun as well.

So says the knee-jerk reaction to something called Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (HRWIFF). But the key to its success, plus its short residency at a handful of London cinemas including Clapham Picturehouse, is that the organisers don't want to make it like a season of Panorama episodes.

Festival director Bruni Burres elaborates: "We steer clear of worthy documentaries and films that, despite having a good message, are amateur or just uninteresting.

"Each year we hope to bring the most important contemporary human rights issues to the forefront, but we put a human face on it and make sure it is character driven, so that you are not just presented with lots of information."

Take Al Gore's climate change documentary The Unbelievable Truth. If you thought it was spot on, HRWIFF won't leave you feeling underfurnished in the hard-hitting political journalism department.

Those who felt it was too similar to being told off at school will find bags full of escapism and artistic merit to satisfy them.

Showing at the Picturehouse are Camden 28, Lies Of Others, Suffering And Smiling, Enemies Of Happiness and A Lesson In Belarusian.

Lies of Others is an Oscar winner, no less, bagging Best Foreign Film at this year's awards.

"It looks back to when Germany was divided and the responsibility taken on when the government tell you to report anyone showing subversive behaviour," says Bruni.

"What is the morally correct decision? How do you decide between your responsibility to your collagues, your friends and the government - and is the government right in the first place?"

Camden 28 recalls the uprising in Camden, New Jersey, by a cluster of progressive, left-wing catholics, particularly priests, against the government because of the Vietnam war.

They were infiltrated by the FBI and arrested, but a trial decreed that the priests were within their rights to protest and to hold the government responsible for some of the atrocities in the East.

A 45-minute discussion follows many of the showings, and the festival is also taking place at the Brixton Ritzy, Greenwich Picturehouse and Notting Hill Gate.

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival; Clapham Picturehouse, 76 Venn Street, call 08707 550 061, visit picture houses.co.uk or hrw.org/iff.