HRFN PROGRAMMERS CHOOSE WINNER OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM AWARD 2008

The directors and programmers of the Human Rights Film Network have decided on the winner of the International Human Rights Film Award. The award was established by Amnesty International and Cinema for Peace last year. It honours a human rights defending organisation or activist portrayed in a recent feature or documentary film. The directors and programmers of the Human Rights Film Network decide on the winner of the award. The International Human Rights Film Award goes with a 5.000 Euro cash prize to projects of the awarded activist.

For her efforts for peace, women's rights and democracy in Afghanistan the jury has decided to award politician and activist Malalai Joya this year's International Human Rights Film Award.



Twenty-nine year old Joya was born in Afghanistan but grew up in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. She was the first Afghan woman ever to enter parliament. As an elected Member of Parliament from Farah province, she has publicly denounced the presence of what she considers "warlords" and "war criminals", former members of the Mujahideen that fought in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, in the parliament. In May 2007, Joya was suspended from parliament on the grounds that she had "insulted" fellow representatives in a television interview. Her suspension, which is currently being appealed, has generated protest internationally. Appeals for her reinstatement have been signed by high profile writers, artists and politicians.
Joya states that the government currently in power is not supporting nor facilitating the education or economic development of women, which keeps them in poverty and from fighting for their rights.

Malalai Joya was portrayed in the documentary ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS by Eva Mulvad.

The International Human Rights Film Award will be awarded to Malalai Joya at the Cinema for Peace awards gala night at the Berlin International Film Festival on Monday 11th of February 2008.

For more information go to www.cinemaforpeace.com.

HUMAN RIGHTS FILM NETWORK AWARD AT VENICE 2007

Human Rights Film Network is delighted to announce the Award for Best Feature Film at the 64° Venice Film Festival. The Human Rights Film Network Award pays tribute to the courage of film directors who use the camera as an instrument of denunciation and visual resistance.

The international jury, formed by
Kirill Konin (Director Refugee Film Festival, Tokyo)
Maciej Novicki (Director Human Rights Film Festival in Warsaw)
Laura Marcellino (Consultant Cinema Industry)
Giancarlo Zappoli (Cinema Critic)
Giulia Grassilli (Director Human Rights Nights, Bologna)

has conferred the Award to

MAN FROM PLAINS by Jonathan Demme,

for its representation of the intellectual honesty, coherence and strength of Jimmy Carter in pursuing with perseverance a path of peace and dialogue towards a resolution for the tragic situation in Palestine beyond any prejudice and bias. From the portrait of the former US President Jimmy Carter, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, a very different image of America than the contemporary one does emerge - a nation able to evaluate different perspectives but never ready to be silent in front of crimes against humanity from whatever side they would come from. It is an example of humanity that shows concrete ways to reach peace.

The jury Human Rights Film Network has also conferred two special mentions for the films:
REDACTED by Brian De Palma
IT'S A FREE WORLD by Ken Loach

For the full press release please click here.

FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS FILM AWARD AT BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

For the first time, the Human Rights Film Network has presented the new Human Rights Film Award at the prestigious Cinema for Peace gala during the Berlin International Film Festival. The award honours the courageous work of human rights activists (individuals or groups) portrayed in a HR film. The award is worth EUR 5000 and is presented in cooperation with Cinema for Peace and Amnesty International.

The first Human Rights Film Award winner is Zainap Gashaeva for her outstanding work on documenting war crimes in Chechnya. Mrs. Gashaeva and her organization Echo of War were portrayed in Eric Bergkraut's 2005 documentary "Coca - The Dove From Chechnya". The Human Rights Film Award was presented to Mrs. Gashaeva by Antonio Banderas and Marianne Faithful.

left to right: Anabel Bermejo, Markus N. Beeko (both AI Germany), director Ayfer Ergün (An Ox for a Baby), director James Longley (Iraq in Fragments), Zainap Gashaeva (Echo of War), Taco Ruighaver (Movies That Matter, Amsterdam), Giulia Grassilli (Human Rights Nights, Bologna), Andrea Kuhn (Perspektive, Nuremberg), Leo Hannewijk (Movies That Matter, Amsterdam)

HUMAN RIGHTS FILM NETWORK WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

The Human Rights Film Network welcomes its new members:

Bolivia: Human Rights Film and Video Festival (Sucre)
Burkina Faso: Festival de la liberté d'expression et droits de l'homme (Ouagadougou)
Canada: Montreal Human Rights Film Festival (Montreal)
New Zealand: Human Rights Film Festival (various cities)
Serbia: Free Zone: Belgrade Human Rights Film Festival (Belgrade)

HUMAN RIGHTS FILM NETWORK AWARD AT VENICE 2006

Human Rights Film Network has renewed its presence at the 63° Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica / Venice Film Festival (30 August- 9 September 2006), by offering an award to the best feature film dedicated to human rights issues.

The Human Rights Film Network Award Jury, formed by:
Giulia Grassilli (Human Rights Nights, Bologna Film Archive)
Giuseppe Gariazzo (Turin Film Festival, African Film Festival in Milan)
Roberto Silvestri (Film Critic, Il Manifesto)

have decided to signal with a Special Mention the film
DARATT by Mahmat-Saleh Haroun,
because it valorises the subversive force of tradition whilst rebelling on the anachronisms of modernity,

The Human Rights Film Network Award is this year been assigned to the film
WHEN THE LEEVES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS by Spike Lee
for its epic force in telling the human tragedy of the Katrina hurricane. The film has the courage to denounce the institutional negligence which have brought to the violation of life and dignity of people, to the environmental disaster, and to the forced exodus of the Black population of New Orleans.

Human Rights Film Network is an international network of 17 human rights film festivals in the world, created to promote cinema as a tool for denouncing human rights abuses and towards a deeper understanding of contemporary world issues.