The Human Rights Film Festival Berlin opens tonight with the award-winning documentary “Sabaya”. Until September 25th, human rights and activism will be the focus of the fourth edition of the festival. Under the title “The Art of Change”, the festival will again show forty outstanding documentaries and offer a comprehensive program of events.
As a hybrid event, the films will be streamed online and shown in the participating Berlin arthouse cinemas as well as in the BUFA-Campus Berlin. There is that too Human Rights Forum to be found from September 20th to 23rd. During the four-day conference, international guests such as Aya Chebbi, Ece Temelkuran and Wim Wenders will give insights into their work, their ideas and their current projects in keynotes, discussions and workshops. All events are free and offered as a live stream.
On September 24th, the foundation and the festival will award the Willy Brandt Documentary Award for Freedom and Human Rights. As a representative of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Peter Brandt will award the prize again this year. The award ceremony can also be followed via livestream.
Ten documentaries from the festival program are competing for the prize: Bangla Surf Girls (Canada, 2021); Captains of Zataari (Egypt, 2021), Don’t Be Afraid if I Hug You (Italy. 2020); Fly so Far (Sweden, 2020); Imad’s Childhood (Sweden, 2021); La Vovera (Mexico, 2020); Only the Devil lives without Hope (Sweden, Norway, 2020); The Ants and the Grasshopper (USA, 2021); Unapologetic (USA, 2020); and Writing with Fore (India, 2021). (to the competition). The winning film will be chosen by an international jury consisting of Thimali Kodikara (filmmaker), Matthijs Wouter Knol (European Film Academy), Tanya Hatsura-Yavorska (activist) and Malte Mau (Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation).
The Human Rights Film Festival Berlin was initiated by the humanitarian and development organization Action Against Hunger and has been taking place annually since 2018. The Willy Brandt Documentary Film Prize for Freedom and Human Rights has been awarded since 2019. The foundation commemorates Willy Brandt’s achievements as Federal Chancellor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate and would like to support outstanding filmmakers.
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