News

Human Rights Day

In cooperation with the Embassy of Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Sarajevo Film Festival will host the Human Rights Day for the sixth year in a row.

As part of the activities marking the Human Rights Day, which will be held on Monday, 18 August 2014, the Sarajevo Film Festival will organize a special programme, including two film screenings and a panel at the Multiplex Cinema City. 

The films to be presented on this special day are RETURN TO HOMS directed by Talal Derki, and CRIME HUNTERS directed by Juan José Lozano and Nicolas Wadimoff, which will be screened in cooperation with the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights. Both films address human rights issues in a specific and current way. 

The topic for this year’s Human Rights Panel is “The Point of No Return?” and the moderator of the panel will be Sabina Ćudić, political scientist. Among the panelists will be representatives of the Embassy of Switzerland in BiH and the Council of Europe, and actor Gael Garcia Bernal, honorary guest of Sarajevo Film Festival.

The Competition Programme – Documentary Film of the Sarajevo Film Festival showcases films inspired by various aspects of human rights and by marking this special day we aim to further emphasise the importance of film as a significant and powerful media for the promotion of human rights. The films and topics chosen each year for marking the Human Rights Day provide an opportunity for panel participants, the audience and the media to discuss pressing problems currently faced by individuals or communities in the world. 

Also, the Human Rights Prize will be awarded at the official awards ceremony of the Sarajevo Film Festival for film in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film that best deals with human rights. The prize of 3000 Euros is provided by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.