TADAMON, the Egyptian Refugee Multicultural Council and the Student Action for refugees (STAR) organised a film festival from 16 to 20 June 2009 in Cairo with the aim to create more understanding and dialogue between the Egyptians and the refugees living in Cairo. Cairo is home to a significant refugee population from all over Africa and the Middle East.
The film festival included film screenings, Q&A sessions, a crafts bazaar, lectures and music. The festival attracted 1.200 visitors.
Some of the reactions in the media were: "The first-ever Cairo Refugee Film Festival looks to unite Egyptians with the refugee community" (Almasry Alyoum), “The city’s first refugee film festival has proven an unprecedented success, with record crowds packing downtown’s Rawabet Theatre each evening in spite of the cramped, hot venue.” (Daily News). The opening and closing concerts (Egyptian rock, Palestinian hip-hop, and Sudanese reggae) were well received by the audience and involved performance by community members. The festival’s sideline activities (panel discussions, photography and filmmaking workshops) succeeded in creating interactions between refugees and Egyptians.
http://cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/  

In cooperation with regional organisations, the Colombo Institute organised two one-day festivals at two universities: the University of Peradeniya in Kandy (August 2009) and the Rajata University in Anuradhapura (October 2009). At each festival, five films were screened followed by discussions about subjects like ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, youth identity and anxieties, poverty and regional marginalization. The festivals reached over 1.400 undergraduate first-year students and 55 teachers, which is more than four times the amount the organiser expected beforehand.
According to the organiser, “the festival opened up the minds of the Arts Faculty undergraduates both to the idea of film as a means of learning and discussion and to the possibility of having open discussions within classroom settings regarding issues pertaining to them and to the wider world. Both of these are significant breakthroughs in a context where undergraduate education (..) is limited to a one-way monologue by a teacher who users very little other a sheaf of papers as teaching tools.” Also, “the discussions as well as the questionnaire that was filled in indicated that the film festival was greatly appreciated.”
www.colomboinstitute.org

From 4 to 13 September 2009 the third edition of this film festival took place in Montevideo, Rivera, Salto, Melo and Artigas accompanied by photography projects. The films that were screened tell stories about lesbians and gays and their issues. Alongside the screenings, debates are organised. In March and April 2010, the films were also shown in other parts of the country. The festival reached 2.900 visitors. The project received media attention at least at 54 websites and 12 newspapers.
www.llamaleh.org

From September 2009 to February 2010, Dunia Moja organised film screenings in Nairobi and throughout Kenya. This screenings aim to prepare communities to reflect upon, caucus and participate in transitional justice and national reconstruction processes following the post 2007 election violence. Activities include a 5-day film festival in Nairobi between 14-18 December, mobile cinema screenings in 15 rural areas with 3 or 4 screenings per location and discussion. Furthermore, on the 17th of December, a workshop was organised with 60 youth leaders from the low-income areas community based organizations, mostly slums, on how to use audio-visual media as a tool for human rights education.
www.duniamoja.or.ke  

From 19 – 21 October, the first Rolling Film Festival was held in Pristine, showcasing twenty-six films made by or about the Roma community. The festival was organised to raise awareness among Kosovo society about the realities of Roma communities both within and outside of Kosovo. Approximately 1.700 visitors attended screenings over the course of the three days. Roma from different parts of Kosovo came to Rolling Film Festival. There were discussions after each film screening. These discussions covered topics such as education, identity, gender roles, history, the consequences of stereotyping, and the differences between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo. According to the organisers, one of the best parts of the festival was the school program involving 550 students of five pristine high schools. Nine major newspapers wrote in total 18 articles about the festival. Four radio programmes, six TV programmes and two online news sites covered the festival.
www.rollingfilm.org

Next to the human rights film festival ‘Cine Droit Libre’ in Ouagadougou, a ‘Cine Droit Libre on the road’ took place from October to December 2009. In order to reach the population outside the capital as well, the films screened at the festival go on tour and are shown in five provincial towns across the country. The films are mainly about human rights and freedom of press and are followed by a moderated debate between the audience and guestspeakers.
www.semfilms.bf

In December 2009, Semfilms presents a human rights educative DVD Box in Burkina Faso. The DVD box contains the films Borry Bana about the murder on journalist Norbert Zongo and Le Recueillement about a group of women called ‘les femmes en noire’ who stand up against impunity in Burkina Faso. The films are translated to the local language Moore. 500 DVD boxes are distributed among human rights organisations and educational institutions, like MBDHP and the National Press Centre CNP-NZ. Booklets are distributed with the DVDs with information about action groups, tips how to get involved by human rights activities and questions for debate.
Over 2.000 visitors attended the three open-air screenings, which were organised around the DVD release. Film screenings were also organised by various organisations and persons in cities and towns. Semfilms continues working on the distribution of the DVD box, especially at schools.
www.borrybana.blogspot.com  

The 4th Kenya International Film Festival (KIFF) took place from 21-31 October in Nairobi. With the support of Movies that Matter, the festival organises an outreachprogramme in eight towns in November and December 2009. Each town will have its own three-day festival, with twelve filmscreenings in schools, universities and in the open air.  For each town, a selection of films is made suitable to the specific social, economic and political circumstances of the area. The human rights programme has a special emphasis on films from Africa and Eastern Europe.
www.kifftrust.org  

From 18 – 23 November 2009, the 3rd International Film Festival on Human Rights took place in the capital city, Lomé and Kara in the northern region. The festival screened 15 different films and aimed at the improvement of human rights culture, democracy and reconciliation against the background of free, independent and democratic elections taking place in 2010. The screenings took place at universities, schools, and cultural centres all over Lomé. Furthermore, the festival includes traditional dance and theatrical performances, and reached 4.950 visitors. 12 Articles in local newspapers were published about the festival. Also, radio programmes about the festival and with discussions on human rights were broadcasted.
http://www.alliance-cine.org/lome

This project consists of a 7-day film festival taking place in the main capital, Sofia from 23 November – 1 December 2009, followed by monthly screenings in Sofia and screenings organised in Blagoevgrad, Plovidv, and Ruse. Before the film festival took place, ‘warming-up’ screenings were organised with the films Doing Time, Doing Vipassana¸The Day after Peace, and Kumbh Mela. In total, the project reached 3.285 visitors.
The festival featured 25 international films, 10 Bulgarian films, a special programme from Jacky Comforty and a focus on documentaries from Rithy Panh. An educational workshop was organised for teachers, youth leaders and NGOs.
The festival focuses on discussions about issues such as migration, human rights, prejudices and xenophobia. A seminar is organised about how to use documentaries in education, a photo exhibition called Faces. We Are One and the One Giant Leap party. Furthermore, three films were broadcast on television.
After the festival, One World continued to organise monthly screenings in Sofia. Especially the monthly screenings in Sofia were very successful, reaching in total 650 visitors.
www.bgoneworld.org

During the Pravo Ljudski Festival in November 2009, a 3-day educational programme was organised, called ‘Zoom Rights’. In this program secondary school students and other youth were made familiar with human rights through different projects: a human rights photo contes'; human rights documentary screenings during the Pravo Ljudski Festival, an outreach programme of human rights workshops and screenings across Bosnia Herzegovina. The outreach programme took place from November 2009 to January 2010. The two films selected for the outreach programme were Another Planet (Ferenc Moldonányi) and Faces (Gmax). Discussion about human rights, democracy and equality are stimulated at this educational platform through film and debate. The project was, according to the evaluation forms, exceptionally well-received by the students. The project reached in total 1.537 students.
www.pravoljudski.org

After more than 25 years of civil war arising out of ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the northeast, the conflict appeared to reach an end in May 2009, when government forces eliminated the last area controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels.
Thothanna presents Peace Through Images, which consists of 50 screenings with a selection of five shorts about the effects of the war on the Tamil community, especially on children. The screenings take place from December 2009 to May 2010 at schools and community centres in the Dry zone of Anamaduwa where the majority of the people is Sinhalese.

After the 4th edition of the Addis Ababa Film Festival, 10 films with the theme ‘Reclaiming the Earth’ are selected for wider circulation in Ethiopia. Three films are translated into Amharic. The screenings take place at five universities and 12 schools throughout the country. The project aims to reach 5.000 people, mainly students. The project takes place from December 2009 to September 2010.
www.addisfilmfestival.org, www.initiativeafrica.net  

To increase awareness on gender based violence and reproductive health (GBV-RH), Al-Asar Development organises between January and April 2010 15 open-air screenings of Indian or Pakistani films about GBV-RH themes in the rural areas in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The screenings are followed by discussions about these topics. The project aims to reach about 7.500 people. Al-Asar has organised many awareness-raising programmes in the past with the use of street theatre and other cultural activities. Al-Asar is a partner of the World Population Foundation (WPF).
www.wpf.org  

From February to April 2010, the Kathmandu Human Rights Film Center (KHRC) organised six film screenings and debates on human rights issues every other week at the Center Hall of Kathmandu. The KHRC aimed to reach out to policy-makers, human rights activists, journalists, police officers, teachers and university professors. The events are meant to stimulate the visibility of human rights in general and the making and screening of human rights films in particular. The centre aims to reach 1.200 visitors and at least media coverage from 12 national newspapers, radio and TV stations.
www.hrfilmcenter.org.np

From 22-25 April 2010 Solaris Pictures presented the first Queer Film Festival in Mumbai. According to the organisers:
"It all started with a small dream - of bringing international queer cinema to India as well as provide a platform for Indian queer films. But the first edition of KASHISH – Mumbai International Queer Film Festival 2010 turned out to be a milestone event in LGBT movement in India. It was the first ever queer film festival to be held in a mainstream theater and simultaenously at two venues (PVR Cinemas & Alliance Francaise). It was also the first queer film festival in India to apply for and obtain an exemption from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting!
The four days of the film festival at two venues drew an unprecedented audience turnout of over 1200 people who came to watch 110 films from 25 countries. The festival was supported by a host of Bollywood celebrities and media professionals. The festival received extensive media coverage in India and globally."
Gay, lesbian and transgender people in India are still stigmatised, discriminated and victimised because of the prevailing taboos, legal sanction and social ostracising of these sexual minorities.
www.solarispictures.com, http://www.mqff2010.blogspot.com/

At the Rajata University in Sri Lanka, far from the cultural buzz of the capital, a film & debate festival is organised by the Colombo Institute and its regional partners. The three-day festival took place in May 2010. The aim was to inspire and draw in a marginalised group of youth at the Rajarata University, an educational institute not usually exposed to the socially engaged arts. Through the screening of films and the facilitation of discussions that highlight issues of marginalisation and discrimination, and how to overcome these situations, the organisers want to broaden the horizons of their young visitors. The organiser aims to reach 2.400-3.000 undergraduate students.
The selected films were City Beautiful, Gam Peraliya (Sinhala), When Mother Comes home for Christmas and Baraka.
www.colomboinstitute.org

From 30 april - 4 May 2010  the third edition of the Bahrain Human Rights International Film Festival (BHRIFF)  takes place in Bahrain. It’s first edition in 2008 was the first human rights film festival ever organised in the Middle East. The festival celebrates both International Labour Day on May 1st and the International Day for Press Freedom on May 3rd. The festival screens between 30 and 40 films, covering themes such as peace, equality, justice, solidarity, freedom, fighting all types of violence, torture, and all forms of discrimination. The programme has a special emphasis on directors from the region.The BHIRFF is a member of the Human Rights Film Network since November 2009.
www.bhriff.com

In October 2010 Limbo Woyo "Open Your Eyes", will travel to four villages in Surinam, Asindonhopo, Gujaba, Botopasi and Jaw Jaw. 'Open Your Eyes' is a travelling film and debate festival on human rights issues. With this initiative the Foundation for Communication, Culture and Development (COCON) aims to increase the awareness on human rights among the Maroon population, and aims to reach around 10.000 visitors. COCON uses community-based interventions, such as theatre and film screenings, as an information method to inform deprived communities.
www.coconsuriname.blogspot.com