Fundación por la Justicia is committed to denouncing injustice, infringement and violation of rights, so cinema becomes a means to carry the message and cross borders.
A selection of films from the 2022 edition of Humans Fest will be screened in Latin America, the United States and Equatorial Guinea through a film series called “A world in motion”
The Valencia International Film and Human Rights Festival, Humans Fest, organized by Fundación por la Justicia, and the Filmoteca de la Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) have organized a cycle of screenings that will take place until November 2023 in 20 countries in America and Africa with the aim of promoting audiovisuals committed to human rights around the world.
under the name “A world in motion”, this film program includes a selection of works shown in the XIII edition (2022) of the Humans Fest, when the thematic axis was the migrations and the right to refuge. Thanks to this agreement, these will be shown in eighteen countries of Latin America, as well as Miami and two areas of Equatorial Guinea: the capital, Malabo, and the city of Bata.
“This alliance with the AECID allows us to bring social and committed cinema to places that we would never have imagined, even where the audience suffers systematic violations of rights and the debates and examples that the films promote are most necessary. It is a great opportunity for the festival and for the selected projects, Valencian and international,” says Majo Siscar, director of the Humans Fest, who also highlights that the proposals chosen for the festival address the causes, the intersection between migration and gender or transit emotional along with the search for identity during the migration processes.
“Denouncing injustice, infringement and violation of human rights wherever they occur is one of the main commitments of Fundación por la Justicia. That is why we work to build instruments and means that allow us to reach the entire world with the aim of promoting a more just society, and this collaboration with the AECID allows us, through cinema, to reach new perspectives and for our message to cross borders. ' says José María Tomás y Tío, president of the Foundation for Justice.
WHY THIS COLLABORATION WITH THE AECID?
The “Lola Millas” Film Archive The AECID develops audiovisual cultural actions every year that include the acquisition of titles on various topics with the purpose of contributing to and promoting the fulfillment of the objectives linked to the social commitment that the AECID maintains in all its actions.
The Film Library, from its beginnings, was conceived as a very useful instrument to support programming units abroad such as: Embassies, Consulates, Cultural Centers, Training Centers and foreign Universities that, within the cultural and academic environment, are interested in for our language and culture, encouraging their participation in cycles, weeks and exhibitions of Spanish cinema around the world, in addition to participating with other European representations in festivals and exhibitions of European cinema. This activity is carried out through different instruments, such as the Film Library Catalog made up of more than 100 Spanish film titles and thematic cycles made with our own funds or with external funds: environmental awareness cycles made with various festivals, cycles for the public children's education promoting values, cycles on different Human Rights themes, as well as carrying out specific activities such as the commemoration of anniversaries or events with the selection of films that support the corresponding activity. As an example, the celebration of World Theater Day; Actor's Day; Spanish Cinema Day; o 25 N, International Day against Gender Violence, always related to the objectives set by the AECID master plan
NEW LOOKS, DIVERSE AND NECESSARY
This rights-based, balanced and integrative perspective responds to the selection process that Humans Fest carried out for its 2022 edition, when people from numerous social entities, half of them of migrant origin, also participated along with professionals from the audiovisual field. However, the result was films and documentaries that not only met certain criteria of quality, but also that they responded to different origins and they counted diverse realities.
Proof of this philosophy are also the four participatory films that Humans Fest contributed in its 13th edition. One of them, created by Fundación por la Justicia with the Alberto Pla agency at the Antonio Asunción Penitentiary Center in Picassent (València). The other three, the result of a participatory documentary workshop organized by the festival together with the production company La Cosecha in which 12 migrants participated.
“A WORLD IN MOTION” IS ON MARCH
The cycle “A world in motion” will tour 23 venues in different countries until November 25 of this year, including 19 Cultural Centers in Spain, as well as the Spanish embassies of Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Each space decides whether to hold the screenings in person or offer the series online by subscription. Total, 20 works have been selected fiction and documentaries in all lengths (feature films, medium-length films, short films and micro-films). The complete list can be consulted here.
Gown, in Equatorial Guinea, has been the city in charge of welcoming the cycle “A world in motion” with the so-called “Film Thursday”. Specific, As far as I can walk (As Far As I Can Walk) became the last May 4, 2023 first screening of the cycle. This film directed by Stefan Arsenijević, of Serbian origin and winner of more than 30 national and international awards, raises questions about identity, tradition, race and love through the fiction genre.
For its part, the second “Film Thursday” in Bata took place on May 11, at 5 p.m., when a short film session. Specifically, they projected Table for 3, by Álvaro G. Company and Meka Ribera, y Suspended Time, by Germán Caballero, both of Valencian origin; followed by Exodus, a Mexican proposal produced by Oliver Stiller.
ABOUT HUMANS FEST
The International Film and Human Rights Festival of Valencia, Humans Fest, organized by Fundación por la Justicia, was launched in 2008. This year it is celebrated from June 1 to 10 under the thematic axis of the gender perspective in defense from the human rights. To achieve this, the festival will once again bring to the city a selection of cinematographic and documentary works that citizens will be able to enjoy in different spaces. Humans Fest is part of the international Human Rights Film Network. Its 14th edition is celebrated thanks to the collaboration of the Conselleria de Cooperació, Diputació de València, Ajuntament de València, Institut Valencià de Cultura, Caixa Popular and Teika.