The Human Rights and Film Festival “Humans Fest””, organized by Fundación por la Justicia, presents its programming for the seventh edition, which will take place from December 10 to 18 at the Filmoteca de Valencia. This year, the festival has selected a total of 10 feature-length documentaries for the Official Section, plus four feature films out of competition and 10 more pieces for the Short Films Section. The Humans-Zinegoak Section, which will take place at the MUVIM, will screen two more feature films and a selection of short films related to LGBT rights. Special passes, parallel activities, workshops and concerts will complete the program of the seventh edition of Humans Fest.
The Official Section of Humans Fest brings together a set of feature-length documentaries from up to fourteen different nationalities, among which stand out Toto and his sistersof Alexander Nanau, a documentary that tells the life of a ten-year-old boy and his sisters who are waiting for their mother to get out of jail and return home, and which has achieved great success after screening at the Sundance and Tribeca festivals.
Toto and his sisters
From the well-known Tunisian director Fernando Melgar, it comes to us L'abri, the story of an emergency shelter for homeless people in Lausanne, presented in Locarno and winner of the second prize for “New Waves” at the Seville Festival. Melgar, to whom a retrospective was dedicated last year at Documenta Madrid, is one of the most committed directors in matters of immigration and human rights.
We will also find Spanish documentaries competing in the Official Section, such as Five Days to Dance y The Farm of the Country. In the case of the latter, the festival will have the presence of its director, Silvia Munt, which has just been awarded at the recent edition of SEMINCI. Granja del Pas addresses the operation, and the evolution and transformation of the people who are part of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgage (PAH). “We wanted to make a documentary about the people,” said the director, who believes that by showing this reality, cinema can contribute to changing things.
Five days to dance
Out of competition, Silvered Water Syria Self Portrait, from the Syrian director Osama Mohammed, made with 1,001 images of anonymous Syrian citizens, will also feature the presence of its director at the closing, undoubtedly one of the highlights of this year's edition. Maidan, about the civil unrest in kyiv's central square of 2013 and 2014, We come as friends, from the acclaimed director of Darwin's nightmare y bring the sun, winner of the San Sebastián Film Festival, and Human Rights complete a program that, according to the festival organizers, “includes high-quality documentaries, among which topics such as migration, women's rights, children's rights and empowerment stand out. citizen". This year the programming takes on a more international look with a selection of pieces aimed at a more heterogeneous audience.
Parallel to the Official Section, the Short Film Section, “1 minute, 1 right” which will exhibit a selection of the best pieces received from schools, universities and care centers for people at risk of social exclusion. A series of activities and workshops will complement the screenings, along with debates, concerts and a musical theater work, around Human Rights, both at the official headquarters of La Filmoteca and at the University of Valencia, the MUVIM or the Picassent Penitentiary Center.
A jury will be in charge of awarding the prizes to the winners of the Official Section
For this year's edition, the festival organizers have planned to present three awards to the Best Documentary Feature Film, Best Short Film and Best Short Film “1 minute, 1 right”, where the granting of two special prizes is planned for work carried out in educational centers, penitentiary centers or centers that care for people at risk of social exclusion.
This year's jury will be made up of Ventura Durall, film producer and director and winner of the award for Best Documentary Feature last year, Jose Miguel Beltran, director of the San Sebastian Film and Human Rights Festival and Head of Film at Donostia Kultura, and Francis Xavier de Lucas, active member in institutions related to Human Rights such as UNESCO or ATTAC. Aurea Ortiz, Claudia Pinto. Pau G. Guillén y Maria Escalona complete the short film jury chaired by Dora Marti, responsible for the promotion of CulturArts IVAC audiovisuals.
Ventura Durall
Humans Fest is consolidated as a unique proposal of the documentary genre in the city of Valencia
The festival's goal is none other than to bring to society a more reflective and committed cinema, which is why they are firmly committed to a selection of films framed within the documentary genre. Humans Fest provides a realistic look at the different issues that weave together today's society, such as the rights of people with sexual diversity, the right to quality education or immigration, among others.
This proposal, unique in the city of Valencia, is characterized by humility, commitment to civil society and Human Rights and the hope that everyone together is part, in some way, of this project. “We want all spectators to witness the reality that surrounds us, creating sensations that promote individual action,” its organizers conclude.