The Film and Human Rights Festival opens its 22nd edition with Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi

The FCDHBCN claims the role of cinema as a tool for social transformation and defense of human rights. Source: FCDHBCN

The competition arrives with a new edition that combines cinema, activism and reflection to highlight silenced realities and defend human rights around the world.

The Barcelona Film and Human Rights Festival (FCDHBCN) will launch its 22nd edition on December 5 at Cinemes Maldà with the intervention, via video message, of the Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi , Nobel Peace Prize 2023. The celebration will open with the screening of 'White Torture', the film adaptation of her book about the conditions of extreme isolation suffered by women imprisoned by the ayatollahs' regime. Her husband, the journalist and activist Taghi Rahmani, will attend the event, attend to the media and participate in the subsequent discussion. The festival director, Toni Navarro , emphasizes that Mohammadi's participation is "a validation of the festival's mission, which works to promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from civil society."

From December 5 to 10 , Cinemes Maldà will host a program of 40 films, documentaries, feature films and short films, which address human rights violations around the world: the resistance of Afghan women against the Taliban, migratory routes in the English Channel, the impact of renewable energies on rural communities or experiences of personal improvement in contexts of poverty and violence.

With 22 years of history , the FCDHBCN is the oldest independent human rights festival in the State and is considered the “Oscars of human rights”. Barcelona is thus presented as an international hub of reference in the defense of freedoms , with the recurring participation of top-level figures, such as Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman or intellectual Noam Chomsky.

Human rights in decline

The festival will come at a global moment marked by the erosion of fundamental rights and the expansion of social control mechanisms. The organization warns of a “global dictatorialization,” which manifests itself in militarization, mass surveillance, and the repression of social movements.

A program that gives voice to invisible struggles brings to the loudspeaker a selection of productions that address realities that are often silenced. ' Shot the Voice of Freedom' (Afghanistan) portrays the clandestine struggle of Afghan women; ' Calais Dover: The Endless Exile' (France) shows the labyrinth of borders and mafias where many migrants are trapped; and ' Renovables Forzosas' (Spain) analyzes the impact of energy megaprojects on territories. The exhibition also includes ' Pantalla Total' (Sweden/China), a reflection on digital social control; ' Fanantenana' (Spain/Madagascar), which explores the transformative power of artistic education; and ' Te protegerán mis alas' (Spain/Togo), a story of personal improvement in contexts of vulnerability.

A consolidated reference

The organization that organizes the festival, Derechos en Acción , has special consultative status with the UN ECOSOC, from where it presents reports on human rights. The organization denounces irregularities in the management of public aid to culture in Catalonia, especially those linked to the promotion of rights and freedoms from civil society.

The FCDHBCN has become a meeting place for activism, cinema and social denunciation . Personalities such as Julian Assange , Oleg Sentsov , Nils Melzer and Gervasio Sánchez have participated in previous editions, reinforcing the festival's role as an international platform for raising awareness and defending human rights.