Movies that tell a thousand words

Every year, December 10 is marked as International Human Rights Day. This year, to mark the occasion, the city will play host to eight international films that will be shown from December 8 to December 10. The Flashpoint-Human Rights Film Festival  will be held at the Alliance Francaise auditorium at Marine Lines. 

Festival director Sridhar Rangayan says, “I saw these films as a jury member at the festival in the Netherlands and was so moved by the films, I was determined to bring them to India to share with audiences here.” The films deal with human rights issues such as human trafficking and child prostitution, war crimes, religious fundamentalism, homophobia, violence against women, the death penalty and forced disappearances.

The festival will not only screen the films but there will also be panel discussions on topical issues such as human trafficking and the inadequacy of the law, violence against women and religious intolerance. Participants will include eminent filmmakers Kalpana Lajmi, Bishakha Datta and Vinta Nanda; rights activists Priti Patkar and Flavia Agnes and advocates Maharukh Adenwala, PA Sebastian and Colin Gonsalves.

Rangayan hopes that the film  festival and discussions will bring about a change in perceptions and mindsets and initiate action. “I want the festival to urge us to reflect, react, revolutionalise and act as a ‘flashpointers’ to usher in change,” he says. Rangayan is also planning to initiate an online campaign to urge people to take a pledge against human rights violations.

Mahesh Bhatt, filmmaker and rights activist, will inaugurate the Flashpoint Film Festival. Theatre personality Dolly Thakore will also be a guest of honour at the opening ceremony. “This is a wonderful initiative and today’s youth is very conscious and aware of their surroundings. This will open up avenues and provide a direction to youngsters,” says Thakore. The festival organisers are expecting good participation from the younger lot, like students and youth groups who have shown keen interest in attending the festival.

The eight films set in Algeria, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Iran, Italy, Nepal and the Gaza strip show how brave human rights defenders campaign for justice and human rights, often paying a very high price for their work. One of the directors of Suddenly, Last Winter, Gustav Hoffer says, “Luca and I started to make this film because we felt that the ongoing situation was not acceptable anymore and somebody needs to tell the story. And the best way to tell it was through ourselves — with humour and especially with love.” Their film is one of the eight films that will be screened in the three-day event.

This three-day film festival is being organised by Solaris Pictures (Mumbai), Magic Lantern Foundation, (New Delhi) and Movies That Matter (Netherlands).

The schedule  of  the films can be found at ww.flashpointfilmfestival.com. For more information, call
2861 8239 or email flashpoint.hrff@gmail.com