INFORMATION ABOUT THE HRWIFF

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival was created in 1988 to advance public education on human rights issues and concerns using the unique medium of film. Each year, the festival exhibits the finest human rights films and videos in theaters and on cable television throughout the United States and elsewhere - a reflection of both the scope of the festival and its increasingly global appeal. The festival includes feature-length and short fiction films, documentaries, animation, works-in-progress and experimental works. Time Out magazine remains the principal sponsor of the festival in New York and London.

In selecting films for the festival, Human Rights Watch concentrates equally on artistic merit and human rights content. The festival encourages filmmakers around the world to address human rights subject matter in their work and presents films and videos from both new and established international filmmakers. Each year, the festival's programming committee screens more than 500 films and videos to create a program that represents a range of countries and issues. Once a film is nominated for a place in the program, staff of the relevant division of Human Rights Watch also view the work to confirm its accuracy in the portrayal of human rights concerns. Though the festival rules out films that contain unacceptable inaccuracies of fact, we do not bar any films on the basis of a particular point of view.

The New York festival has been co-presented for 6 years by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and has screened at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. The festival consistently features a large number of co-presentations of screenings with other New York festivals to encourage the cross-communication and support between the festival and film community. A majority of each years screenings are followed by discussions with the filmmakers and Human Rights Watch staff on the issues represented in each work.

As part of the opening night program, the festival annually awards a prize in the name of cinematographer and director Nestor Almendros, who was also a cherished friend of the festival and Human Rights Watch. The award, which includes a cash prize of $5,000, goes to a deserving and courageous filmmaker in recognition of his or her contributions to human rights through film.

In 1995, in honor of Irene Diamond, a longtime board member and supporter of Human Rights Watch, the festival launched the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement award, which is presented annually to a director whose life's work demonstrates an outstanding commitment to human rights and film. Recipients include Frederick Wiseman, Costa Gavras, Ousmane Sembene, Barbara Kopple and Alan J. Pakula.

In 1996 the festival expanded to London, first at the ICA and then in 1999 with our current partners Oasis Cinemas and the Ritzy Theater in Brixton, London.

The festival staff can be reached at the following contacts:

Bruni Burres, Director
Ph: 212 216 1264 / Fx: 212 736 1300 / E: burresb@hrw.org

John Anderson, Associate Director
Ph: 212 216 1263 / Fx: 212 736 1300/ E: andersj@hrw.org

Andrea Holley, Festival & Travel Festival Coordinator
Ph: 212 216 1839 / Fx: 212 736 1300 / E: holleya@hrw.org