(Amsterdam) – Human Rights Watch, De Balie, and partners proudly present the eighth edition of Human Rights Weekend, from 6 to 8 February 2020 at De Balie in Amsterdam.
In a weekend of films, discussions, and more, participants will reflect on some of today’s most important human rights issues and what everyone can do to help defend human rights around the globe.
This year’s Human Rights Weekend covers a wide range of countries, from France to China and from Bangladesh to Chile. Topics include the deteriorating human rights situation in China, the link between human rights violations and your clothing, the struggles of growing up intersex, and the use of protest as a tool for change.
Presented by film directors, researchers, activists, journalists, and others, the program includes exclusive human rights films – four Dutch premieres and one European sneak preview, panel discussions, an expert talk about China, and an interactive program about protests and mass movements with happyChaos.
A special opening night program will be hosted by NOS Journaal news anchor Simone Weimans and will include a keynote speech by Human Rights Watch China researcher Yaqiu Wang.
The program will also include the Dutch premiere of the documentary film Nae Pasaran and a question and answer session with the director, Felipe Bustos Sierra. Nae Pasaran tells the story of Scottish factory workers who discovered the impact they had in Chile by refusing to repair the dictator Augusto Pinochet’s aircraft engines.
Other confirmed festival speakers include: Jan van der Putten, former China correspondent, journalist at De Groene Amsterdammer and author of Fabels over China; Aruna Kashyap, women’s rights senior counsel at Human Rights Watch; Mirali Seley, Uyghur activist in the Netherlands; Alexander Kohnstamm, executive director at Fair Wear Foundation; Lennart Tiller, political strategist at Extinction Rebellion; and Graeme Reid, LGBT rights director at Human Rights Watch.
Participants will also be able to visit the Human Rights Weekend 2020 photo exhibition, starting 7 February at De Balie. Documentary filmmaker Aziz Kawak will share his gripping photos of Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.
Partners for the Human Rights Weekend 2020 are: vfonds, De Groene Amsterdammer, World Press Photo, OUTtv, LexisNexis, and happyChaos.
