Supported Projects 2023

To promote the screenings of human rights cinema worldwide, Movies that Matter offers grants to human rights film events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, especially in countries with limited resources and where freedom of press is at stake. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBTI film festivals and mobile cinema projects.

Read more about the supported projects of 2023 via the dropdown menu below.

Selection Committee

The selection committee of the Movies that Matter Support programme consists of five people with various backgrounds and expertise. For 2023, the selection committee consists of:

  • Chris Belloni, director International Queer & Migrant Film Festival & Foundation Art. 1
  • Mira Chowdhury, Latin America programme lead at Free Press Unlimited
  • Will Janssen, Director Business Development at Hivos
  • Margje de Koning, artistic director of Movies that Matter
  • Julian Ross, film programmer and assistant professor at Leiden University (for the second round)

Supported Projects 2023

  • Bolivia - Bajo Nuestra Piel
    December 2023 – June 2024 

    The seventh edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival Bajo Nuestra Piel (BNP) in Bolivia which takes place from 2 – 11 December in La Paz. The festival programme consists of 28 screenings with 20 debates/Q&A’s and there will be 6 additional screenings and debates on International Human Rights Day on 10 December in departments throughout the country. In addition to the festival, BNP organises ‘Film Festival Weeks’ (FFW’s) in six departments throughout the year and intervention programmes in barracks and universities. Every team will programme 16 to 28 screenings and organise 10 to 15 Q&As and/or debates. The festival and Film Festival Weeks will attract an estimated 10,800 visitors in total.

  • Burundi - IMPAKT FILM FESTIVAL (IFF)
    15 – 22 September 2023 

    The IMPAKT FILM FESTIVAL (IFF) is a new initiative in Burundi that aims to promote human rights awareness and create a platform for dialogue and discussion through the medium of film. The festival showcases a selection of compelling films, including features, documentaries, and short films, that shed light on human rights issues facing Burundians and the wider East African region. The films are screened in Kirundi and French, and next to film screenings, the festival also holds masterclasses, panel discussions and workshops. The festival will attract an estimated 5,000 visitors.

  • Ecuador - Kanua Festival
    24 November – 6 December 2023 

    Kanua Festival is a floating Amazonian film festival and will have its first edition in November 2023. Kanua moves in a solar-powered canoe specially designed and equipped with solar panels to power a mobile projection system without fossil fuels and will travel 377 km through three Ecuadorian Amazonian indigenous communities, visiting riverbank communities. There will be eight stops in eight communities and each stop will last two nights. At each stop, the crew of solar technicians and filmmakers will give workshops during the day and screen indigenous-produced films at night consisting of a programme of one feature length film and 3-5 shorts. The festival will attract an estimated 3,500 visitors.

  • Guatemala - Pantalla Itinerante
    Monthly screenings in 2024

    The fourth edition of the Pantalla Itinerante project by Fundación Ixcanul in Guatemala. The project includes monthly screenings to bring cinema to marginalized and remote communities and create spaces for dialogue on crucial topics. Through the screening of socially relevant films, the project aims to stimulate reflections, provoke questions, and foster empathy among audiences. For their upcoming edition, they are planning to visit 12 departments, including ten ‘new’ departments. The project will attract an estimated 1,800 – 2,400 visitors in total.

  • Honduras - Fragments & Memories
    20 May – 20 June 2024 

    The second edition of the Human Rights Film Festival Fragments & Memories in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, which will be held between 20 May and 20 June, 2024. All events will be free admission and all the screenings will be co-organised with human rights focused collectives and partner institutions. The main themes are climate and territory defense, LGBTQ rights and migration. The festival especially wants to involve Honduran youth, such as students. There will be a total of 20 screenings organized at various locations with a focus on schools and universities and there will be a minimum of 15 Q&As/debates. The festival will attract an estimated 2,500 – 3,000 visitors.

  • India - Travelling Art & Film Festival
    25 November – 10 December 2023 

    The second edition of the Travelling Art & Film Festival, a 16-day festival that takes place from November 25 (Int. Day for the Elimination of VAW) to December 10 (Human Rights Day). The festival van with a team of artivists covers eight rural and urban designations across Meghalaya. At every location, they organise film screenings, debates, performances, mural art and workshops where they specifically focus on youth and marginalised communities who generally don’t attend film screenings. The festival will attract an estimated 1,500 visitors.

  • Kenya - Under Our Skin International Film Festival on Human Rights
    9 October – 14 November 2023 

    The third edition of the Under Our Skin International Film Festival on Human Rights in Nairobi (urban areas and informal settlements) and possibly a rural area (Samburu or other). The festival focuses on democracy, elections and governance in informal settlements. Almost all screenings are followed by a discussion with guests addressing governance. The screenings will take place in local video halls in the informal settlement and in the urban areas in cultural institutes and cinemas. The festival will attract an estimated 2,000 visitors.

  • Morocco - Triq Cinima & Koura (The Road of Cinema & Football)
    November 2023 in Souss-Massa Region, March 2024 in Tangier–Tetuan-Al Hoceima 

    Two traveling series of each ten film screenings to isolated rural and peri-urbran areas in Souss-Massa and new region Tangier-Tetuan-Al-Hoceima. The travelling festival is part of FIDADOC and documentaries selected for the festival will be screened followed by debate and discussion with director and / or a protagonist of the film or local activists involved in the topics addressed by the film. Combined with the most popular activity, the football game, films will mainly deal with women’s sport. The traveling series will attract an estimated 4,000 visitors.

  • Myanmar - Rights for People – Myanmar Mobile Festival Tour
    January – March 2024 

    The first edition of the Rights for People – Myanmar Mobile Festival Tour. This mobile festival aims to bring powerful audiovisual storytelling on topics of human rights, dignity and justice to the conflict-affected regions of Myanmar. With film screenings planned for 12 dates throughout January and March 2024, the tour will target key areas including Magway Division, Chin State, and Karen State. Their main target groups include IDPs, women, children and rural vulnerable communities. The tour will attract an estimated 1,200 visitors.

  • Nigeria - Rock International Film Festival
    2 – 5 November 2023 

    The second edition of the Rock International Film Festival (RIFF), organised by The Jos Film Initiative, will take place in Jos, Nigeria from 2nd – 5th November, 2023. The festival will receive both local and international participants and the screenings include short, feature and documentary films. The four-day festival has a special focus on targeting women, students and young filmmakers whose films address social and human rights issues. The festival will attract an estimated 3,500 visitors.

     

  • Philippines - Kultura Film Festival: Human Rights as Foundation of Peace and the Future
    26 – 30 October 2023

    The second edition of the Kultura Film Festival, organised by the North Luzon Cinema Guild, Inc., takes places in 3 venues in The Philippines: Cagayan, Ifugao and Pangasinan. The festival will be held in October 2023, in partnership with local government units. Film screenings and Q&As are organised physically in schools and universities in Cagayan and Pangasinan. Besides that, films will also be available online with talkback sessions and panel discussions. The theme of this second edition is Human Rights as Foundation of Peace and the Future. The festival will attract an estimated 20,000 visitors.

  • Rwanda - Rwanda International Film Festival on Human Rights
    18 – 29 December 2023

    The first edition of the Rwanda International Film Festival on Human Rights organised by Extra Miles aims to promote education about human rights through cinema. The main goal is to create a platform for raising awareness, fostering dialogue, and inspiring action on human rights issues in Rwanda and the region. This multi-day festival is planning to screen 30 films and to organise 15 debates, and will attract an estimated 5,000 visitors.  

  • Somaliland - Fankeenna Film Fest (FFF)
    August 2023 – January 2024 

    The first edition of this new festival in Hargeisa, Somaliland, organised by FANKEENNA. The festival is composed of screenings in weekends, every weekend a different theme and features a short, fiction and documentary followed by debates and workshops on the topic. The target audience is mainly youth and young people. The overall goal is to encourage dialogue, raise awareness and inspire youth to engage with stakeholders. The festival will attract an estimated 1,800 visitors.

     

  • South Sudan - Gatakhor Human Rights Film Festival (GAHRFF)
    August – September 2023 

    The first edition of this human rights film festival in South Sudan, organised by AMALNA South Sudan (AMSS). During four days in August screenings will take place in schools, communities and cultural centers. In the schools and the community, the screening will be followed by discussions, in the cultural centers the screening will be followed by panel discussions to highlight the protection of children, impunity of perpetrators, engagement of children in understanding their rights. The festival engages local artists, musicians and comedians from across South Sudan to perform during the event. Furthermore, the Human Rights Commission, Ministries of Youth and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare and civil society organisations working directly in the human rights sector will be invited to participate in the event. The festival will attract an estimated 1,500 visitors.

  • Tanzania - Paukwa Pakawa Film Festival
    12 – 14 July 2024 

    The second edition of the Paukwa Pakawa Film Festival that takes place in July 2023 at the National Museum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The festival addresses human rights issues, particularly concerning women and children, through a variety of activities including film workshops, seminars, masterclasses, and film screenings. The festival will attract an estimated 1,000+ visitors.

  • Tanzania - Sauti Zetu Film Festival
    13 – 15 October 2023 

    The Sauti Zetu (Our Voices) Film Festival is a three-day film festival taking place in Dar Es Salaam that organises film screenings of human rights-related films to promote social change. The festival, organised by Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), focuses on the topics such as freedom of expression, youth participation in policymaking, and equal access to education. Besides the film screenings, five debates are organised driven by the topics portrayed in the films.

  • Uganda - Kampala Slum Mobile Cinema
    December 2023 

    The first edition of the Kampala Slum Mobile Cinema: a mobile cinema project that will travel to five slums in Kampala, bringing open-air film screenings to the doorsteps of underserved communities. The main activities of the project include screening documentaries, fiction films, and shorts, with a focus on human rights-related themes relevant to the residents. Each screening is followed by engaging debates and discussions to encourage dialogue and community participation. The festival will attract an estimated 5,000 visitors.

  • Ukraine - Sexuality Matters
    13 – 17 September 2023 

    Sexuality Matters is the human rights programme as part of the Kyiv International Short Film Festival. The programme consists of projects like: Out & Proud, (Trans) Love is the Answer, FEM* RIOT, Let’s (Not) Talk About Sex, and Spotlight: Teddy Award. Each programme will be screened twice in Kyiv at an offline venue. Additionally, the programs will be accessible online on the Tytr online cinema platform, exclusively within the territory of Ukraine. Pre-recorded Q&A sessions are prepared with the film crews of each program that are available online. The festival will attract an estimated 5,300 visitors.

  • Venezuela - Miradas Diversas
    23 – 26 November 2023 

    The fifth edition of the human rights film festival in Venezuela, organised by Asociacion Nacional de Salas de Arte Circuito Gran Cine, taking place in the capital and eleven other cities. The screenings take place in movie theatres, public squares and spaces and mobile cinema to 20 communities. In parallel, talks, workshops and conferences on human rights will be held in each city. The festival will attract an estimated 3,000 visitors.