Magazine

Movies that Matter Festival has been awarded the prestigious status of an Oscar® Qualifying Festival. This places the festival in a select group of film festivals worldwide that have received this recognition.

Movies that Matter is thrilled to announce the new members for the viewing committee. We warmly welcome Amelia Hanibelsz, Berke Göl, Vess Chua and Wambui Gathee. Let's get to know our viewing committee members.

All year round, countless festivals take place around the world. Movies that Matter will also be present at several festivals in the coming season. For moderations, jury participation, award ceremonies, and, of course, to scout the best projects for our festival in 2025. Below, you can see where we will be in the near future.

At our festival this March we met up with Meninaputri Wismurti, who gave several workshops for international festival organizers during the Cinema without Borders programme. A veteran of the film industry, she is the co-founder and programme director of the yearly international 100% Manusia festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. She discusses some of her greatest challenges and victories in organizing her human rights festival with us.

July is Queer & Pride Month and with Amsterdam Pride just around the corner, it's the perfect time to reflect on the fact that the right to be yourself and love who you want is still not a given for everyone. But which film should you watch? We've made a list of 7 films for an ideal pink summer evening.

We are thrilled to announce that our grant programme is supporting 11 incredible projects this year! Among them are a brand new queer film festival in Nepal, the sixth edition of a feminist film festival in Ecuador, and a travelling cinema project in Haiti.

We are delighted with the positive feedback we have received from the Film Fund, the City of The Hague, and the Council for Culture. These recognitions confirm the importance of our work and provide us with valuable insights for further improvement.

At our festival, we met with Henry Samson Mafulul, director of the Rock International Film Festival (RIFF) and a participant of the Cinema without Borders workshop programme. In this interview, Henry shares how RIFF uses film screenings to encourage young people in Nigeria to advocate for human rights.

Meet FiSahara, a unique film festival that takes place every year in the middle of the Sahara Desert. With festival director María Carrión, we discuss the situation of Sahrawi refugees, culture and entertainment as a human right and the importance of FiSahara.

Curious about how the in-depth programmes at the Movies that Matter Festival come together? We spoke with İmge, one of the driving forces behind the engaging discussions, Q&A sessions, and other performances around the films at the festival.

Are you looking for more films about climate and activism after the On Tour film Deep Rising? We tip six films that explore the ravages of climate change and show the unyielding spirit of activists fighting against powerful economic interests.

Peruvian film festival Censurados celebrates its 10th edition this month. Director Teresa Castillo reflects on the past 10 years, how the current political situation in Peru affects the festival and stresses the increasing importance of a festival like Censurados in these times.