The second round of our grant programme is open for project proposals!

Movies that Matter supports film screenings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. We offer a start-up grant for new human rights film events and an impact grant for existing events that want to increase their impact or want to add new activities to their programmes. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBTI film festivals and mobile cinema projects.

See if your project meets the basic criteria for funding and make sure to submit your proposal by Sunday 4 September at the latest.

Are you a filmmaker working on a film about social themes, human rights or sustainability? Or have you finished your film already? Submit your fiction or documentary film for the Movies that Matter Festival 2023. The festival will take place from 24 March – 1 April 2023 in The Hague and other satellite cities.

Film submission is possible until Monday 21 November 2022.

Are you (or do you know) a junior or more senior film festival professional film festival professional from the Horn and East of Africa? From Monday 28 November – Thursday 1 December, we organise a four-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on how to organise a human rights film festival or mobile cinema project. You might be the next participant we are looking for!

Participants will gain practical knowledge and get fresh ideas and possibilities to strengthen their network. By exchanging experiences and best practices, participants are inspired and assisted to further develop their own festival. The interactive workshops will address various aspects of organising a human rights film festival, such as programming films and organising debates, fundraising, impact strategies, promotion and reaching new audiences.

If you wish to participate, please send in your application as soon as possible, but no later than Sunday 11 September.

Last month, the selection committee came together to discuss the submissions for this year’s first round of the grant programme. We are proud to announce our recent support to thirteen exciting and relevant film events! Find the names of all recipients below and read more about each project on our website.

Start Up Grants

• Fragments and Memories – Human Rights Film Festival of Honduras (Honduras)
• Our Stories (Laos)
• Rock International Film Festival (Nigeria)
• Saigon Experimental (Vietnam)
• Under Our Skin International Film Festival on Human Rights (Kenya)

Impact Grants

• EQUIS Feminist Film Festival (Ecuador)
• “Gender. Battle for Being Oneself” as part of Baturu Cultural Festival 2022 (China)
• Queer Film Fest (Albania)
• Sexuality Matters (Ukraine)
• We also supported another festival that will remain anonymous for safety reasons.

Multi-year Grants

• Active Vista International Human Rights Festival (Philippines)
• Side by Side LGBT Film Festival (Russia)
• Miradas Diversas (Venezuela)

My Muslim Husband by directors Daniel Barnuti and Alexandra Lizeta Barnuti received the Movies that Matter Award at the CineLink Industry Days of the Sarajevo Film Festival. The documentary tells the personal story of the directors: when Daniel, a Romanian man who chose to convert to Islam, and his girlfriend Alexandra decide to get married, hell unleashes on them. The two lovers come to understand that to find happiness, they will have to rise above the prejudices of everyone around them, including their own. As the winners, Daniel and Alexandra are invited to participate in the Industry Days at the Movies that Matter Festival 2023.

Come and say hello to our team members at the following festivals in September:

31 Aug. – 8 Sept. | Venice International Film Festival (attending: Maarten Stoltz, Senior Programmer)

8 – 18 Sept. | Toronto International Film Festival (attending: Margje de Koning, Artistic Director)

19 – 24 Sept. | International Human Rights Film Festival Albania (attending: Tess van Bommel, International Support)

21 – 30 Sept. | Nederlands Film Festival – Utrecht, Nederland (attending: Margje de Koning, Artistic Director)

Movies that Matter aims to increase the visibility of human rights and recognition of the work of human rights activists. One of the competitions at our yearly festival is the Activist programme, which revolves entirely around (films on) human rights defenders. Besides screenings in the Netherlands, we also act as ambassadors for the films and the activists, and we encourage other film festivals to screen these documentaries. Therefore, we launched a film menu about human rights defenders for (starting) small-scale festivals in countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Middle East: the Activist Film Menu. Movies that Matter arranges and pays for the screening rights for seven documentaries, giving a selection of film festivals in other countries the opportunity to screen these inspiring, high-quality productions.

Are you interested in screening (one of) the films in 2022? Send us an email for more information.