Movies that Matter supports film screenings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Are you organising film screenings about urgent social issues and human rights? And are you still looking for funding? Apply to our grant programme before Monday 9 May.

For this first selection round of 2022, organisations in South East Asia are especially invited to apply (Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).

Movies that Matter aims to increase the visibility for 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 serve 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 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.

Come and say hello to our visiting delegation at Festival de Cannes! Our Artistic Director Margje de Koning will attend the festival from Saturday 21 May until Thursday 26 May. Programmer Maarten Stoltz will be present from Friday 20 May until Thursday 26 May. On Tuesday 24 May the team will give a presentation about Movies that Matter during the Doc Day, and on Wednesday 25 May Margje will take part in a panel on film and impact. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to meet us there.

We will also be attending the following upcoming events:

CoPro – The Israeli Coproduction Market | 21 May – 3 June

CloseUp | 10 – 12 June

Sunny Side of the Doc | 20 – 23 June

Sheffield Doc/Fest | 23 – 28 June

Durban Filmmart | 22 – 31 July

We are proud to look back on the Movies that Matter Festival 2022. In nine days we screened over 80 documentary and fiction (short) films, and put together countless inspiring introductions, Q&As, masterclasses, workshops and debates. Check out our aftermovie for a short impression!

We are already looking forward to the next festival edition, which will take place from Friday 24 March to Sunday 2 April 2023. From 1 June 2022, submissions for the MtMF23 will open.

During this year’s festival, we hosted an annual gathering for members of the Human Rights Film Network to exchange ideas and discuss common goals. More than 25 festival representatives of 20 member festivals exchanged ideas and discussed common goals and the future of the network. Members were also invited to participate in a special edition of our Cinema Without Borders workshop. The programme brought together 14 film event organisers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. In three days lots of best practices, ideas and inspiration were shared to enhance the cooperation among the festivals and to the impact of all the festivals. Keep an eye on the website for the next edition!

In the Take on Film & Impact programme at the MtMF22 twelve teams participated in both group and individual coaching sessions led by experienced impact producers and strategists in order to (further) develop their impact goals and strategies for their films. At the end of the programme each team pitched their project in front of a panel of NGOs, distributors and other changemakers related to the outreach goals of the projects. To conclude the Take on Film & Impact programme three awards were handed out to participating teams.

Thanks to all the participants and to all our partners for making this programme possible!​ We wish all teams the best of luck with their film releases and impact plans.

At the Activist Night, Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paul Huijts gave a speech on the importance of human rights and the power of films to make human rights issues tangible and relatable: “[These films] show us that human rights violations, wherever they take place, are relevant to us here. And that it’s not only a moral imperative but also a Dutch interest to promote dissenting voices.” We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has supported our work since 2007. With the support of the ministry, we can carry on with the Activist programme and the international support of human rights film festivals.

The Movies that Matter Festival 2022 was made possible by main partner Dutch Postcode Lottery and partners such as Amnesty International, ASN Foundation, BNNVARA, Creative Europe Media, Municipality of The Hague, Fonds 1818, Fonds 21, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch Filmfund, Oak Foundation, Trouw, vfonds, VEVAM and VSBfonds.