Rights Watch

While watching Women in Shroud at the Movies That Matter festival,an initiative of Amnesty International,in the Netherlands,Sridhar Rangayan found himself consoling a woman in tears.

Written by Alaka Sahani
December 7, 2010 11:38 PM IST

2 min read

While watching Women in Shroud at the Movies That Matter festival,an initiative of Amnesty International,in the Netherlands,Sridhar Rangayan found himself consoling a woman in tears. This documentary follows activists struggle to end the brutal practice of execution by stoning in Iran. Moved by the experience,Rangayan one of the jury members at the festival thought of bringing the films that were shown at the festival under the Matter of Act category to India. All the 10 films in this section,highlights the issues related to human rights violations as well as its defenders.

Now eight of these films are being shown during the Flashpoint Human Rights Film Festival,which starts on December 8 at the Alliance Francaise auditorium in Mumbai. Rangayan mainly aims to draw students to the festival to make them aware of the human rights issues. I hope the festival shakes up the audience intelligently, says the festival director. The festival concludes on December 10,the World Human Rights Day.

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The schedule includes screening of The Sari Soldiers,Red Light,Suddenly Last Winter,To Shoot an Elephant,Song for Amine and The 10 Conditions of Love. The films talk about human trafficking and child prostitution,war crimes,religious fundamentalism,homophobia,violence against women and death penalty. These movies will shock you and wake you up to the new realities that we all must understand and counter. The festival will hurl you into the hearts and lives of those brave people who had the audacity to stand up alone against the tyranny of the oppressor, says filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt,who will inaugurate the festival. Taco Ruighaver,director of Movies That Matter Film Festival,the Netherlands,echoes,These activists and/or their organisations play a crucial role in the worldwide protection and promotion of human rights.

On the sidelines of the festival,there will be panel discussions on topics such as human trafficking and inadequacy of the law,violence against women and religious intolerance. The festival will travel to New Delhi. We will screen the same movies from January 20 to 22, says Rangayan.