The HUMAN Touch

The festival that will be inaugurated by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt will screen eight films set in Algeria,Cambodia,China,Cuba,Iran,Italy,Nepal and the Gaza strip. They will highlight human trafficking and child prostitution,Maoist struggle,homophobia,war crimes,violence against women,death penalty and how brave human rights defenders campaign for justice. These activists and organisations play a crucial role in the worldwide protection and promotion of human rights, said Taco Ruighaver,Director of Movies That Matter Film festival,Netherlands.

Filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan,the brain behind the event and owner of Solaris Pictures,said,The festival coincided with Human Rights Day on December 10.The idea stemmed from a simple emotional response. I saw these films as a Jury member at the Movies That Matter Film festival in Netherlands and I was so moved by them that I was determined that they should be screened in India.

Panel discussions on topics like human trafficking and inadequacy of the law,violence against women and religious intolerance with eminent filmmakers Kalpana Lajmi,Bishakha Datta and Vinta Nanda; rights activists Priti Patkar and Flavia Agnes and advocates Maharukh Adenwala,PA Sebastian and Colin Gonsalves will also be held. Explaining their significance,Rangayan said,These will be held before or after a movie screening. The whole idea is that the discussion will pick up from an international issue (shown in the film) and connect it to indigenous ones. There will also be a board at the venue named as Im a flashpointer wherein viewers can express what are the changes that they want to introduce.

The filmmaker elaborates that the main focus of the festival is to herald a change. He says,By screening these films,we want everyone to wake up to the violation of human rights around us. Since the movies are about individuals who win over situations,this will inspire people to ignite a change. The name of the festival derives from this concept.

Rangayan,who also organised the hugely- successful KASHISH Mumbai International Film Festival in Mumbai earlier this year,is expecting a good participation from students and youth groups. He said,We have already spread the word among 20 colleges across Mumbai. We also want to attract the social lobby as they are quite powerful opinion makers and will be able to influence people.

The festival will also be held in New Delhi from January 20-22. Rangayan aims to make this festival an annual event and also take it to the online medium. He said,We will be taping each discussion and upload them as podcasts. The comments on the Flashpointer board will be translated as an online board. We want to reach out to the global audience and turn it into an international dialogue. We aim to conduct this festival at Bengaluru and in various city colleges too. Next year we also plan to screen Indian films.