Ministry of Human Rights to hold digital film festival

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights, as part of the Huqooq-e-Pakistan collaborative project with the European Union, is launching a Human Rights Film Festival to increase awareness and understanding of human rights issues in Pakistan.

The ‘Reels for Rights’ Festival will be held online between August 4 and 25, 2020. As lockdown and restriction measures implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus continue to disrupt normal life, this presents an opportunity to use online platforms to constructively and effectively engage the large proportion of the population that has been confined to their homes, on human rights issues. This film festival is a unique and innovative way to encourage independent thought and foster dialogue about critical human rights issues in Pakistan. It also has the potential to challenge prevailing norms and problematic stereotypes through a creative medium that is easily accessible, engaging and powerful.

The Reels for Rights Festival will feature a collection of 14-15 pre-selected films on themes including child rights, female empowerment, transgender rights, minority rights, access to justice, death penalty and climate change. The Ministry of Human Rights will host ‘Live Watch Parties’ across social media platforms to promote interaction and engagement. The films will also be available for viewing on the Ministry’s website and YouTube page for the duration of the festival. The festival will also include multiple virtual panel discussions to facilitate and encourage dialogue and discourse on various human rights issues that have been explored through the selected films.

This includes a panel discussion on the Human Rights Situation in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, to be moderated by Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari. Panel Discussions will also be held exploring the power of film to create social impact as well as on challenging prevailing gender norms. “The Ministry of Human Rights is launching a virtual film festival, geared towards creating cross-cultural understanding.