Posts Tagged ‘Movies that Matter’

A multimedia collaboration between photographer Platon and UNHCR launched

March 30, 2023

On 27 March 2023 “Portrait of a Stranger,” a creative multimedia collaboration between world-renowned photographer and storyteller Platon, and UNHCR, was launched in partnership with the Movies That Matter International Human Rights Film Festival in The Hague, Netherlands. 

The 18-minute film features interviews and portraits of over 20 refugees who fled conflict and persecution in various parts of the world, exploring the universal desire to be free, safe, respected and valued, and to belong.

Over the last year, UNHCR and Platon interviewed a diverse group of refugees ranging in age, nationality, ethnicity and personal circumstances. The result, Portrait of a Stranger, is a holistic, multimedia experience, marrying film and photography. It asks audiences to look beyond our differences and instead focus on our shared humanity. 

“Living in exile may be their life circumstance, but it is not what defines them,” said Platon. “I hope the images and voices of the refugees in this film will help audiences focus on the shared humanity that unites us, rather than the barriers that divide us. Not only for these particular refugees but for all people forced to flee around the world.”

As the number of people forcibly displaced continues to rise – last year there were more than 100 million people uprooted globally – it is hoped that the collaboration will help to reframe the narratives and perceptions around people forced to flee.  

This film and these images are powerful reminders of who refugees really are. They are people like your neighbour, your friend, your colleague. Like you and me, each with our own personality; our hopes; our dreams,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. “By amplifying the voices of refugees, the film offers an important reality check to counter the negative public discourse we often hear about people forced to flee. 

About Platon:  

Photographer, communicator and storyteller Platon has gained worldwide fame with his portraits. Platon has worked with a range of international publications including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and won a Peabody Award for his photo essays for The New Yorker. He has photographed over 30 covers for TIME Magazine and is a World Press Photo laureate. He is currently on the board for Arts and Culture at the World Economic Forum. In 2013, Platon founded The People’s Portfolio, a non-profit foundation dedicated to celebrating emerging leaders of human rights and civil rights around the world.  See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2015/02/25/photographer-platon-speaks-about-human-rights-in-indiana-wells-on-february-27

https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2023/3/642175f64/unhcr-platon-launch-collaboration-bring-refugee-voices-aspirations-focus.html

Movies that Matter: grants for human rights film festivals

September 7, 2021

Movies that matter has extended the Deadline for its Call for Proposals. 

Are you organising a human rights film event, festival or mobile cinema project and still looking for funding? Apply for the next round of its grant programme to give your project the necessary boost.   For this second selection round of 2021, organisations in Southeast Asia are especially invited to apply (Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).  

See if your project meets the basic criteria for funding and make sure to apply before Wednesday 15 September 2021.

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/07/18/call-for-application-for-start-up-impact-grants-for-human-rights-film-festivals/

https://moviesthatmatter.nl/newsletter/newsletter-industry-september-2021/

Call for application for Start-up & Impact Grants for human rights film festivals.

July 18, 2019
Apply for funding – deadline: 1 September 2019

Movies that Matter has opened again the possibility to get Start-up & Impact Grants for film festivals.

START-UP GRANT

  • Movies that Matter supports film events in their initial phase. Only the 1st and 2nd edition can be supported through a start-up grant.
  • The maximum support of a start-up grant is €7,500 per project.
  • Movies that Matter is prepared to offer a start-up grant according to the following rules:
    • 1st time: up to 100% of total project costs
    • 2nd time: up to 75% of total project costs.

IMPACT GRANT

  • The impact grant is intended for more established film festivals, and can be used for further developing the festival and increasing its impact.
  • The maximum support of an impact grant is €10,000 per project.
  • The Impact Grant can never cover more than 50% of total costs.

General regulations

  • Movies that Matter does not support film production. We support film festivals, mobile cinema and other types of film screenings to promote public debate on human rights.
  • Movies that Matter does not support filmmakers and producers distributing or screening their own film(s).
  • Total costs of the project can never exceed €100,000,-.
  • Organisations can be supported for a maximum of five times.
  • As the selection process takes around two months, projects should not start within 80 days after the deadline. Therefore, projects starting before 20 November 2019 cannot be considered.
  • The results of the selection will be announced about two months after the application deadline, i.e. early November.

Selection criteria

  • Film screenings will contribute to discussion about human rights in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East or Eastern Europe.
  • Movies that Matter prefers films that are independently produced. Screenings of educational films or NGO outreach films are not supported.
  • Movies that Matter values projects targeting youths or new audiences that do not regularly attend film screenings and discussion programmes, for instance in peripheral areas.
  • Movies that Matter gives priority to small and medium-scale projects (with a total budget below €50,000).
  • The project takes place in one of the countries as defined on the DAC List of ODA recipients and/or countries where press freedom is seriously at stake, in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East or Eastern Europe. With respect to this DAC List of ODA recipients, priority is given to projects in “Least Developed Countries”“Other Low Income Countries” and “Lower Middle Income Countries”.
  • Projects are organised and executed by, or in close cooperation with, human rights organisations.

Applications welcome for “Cinema without Borders” workshop

December 20, 2018

Are you into screening films on human rights in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America or the Middle East, and would you like to learn more about programming, organisational matters and attracting new audiences? Then apply for Cinema without Borders, a workshop and networking programme on how to organise a human rights film festival. The five-day programme, which takes place during the Movies that Matter Festival 2019 in The Hague, brings together starting and more experienced film festival professionals from all over the world. See call for proposals here.

More info Cinema without Borders >

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/09/28/start-up-or-impact-grants-available-for-human-rights-film-festivals/

Start-up or impact grants available for human rights film festivals

September 28, 2018

Movies That Matter is pleased to announce that, contrary to its earlier message, there will be a second round of its grant programme this year. [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/02/14/call-for-proposals-to-organize-human-rights-film-festivals-2018-19/] If you organise a film event to stimulate the discussion on human rights, social justice and freedom of expression, submit your project proposal!  If you are interested in organising a human rights film event in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe or the Middle East, Movies That Matter offers financial assistance and advice to festival organisers in low-income countries and states where press freedom is limited.

The deadline is 14 October. Please note that projects starting before 1 January 2019 cannot be considered.

Visit the site for other general regulations, selection criteria and the entry form.

 

Call for proposals to organize human rights film festivals 2018/19

February 14, 2018

To promote the screenings of human rights cinema worldwide, Movies that Matter offers grants to human rights film events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, especially in countries with limited resources and freedom of press. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBT film festivals and mobile cinema projects. Please note that Movies that Matter does not support film production. You can apply on-line. The deadline is 15 April 201§8

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/11/19/supporting-film-festivals-on-human-rights-in-2018/

https://www.moviesthatmatter.nl/english_index/international/support_programme

Supporting film festivals on human rights in 2018

November 19, 2017

Movies that Matter presented the ten festivals that it recently decided to support. This month, it offered grants to a new round of projects. Among others, two debuting festivals that will receive the start-up grant: for the first time a human rights film festival will take place in Timor-Leste in 2018. To bring the cinema to the people, the Timor-Leste Human Rights Film Festival will use a portable set-up to screen their selection of films at multiple sites. A new film festival will also arrive in South Africa: Shining Lights onto Langa. The festival introduces people to the Sunshine Cinema, a solar powered mobile cinema that converts solar energy into social impact. It brings people together with the intent to uplift grassroots movements and create networks of social change.

Additionally, the support goes to  three film festivals that pay direct attention to LGTBQI+ rights in Turkey, Pakistan and Myanmar. Other supported cinema projects include those in Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Palestine, Turkey and Peru.

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/03/01/small-grant-programme-for-human-rights-film-festivals-deadline-17-april/

Read more about all projects that were supported this year

https://www.moviesthatmatter.nl/nieuwsbrief_internationaal/18/international-support-november-2017

Women human rights defenders and their films at Movies That Matter 2017

April 10, 2017

Beth Murphy (Filmmaker/Journalist) wrote in the Huffington Post of 31 March 2017 under the title “The world’s human rights movement would look very different ‘if it weren’t for women’” a piece that highlights women human rights defenders in the context of the Movies That Matter Film Festival which took place in the Netherlands earlier this year [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/03/15/movies-that-matter-film-festival-in-the-hague-from-24-march-to-1-april-2017/]. Movies that Matter, the Amnesty International film festival celebrated nine human rights defenders and screened films that share their powerful stories. Here some of these defenders: Read the rest of this entry »

Movies that Matter Film Festival in the Hague from 24 March to 1 April 2017

March 15, 2017

From the 24th of March until the 1st of April the Movies that Matter Festival takes place at Filmhuis Den Haag and ‘Theater aan het Spui’ in The Hague. The selected films and documentaries can be found here: Films – Movies that Matter Film Festival

Small-grant programme for human rights film festivals – deadline 17 April

March 1, 2017

The increasing use of images in the human rights world seems unstoppable. One (small) feature is the organisation of local human rights film festivals. Movies that Matter has an International Support Programme that offers small grants to stage human rights film events in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Eastern Europe.

To promote the screenings of human rights cinema worldwide, Movies that Matter zooms in especially on countries with limited resources and freedom of press. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBT film festivals, mobile cinema projects, school screenings and grassroots distribution. Each year the grant programme has two selection rounds. Deadlines are usually around mid-April [NEXT DEADLINE 17 APRIL 2017] and mid-September. Movies that Matter judges every project on its individual quality. If you’re not sure whether your project fits within the criteria, please contact MTM at international (at) moviesthatmatter.nl.

Please note that Movies that Matter does not support film production. Find an overview of possible resources for film production here.!

Grant programme

Apply for funding and for more information about the selection criteria, general regulations, and a link to download the entry form, and access the online personal data form. To get an idea of what has been funded see the list of allocated grants to 196 projects from more than 100 applicants in 60 countries that got funds in 2007-2016 (Read more)

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/12/30/round-up-of-2014-in-human-rights-images/

and https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/03/22/multiple-exposure-front-lines-video-programme-for-human-rights-defenders/

https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2015/11/10/is-there-any-way-to-engage-people-with-human-rights-communication/