Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Gulfnews reports that Iraq’s first human rights film festival, Baghdad Eye, will be launched on February 25.  The films selected for the inaugural festival are documentaries and feature films, addressing human rights issues in three major areas: violence and discrimination against women, children’s rights and freedom of thought and expression. Screenings will be followed by discussions involving academics, researchers and people specialising in Iraq ‘s human-rights issues. Organisers hope it will help Iraqis understand and claim their rights. Some of festival events will be taken to the cities of Basra, Najaf and Salahuddin. Baghdad Eye was launched with the support from the Czech non-government organisation, People In Need, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Iraqi Association for the Support of Culture, an independent, non-profit organisation that supports cultural activity and production in the country, was founded in 2005 by a group of Iraqi intellectuals, including the late artists Mohammad Ghani Hikmet and Muayid Ni’meh. The Independent Film & Television College was founded in 2004 by Iraqi filmmakers Kasim Abid and Maysoon Pachachi, as a free-of-charge TV and film training and development centre that supports students, provides them with equipment to make their own films and informs them of training courses inside the country and abroad. source: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/iraq-to-hold-first-human-rights-film-festival-1.981075