Amnesty International

The international jury selected a winner among the five films competing for the Best Human Rights Documentary Award: The Thing to Be Done, The Dance of Life, Peacemaker, Nuns vs. the Vatican and Cutting Through Rocks. 

 
“The jury had the privilege of watching five powerful films of remarkable sensitivity and conviction. We thank the filmmakers for their bravery, concision and empathy in bringing these stories to the viewers. Each film opened a meaningful window into a different reality, reminding us of the power of cinema to illuminate human experience and to create space for reflection, dialogue, and understanding,” stated the jury members.
 
The 28th Documentary Film Festival Amnesty International Slovenia Best Human Rights Award goes to:
 
The Thing to Be Done (Ono što treba činiti)
Directed by: Srđan Kovačević
 
Jury statement
Sometimes great success comes from a tiny, overcrowded office. Defending the human rights of vulnerable people rarely means flashy and thrilling scenes but rather a handful of courageous and dedicated people sitting at their desks with their phones fighting for those who have no one else to turn to. Ono što treba činiti is a powerful reminder that systemic injustices can be confronted through unwavering solidarity, collective action, and courage, as well as through the persistent effort to compel the system to no longer tolerate such exploitation.
 
Special mention: 
Cutting Through Rocks  
Directed by: Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki
 
Jury statement
Cutting Through Rocks could have been a story about an extraordinary woman working to ensure that women in her community have a future. It could also have been a story about how dedication and persistence can bring meaningful change to a community, or a stark portrait of contemporary Iran, where women, even on the best days, are treated as second-class citizens. Through its compelling and clear-eyed storytelling the film becomes all of these at once. It honors Sara and the women who, in a society where equality itself is treated as a transgression, continue to resist the structures of patriarchy.
 

The competition section of human rights films addresses some of the most pressing issues facing our world. It also serves as an appeal to present-day mass media, which tend to overlook many important and meaningful stories due to their perceived lack of newsworthiness. The Best Human Rights Film Award is presented by Amnesty International Slovenije.

Áron Demeter is Head of Communications and Campaigns at Amnesty International Hungary, the Hungarian section of the global human rights movement. He is leading the team of experts focusing on value-based messaging and campaigning to mobilize and convince various audiences to support rule of law, gender equality, and LGBTI rights in an autocratic political environment. He holds a Master of Laws in Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University, a Master of Arts in Political Science and a law degree from Eötvös Loránd University. He is an alumnus of the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Recharging Advocacy for Rights in Europe (RARE) program.

Kukla, born in Brežice in 1991, is a film director. In 2014, she graduated in film and TV directing from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. Her work explores the boundaries between social and magical realism, focusing on the intimate and social dimensions of contemporary life. Her short film Sisters won the Grand Prix at the 2021 Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. Her feature debut, Fantasy, received its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, won the Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Actress at the Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as the Grand Prix and the Cineuropa Jury Award at the Trieste Film Festival.

Sonja Prosenc is an internationally renowned and award-winning film director and screenwriter. Her prize-winning films have screened at numerous Slovenian and international festivals. All three of her feature films (The Tree, History of Love, and Family Therapy) were, among other things, the official Slovenian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Employing a distinctive, sensory-rich, and atmospheric cinematic language in her work, Prosenc interlinks intimate stories with the themes of social responsibility, empathy, and human dignity.

In a world where, due to mass violations and attacks, human rights seem to have become just empty rhetoric and a failed attempt at the hangman game, and the people who should be fighting for them have become their greatest enemies, documentary films and festivals remain reliable allies of human rights. The importance of human rights organizations in fighting for justice and non-discrimination, exposing violations and mobilizing people to push for change – such as Amnesty International – is shared by the cultural events that set out to expose injustice and open up opportunities for discussion about justice. The Documentary Film Festival is always up to this task, invariably inspiring us with its selection of film titles. This year’s edition will once again take us to places where cinema does not leave human rights at the door, but rather opens the door wide, inviting them in and inviting others to join us in the dark and silence to jointly cheer for human rights. Being more than just silent, indignant observers of human rights violations, human rights documentarians do not look away, do not lower their eyes, but get to the heart of the matter, analysing, transforming, documenting, and reconstructing for the viewers who are not afraid to see what really matters: humanity. One of Amnesty International’s slogans, used productively over the recent years, says more than a thousand words, giving us hope and the strength to persevere for a better world: “Ultimately, humanity must prevail.”

This year’s Documentary Film Festival again brings a varied programme, and the Amnesty International Slovenije jury will once again have the difficult – but inspiring – task of selecting the best human rights film. As always, the competition section includes five films, each with its own unique story. We are delighted that this year the opportunity to share their story has been given to our colleagues from Delavska svetovalnica Ljubljana (the Workers' Advocacy Office) – a non-governmental organization that fights for the human rights of workers, especially the working men and women from the former Yugoslavia. The Thing to Be Done by director Srdjan Kovačević sheds light on one of their biggest battles, which took place in the Port of Koper. Organizations like the Workers' Advocacy Office and Amnesty International pursue a truly responsible mission in today’s world: we must side with the most vulnerable and fight for all the ignored and invisible people in our society.

The Dance of Life, a film by Slovenian director Siniša Gačić, who was a member of our jury several years ago, focuses on the topical issue of the right to euthanasia. It tells the story of Alenka, a retired teacher, headmistress, and dance lover who has been living with the rare Morquio syndrome for decades. Alenka has booked euthanasia in Switzerland, but would much rather end her life in her native country. She and her husband are campaigning for the legalization of euthanasia in Slovenia.

In her film Nuns vs. the Vatican, Italian director Lorena Luciano focuses on sexual violence in the Roman Catholic Church through the case of Slovenian Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik, who systematically sexually abused and raped nuns. Going unpunished all too often, partly because it tends to take place behind closed doors, sexual violence is a topic about which not enough is known, disclosed and reported. The film lends a new urgency to the joint efforts for fair punishment and destigmatisation of victims, with a critical eye and a view to protecting survivors.

In Cutting Through Rocks, directors Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki take us to Iran, where the struggle for women’s equality is still ongoing. The film features another inspiring Iranian woman, Sara Shahverdi, undauntedly overcoming obstacles, shattering stereotypes, and opposing the patriarchy that pervades her country.

In Peacemaker, Croatian director Ivan Ramljak raises the issue of nationalism during the Serbian-Croatian conflict and the Croatian War of Independence. Although the film is set in 1991, the issues of nationalism and hostility remain of continuing relevance. Last year, Croatia saw numerous attacks on foreign workers under the guise of patriotism.

All five competition films hold up a mirror to our society, addressing human rights in a unique way and encouraging us to think about justice, equality, democracy, and free will. We look forward to the festival, the socializing, Q&As and film nights where human rights will certainly not be left hanging.
See you at the cinema – I hope that the inspiration for change will stay with you long after the screenings, and that we ‘meet’ again soon on our website www.amnesty.si and our social networks: together in our joint fight for a better world.

Taja Premk
Amnesty International Slovenije