Hand in hand with the Associació Impacte. Cinema i Drets humans, the IMPACTE! festival premieres in Barcelona, with the aim of communicating through cinema and generating a fruitful debate about human rights and global justice. "We want to impact citizens, motivate social awareness and stimulate actions that strengthen democratic coexistence, social change and global justice through the presentation of quality films that encourage reflection and debate."
Due to the current situation, this first edition will be hybrid, with in-person screenings and events in four Catalan cities ---Barcelona (Cinemes Girona), Sant Feliu de Llobregat (CineBaix), Girona (Truffaut) and Lleida (ScreenBox)---, for the first four days, to later transfer its programming to the Filmin platform and the festival's own website.
In the first sessions, along with the screening of 10 short films and 10 feature films, virtual debates and film forums will be included, which can be followed through the festival's YouTube channel, with human rights experts and participating members of the films. Starting April 12, we will be able to enjoy from home an expanded program with 20 films and 20 shorts from all over the world.
This first competition features documentary and fiction films from 22 different nationalities, most of them premieres in our country, of which 16 have been directed by women. Choosing the productions to be screened has not been an easy task, as they point out, they received more than 900 pieces.
Commitment, empathy and critical perspective are the three axes around which the exhibition is articulated. "We live in a world full of injustices, attacks on people's freedom and dignity. But we also see how there is increasing social sensitivity," says Oriol Porta, director of the festival, who also comments on the challenges involved in organizing an event like this, born approximately one month before the pandemic was established. The hybrid format is not only justified, but also allows for a greater reach of audience and participation.
The festival tries to make urgent and current issues visible, such as migration, refuge and reception; poverty and the right to a dignified life; female empowerment and violence against women; state crimes and transsexuality. The exhibition aims to be a space for reflection and debate on human rights and global justice in the world, addressing key issues that have become even more evident, due to the global impact of the covid-19 pandemic.
"We live in a world full of injustices, attacks on people's freedom and dignity. But we also see how there is increasing social sensitivity," says Oriol Porta, director of the event.The film that opens the festival is the documentary Adventure(France, 2020), a piece on migration and reception by Marianne Chaud. Also noteworthy isSong Without a Name(Peru, 2019) by Melina León, a fiction based on the real drama of baby theft in Peru during the 80s, awarded as the best film at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival in 2019 and screened at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight, andThe Bad Night(Ecuador, 2019),debut film by Gabriela Calvache, which shows the public the environment that exists behind the mafias that sexually exploit women and children, which has been awarded as the Best International Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival, among other awards.
In the short film section, perhaps the most impactful piece of the entire festival will be screened, the documentary on the death penalty The Execution (Japan, 2020) by Jeroen Van der Stock, which narrates the execution in Georgia of young Ivon Ray Stanley in 1984. And on online platforms, the film Iranian Lives Matter, a surprising anonymous work shot in 2020 during lockdown, about state crimes in Iran, a star film of the festival not only for its originality but also for its commitment and real risk.
In parallel, there will be two sessions that seek to connect audiovisual professionals and human rights professionals, and a virtual meeting in collaboration with the Dones Visuals association, on Women, Cinema and Human Rights, the right to one's own narrative.
We want to impact citizens, motivate social awareness and stimulate actions that strengthen democratic coexistence, social change and global justice through the presentation of quality films that encourage reflection and debateIMPACT!, the Film and Human Rights Festival of Catalonia, collaborates with Amnesty International.
To follow all the programming https://impactefilmfest.cat/