Documentary AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES by Avi Mograbi (France/Israel) wins last Amnesty International-DOEN Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2006


The documentary AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES (Avi Mograbi, France/Israel 2005) is the winner of the Amnesty International-DOEN Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2006. Before an extra screening, the head of the jury Goran Paskaljevic will presented the human rights film award on Wednesday night February 1st at the Rotterdam Schouwburg to the Dutch distributor of the film, 1 More Film. In an emotional manner, the documentary shows the personal view of Mograbi on the limitations of both parties in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Amnesty International-DOEN Award includes a € 5.000 stipend prize. The winning film will have return screenings at the International Rotterdam Film Festival on Thursday 2, and Saturday 4 February.


In the future, the Human Rights Film Award of the Movies that Matter foundation will replace the Amnesty International-DOEN Award. Movies that Matter is a cooperation between Amnesty International, the DOEN foundation, Hivos-NCDO Culture fund and the VSB fonds. The objective of Movies that Matter is to reach and create awareness with the public, opinion leaders and policy-makers of human rights and situations where these rights and human dignity are oppressed.

Jury
Ten films from the IFFR 2006 programme were nominated for the Amnesty International-DOEN Award. The last few days these films were evaluated by the jury, which apart from director Goran Paskaljevic, consists of Dutch writer Yasmine Allas and Maciej Nowicky, organiser of the Human Rights in Film International Film Festival (Warsaw). Focal points in the evaluation process are among others the way human rights are portrayed, originality and style, as well as the personal involvement of the filmmaker. The jury pays tribute to the film because it is a brave and convincing movie that shows shortsightedness of nationalistic thinking in an original manner.

Winner at the programme of the Amnesty International Film Festival AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES is part of the 8th Amnesty International Film Festival programme. The festival will be held from the 8 - 12 March in Amsterdam, and for the first time also in The Hague and Utrecht. It is the first edition organised by the Movies that Matter foundation. British film legend Vanessa Redgrave will open the festival at the Movies That Matter Gala on 8 March at Pathé Tuschinski in Amsterdam. Among others, the festival shows highlights from the Amnesty International-DOEN competitions held at IDFA 2005 and IFFR 2006. More information on the Amnesty International-DOEN Awards and the Amnesty International Film Festival can be found at www.amnesty.nl/filmfestival.