The Barcelona Film and Human Rights Festival announces the winners of the XVI edition of the contest. The awards are chosen by a professional jury composed of different personalities of Human Rights and the world of cinema. They will be released and announced at the closing ceremony to be held tonight (Friday, November 22) in the Texas Cinemas (note seized until today at 9pm).
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, a film that follows the research of an international group of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group that, after almost 10 years of research, argues that the Holocene era ceded in the mid 20th century, giving the Anthropocene era, because of the profound changes brought about by the human being. You can check more information about the film here:
https://theanthropocene.org/film/
The winners of this edition are:
BEST FEATURE FILM
For Sama (United Kingdom, 2018) by Waadal-Kateab and Edward Watts.
A very personal and intimate look at the experience of the war that stands out from the majority of documentaries about Syria. This film is an unforgettable and heartbreaking example on how to resist the professional honor to communicate and record a conflict, from the feminine and motherhood experience.
BEST MEDIOMETRATION
Badiucao: The art of dissent (Australia, 2019) by Danny Ben-Moshe.
A documentary that reveals the threatened identity of Badiucao, the best known Chinese artist and cartoonist in the world, compared by the press as the "Chinese Bansky." The documentary shows, through the life of Badiucao, China's sophisticated censorship and surveillance system. It is the brilliant culmination of a personal life that becomes one of the bastions of the viralization of art as a weapon of peace for global social movements, especially in the current conflict between Hong Kong and China.
BEST CATALAN SECTION FILM
City for Sale (Spain, 2018) by Laura Álvarez Soler.
A film that denounces the model of the "Barcelona" brand, transforming the city into a nerve center of gentrification and tourism. We see this impact through the lives of four families, who have to live the dramatic effects of mass tourism. Through them, we get an idea of the great transformation that the city is experiencing and we realize that this irreversible process is expelling residents from their homes and neighborhoods and that the city's identity will change forever.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The land we inhabit (Mexico, 2019) by Marco Aurelio Celis and Diego Quintero.
A short film that describes the immigration status of two characters with different nationalities who are in the same city and with the same goal: to find happiness and achieve the American dream.
BEST FICTION SHORT FILM
María de los Esteros (Colombia, 2018) by Eugénio Gómez Borrero.
A short film with an outstanding photographic treatment that, with a very transpersonal atmosphere, clearly communicates a metaphor loaded with beauty and meaning: that the presence of the past is in the present.
The contest also awards the Human Rights Prizes of Barcelona chosen by a jury composed of specialists, defenders, activists and members of Rights in Action, organizing entity of the Festival.
The winners of this edition are:
HONORARY PRIZE
Llorenç Soler
Soler is one of the precursors of independent documentary cinema in Spain, and will receive the Festival's Honorary Award for his career committed to Human Rights.
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD (SHARED)
Carola Rackete and Pia Klempt
Awarded to a person or entity for its dissemination and protection of human rights.
Carola Rackete is a German activist captain of the Sea Watch migrant rescue boat and a member of the Extinction Rebellion organization. In his fight he has faced Salvini and the Italian government, unleashing diplomatic controversies with the German government. She was released in July this year after being imprisoned for taking 40 immigrants who had rescued in the Mediterranean in the Italian port of Lampedusa without permission. Its main dedication really is the preservation and study of the environment.
Pia Klemp is a German ship captain biologist who faces up to 20 years in prison and large fines for rescuing more than 1,000 migrants while crossing the Mediterranean. If convicted, Klemp could face 20 years in prison and fines for collaborating with illegal immigration.
LETTER AWARD (SHARED)
Ahmet Altan and Cristina Mas
Written journalism award, under persecutions or restrictions, risk, pressure or threats for their work.
Ahmet Altan is a Turkish journalist who has written articles opposing the Ardogan regime, recognizing and denouncing the Armenian genocide. He was arrested after the failed coup d'etat of 2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment, later commuted to 10 years in prison. From prison he has published his memoirs, under the title I will never see the world again.
Cristina Mas is editor of the international section of the ARA diari and currently specializes in the territory of Syria. Despite publishing now away from the conflict, he has lived and worked, for the same newspaper, in Tunisia during the revolution.
VOCES AWARD (SHARED)
Masih Alijenad and Solidaris Program.
Award to social leaders, activists, spokespersons or communication professionals who work for Human Rights.
Masih Alinejad is an Iranian journalist, exiled in Canada. From there it disseminates information and denounces the lack of rights in your country, with videos through #MyCameraIsMyWeapon. She is also the founder of #WhiteWednesday and #MyStealthyFreedom. He is currently restricting his activity because of the Iranian government's threats against his family.
The Solidaris Program of Catalunya Ràdio is broadcast every Saturday from 3pm to 4pm for eleven seasons. A program for the development of peace, human rights and social movements that focuses on disadvantaged groups at a local and global level.
LOOK AWARD (SHARED)
Behrouz Boochani and The Backway by Ruido Photo.
Award to audiovisual creators and filmmakers committed to human rights, persecuted, censored or under threats or pressures.
Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish-Iranian writer and editorial creator. He is being held on a Polynesian island used as a refugee camp and from there he has made a 90-minute documentary, edited in Holland, about the reality of the countryside, Chanka, Please Tell us the Time ... He also writes from there a book through WhatsApp: No friend but the Mountains, next edition in Catalan.
Ruido Photo is a production company that has been showing social problems and denouncing human rights violations for more than 10 years. The Backway is one of his latest exhibitions, a look at the migration route that goes from Africa to Europe. The exhibition includes the testimony of people who live the origin of migration and are affected by this phenomenon, through photographic portraits and stories in text and audio narrated by the journalist and expert in Africa Xavier Aldekoa.
The deliberation of the jury of this edition has seen the need to create, next year, a Catalan human rights award, which includes all other categories, to recognize the task of institutions, social leaders, initiatives and groups of Catalan civil society for its work in the defense and promotion of human rights, locally and internationally.
