As usual, the films will be accompanied by panel discussions, directors meetings, a photography exhibit, and, for the first time, a forum of human rights NGOs. The purpose of the forum is to present the festival´s viewers with the opportunities currently available in Poland to support individual rights and the growth of civil society. The Amnesty International Journalism Prize will also be awarded during the festival to the author of the best work on human rights published in the press or Internet in 2003.
This year, the ´Human Rights in Film´ festival introduces a review of films about human rights in Poland by showing documentaries from the PRP era. The intention is to let forthcoming festivals continue this review and, over a three year period, bring this retrospect up to date, concluding in 2005 with films on current human rights issues in Poland. This year´s review is based on a series of documentaries originally selected for the 1992 Strasbourg Film Festival by the renowned film makers Bohdan Kosinski, who passed away this year, and Marcel Lozinski. The two will also be represented at the festival with some of their own films.
While the Secret Services theme will be accompanied by a panel discussion on human rights violations carried out in the name of post-9-11 necessity, the subject of populism and populists, reaching well beyond the human rights agenda, comprise documentaries shedding light on how the recent rise of such politics in Europe may represent an accumulated threat to civil liberties. If so, are basic human rights also under threat, asks a panel brought together to discuss the underlying message of this particular programme.
This year´s festival also includes a number of superb American documentaries, outlining an image of a country where, among other things, the truth in the American Constitution´s First Amendment, on the freedom of speech and the media, and the criminal justice system, both central to the defence of human rights, are both under severe pressure. Other films in the programme show inspiring examples of the potential influence of genuine activism. The panel debate related to this section of the festival focuses particularly on the free media.
Finally, the issue of migration and refugees is gaining increased notoriety, especially in a Europe that is closing its gates ever tighter to all newcomers. On this issue, the festival combines films on personal dramas with documentaries approaching the problem from a more analytical universal perspective. As with the other thematic blocks, this one will also be accomnpanied by an open discussion led by specialists on the topic.
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