The 7th Amnesty International Film Festival in Amsterdam concluded with the screening of the film Story Undone by Iranian director Hassan Yektapanah. The film recently won the Amnesty International-DOEN Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. At the end of this year the Amnesty International Film Festival will distribute this film in Dutch cinemas.
By having a more selective number of 25 films (nine documentaries and 16 feature films) and more room for talk shows and debates with filmmakers and human rights activists, the festival achieved a record amount of 8.500 visitors.
The programme paid a lot of attention to human rights abuses in African countries. Highlights were the Dutch premiere of the film Hotel Rwanda, in attendance of director Terry George and Paul Rusesabagina, and the world premiere of Another African Story, about Darfur and directed by Emanuele Piano. In the numerous discussions after the screenings the matter of the large scale genocide which is momentarily taking place in Darfur was examined in detail.
Movies That Matter In the 16 documentaries and the 9 feature films that have been shown at the 7th edition of the Amnesty International Film Festival, human beings take centre stage. Each one of these films is about human lives, human rights and human dignity. This is a festival for cinema that matters, for films that were made not to shock viewers, but to touch them. View the screening schedule either by date or by film title, listed in alphabetical order.
Amnesty International Film Gala in the Tuschinski Film Theatre
This year, the Amnesty International Film Festival, in its 7th edition, will open with a special Amnesty International Film Gala. In the Amsterdam Pathé Tuschinski Theatre, the first Dutch screening will take place of Hotel Rwanda. This film has received three Oscar nominations. Dutch actress Katja Schuurman will open the Festival, in the presence of the cast, which has promised to attend the event. The evening’s cash box receipts will go to Amnesty International, who have designated part of it for an Amnesty radio project in Rwanda and its neighbouring countries of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Gala is sold out. Hotel Rwanda will also be screened on Thursday (with guests) and Saturday.
Special premieres at the Amnesty International Filmfestival
Seven impressive and award winning feature films which will be in cinemas later this year are screened now at the Amnesty International Film Festival
Forgiveness
Brothers (Susanne Bier)
A Danish soldier, on a peace mission in Afghanistan, disappears. This traumatic event has untold yet far-reaching consequences for his family. Audience Award Sundance Film Festival. Runner up Audience Award International Film Festival Rotterdam
Forgiveness (Ian Gabriel)
The first South African film about post-apartheid appeasement policy.
Human Rights and Youth Jury Award Locarno Film Festival
Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)
During the 1994 Rwanda genocide, hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu, offers shelter to more than 1,000 Tutsi refugees. Three Oscar nominations, three Golden Globe nominations
Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene)
With the aid of a traditional curse that changes her house into a refuge, one woman opposes the ancient circumcision tradition.Un Certain Regard Award, Cannes
Private (Saverio Constanzo)
In this intimate film, actors portray the relationship between a Palestinian family and Israeli soldiers who are forced to live together. Golden Leopard, Locarno Film Festival
Story Undone
Story Undone (Hassan Yektapanah)
This original way of looking at illegal migration and human trafficking displays a bitter sense of humour. Silver Leopard, Locarno Film Festival, Amnesty International-DOEN Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
And, not in cinemas, but screened during the festival: Beautiful City (Asghar Farhadi)
A psychological drama from Iran about a teenager awaiting his execution and his sister’s and best friend’s attempts to get him released.Grand Prix winner Warsaw Film Festival
Story Undone is the winner of the Amnesty International/DOEN Award Story Undone, by Hassan Yektapanah, (Iran/Ireland/Singapore, 2004) is the winner of the Amnesty International/DOEN Award of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2005. In the Rotterdam Theatre, on Wednesday evening 2 February, jury chairman René Soutendijk presented the human-rights-film award to Hassan Yektapanah. Afterwards, the film was screened. Story Undone takes a bitter-humorous approach to the problem of illegal migration from Iran. The film thanks its production in part to a grant from the Hubert Bals Fund. The Amnesty International/DOEN Award comes with a €5,000 grant. Learn more
The 3 Rooms of Melancholia won the Amnesty International/DOEN Award at IDFA 2004
On the evening of Friday 26 November, jury chairman Hans Thoolen announced the winner of the IDFA 2004 Amnesty International/DOEN Award 2004: Pirjo Honkasalo’s The 3 Rooms of Melancholia. Earlier, the three nominations had been announced that had been chosen out of the 10 films viewed by the Amnesty International/DOEN jury during IDFA. Besides the winner they were Liberia: An Uncivil War by Jonathan Stack (the jury awarded this film with a special mention) and Shake Hands with the Devil: the journey of Romeo Dallaire, by Peter Raymont.
Amnesty International Filmfestival Each spring the Amnesty International Film Festival takes place in Amsterdam. Since 1995 this film event is a platform for committed film productions about human rights and human dignity. The festival screens both documentaries and feature films. In discussions and talk shows surrounding the films, the film makers, human rights activists and audience have the opportunity to exchange ideas and views. The seventh Amnesty International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday 9 March until Sunday 13 March 2005 in Amsterdam.
For more than forty years Amnesty International has devoted itself to the observance of human rights, all over the world. The written and spoken word – in the form of rapports, letters to prisoners, governments and international organisations etc.- has proved and still proves to be a powerful medium. Amnesty International emphatically cannot and will not ignore the global shift towards a visual culture. The significance of film (image) as an information source is increasing. Images have the power to break through indifference. The last years have shown numerous examples of the camera helping to start international actions. The making of the film can itself also be seen as a form of campaigning. Due to the more and more advanced and small DV-camera’s it is becoming easier to keep a close eye on regimes in all parts of the world.
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The Human Rights Film Its History, Principles and Practices Essay by Daan Bronkhorst
In the 16 documentaries and the 9 feature films that have been shown at the 
