[Online Workshop] Movies that Matter & the Asser Institute present: the Global Justice Cinema Workshop

Documentary film is a very powerful medium in the field of global justice. It can document human rights violations, uncover abuses of power, communicate a strong message of solidarity and call for action. Documentary filmmaking, however, is never just a ‘neutral’ registration of reality.

The Global Justice Cinema workshop challenges participant to critically watch, assess and discuss what these films communicate and how this is achieved. You will do this in a truly unique setting. For this workshop, the Asser Institute and VU Amsterdam annually join forces with human rights film festival Movies that Matter.

The workshop offers the best of both worlds: you will get great lectures in film and international justice by professors at the Asser Institute and VU. And you get to see the latest international rights films, plus the chance to meet filmmakers and activists at the online Movies that Matter Festival.

The workshop is connected to the Camera Justitia programme on law and justice at the Movies that Matter Festival.

The entire program (including film screenings) takes place online.  

For whom?

No specific background in film and/or international justice is required. We welcome professionals and students in the areas of e.g. film, international law, human rights, communication, media, art, and international politics.

In the workshop, we will watch and discuss two remarkable films from the Camera Justitia selection:

Colombia in My Arms (Jenni Kivisto, Jussi Rastas) is a visually strong documentary about Colombia after the peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrillas. Will the fragile peace deal survive the distrust and rancour built up by decades of war? Colombia in My Arms tells the story from different perspectives: guerrillas in the woods, preparing to hand in their weapons and trying to accept that their fight will be a political one from now on, the ‘old money’ elites, who shudder at the thought of FARC gaining power, the political establishment, cynically exploiting tensions in society for their own political gain. And finally, the workers on the cocoa fields who sum up the situation: ‘The chaos starts at the top, not at the bottom’. 

President (Camilla Nielsson) is a riveting account of the Zimbabwean 2018 presidential elections from inside the campaign of opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa – and its unbelievable aftermath. Zimbabwe is at a crossroads when charismatic Chamisa challenges ruling party ZANU-PF. But will the elections be fair? When the ballots are cast on election night, it turns out the real battle has just begun. A fly-on-the-wall account of Chamisa’s campaign, combined with hair-raising battleground reporting and a legal thriller about the fight for the soul of democracy.

Tentative programme

22 April, Thursday (CET)
09:45 – Welcome and Introductions
10:15 – Lecture Conceptions of justice in documentary film – Prof. Wouter Werner
11:00 – Break
11:15 – Lecture Thinking visually about International Politics – Dr Francesco Ragazzi
12:15 – Lunch break
13:15 – Screening film Colombia in my Arms (Jenni Kivisto and Jussi Rastas)
14:45 – Discussion of the film with makers/experts
16:00 – Camera Justitia Masterclass (speaker tba)
Optional evening programme Movies that Matter festival

23 April, Friday (CET)
09:00 – Welcome day 2
09:15 – Lecture Storytelling through editing – Dr Sofia Stolk
10:00 – Break
10:15 – Screening President (Camilla Nielsson)
12:15 – Q&A with filmmaker/expert
13:15 – Lunch break
14:15 – Lecture on impact and outreach by Movies that Matter
15:15 – Discussion session
16:00 – Evaluation
16:30 – Online farewell drinks
Optional evening programme Movies that Matter festival

After the successful completion of this workshop, you will receive a professional certificate from the T.M.C. Asser Instituut.

Preliminary list of speakers

Wouter Werner (Professor VU Amsterdam, specialised in documentary film and international law)

Sofia Stolk (Researcher at T.M.C. Asser Instituut/coordinator Camera Justitia at Movies that Matter)

Francesco Ragazzi (Filmmaker and Assistant Professor in International Relations at Leiden University)