Movies that Matter Festival to Celebrate Activism Through Film
By Hannah Terry
Movies That Matter is a Human Rights-focused organisation (and member of The Hague Humanity Hub) that believes in visual media as a vital tool for expanding support for human rights issues and raising awareness of injustices around the globe.
From March 24-April 1 (in and around The Hague) Movies that Matter will be hosting the Movies that Matter Festival on human rights and a sustainable society. Over the nine days, 80+ films are screened on topics central to human rights. The festival uses films as a starting point for awareness and strives to ignite deeper conversations around the topics that are highlighted. Along with screenings the festival offers introductions, discussions, Q&A sessions, workshops, and teaching aids led by filmmakers, experts, and activists.
A unique platform to harness the power of film
The Movies that Matter Festival is a unique platform that harnesses the power of film to raise awareness of human rights issues and injustices across the globe. With over 80 films screened on a wide array of topics, there is something for everyone to enjoy and learn from. The festival also provides an innovative platform to explore solutions to problems central to the peace and justice community. It highlights a diverse range of voices, bringing multiple stakeholders and perspectives together to create an integrated approach to addressing these issues. This year, the festival has partnerships with the European Commission, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Parliament, and more. These partnerships demonstrate the festival’s commitment to creating impactful change and fostering collaborations between different sectors of society.
Multiple themes
The film categories for this year are Take on Love, Take on Power, Take on Mental Health and Take on Future. Each category offers a wide selection of perspectives, opinions and stories within each theme. Movies that Matter is also highlighting human rights in Iran as a tribute to the numerous human rights violations that are ongoing in Iran and the protests that started following the murders of Mashsa Amini and Hadis Najafi in 2022. Three well known Iranian directors, Maryam Ebrahimi, Nafiss Nia, Ali Asgari will be attending the festival and there is a special programme screening Iranian classics.
The Movies that Matter Festival is taking place from March 24-April 1, more information on tickets and the programme can be found here.
