New award with The Danish Institute for Human Rights launch

Join us when CPH:DOX and the Danish Institute for Human Rights honor the filmmakers who portray the human rights challenges of our time.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights was signed 75 years ago. And yet, discrimination and inequality are still a part of everyday life for millions of people around the world. And that is why CPH:DOX and the Danish Institute for Human Rights have joined forces to inaugurate the HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD.

The candidates for this year’s Human Rights Award are wide ranging, but they all share an urge to delve into human rights in a way that makes them come alive for us.

Mads K. Mikkelsen, CPH:DOX’ Head of Programme, stated,
“In an era that demands solidarity with courageous filmmakers who champion equality and justice worldwide, we’ve established the HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD. This year, we nominate ten exceptional films that highlight pressing global issues, reflecting our commitment to fostering a deeper understanding of human rights.”

The Danish Institute for Human Rights also recognizes a particular need to create conversations about human rights at a time when they are under pressure from many varied fronts:

“With this new human rights award at CPH:DOX, we want to honor the filmmakers who manage to bring human rights to life and create a deeper understanding of the challenges that persist in our world,” says Louise Holck, Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Film sparks conversations about human rights

While CPH:DOX has always centered on political inequality and marginalized lives, this new award expands and broadens that focus.

The collaboration with the Danish Institute for Human Rights also involves a series of events and debates that revolve around the things we should all be entitled to across cultures and borders. From questions about the use of force and coercion in psychiatry in Denmark to the protection of civilian lives during global wars and conflicts. And from the rights to safe and active youths with meaningful communities for all – including people with disabilities – to workers’ rights for safe working conditions.

This year’s festival will feature visits from the likes of the Palestinian physician Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish, who is the main character in the film ‘I Shall Not Hate’. Abuelaish’s three daughters were killed in 2009 during Israeli attacks in Gaza, yet he keeps on fighting for dialogue and justice, both as an obstetrician in Israeli hospitals and as an activist and author of the bestselling book that shares its name with the film.

And then the festival opens its SOCIETY:CINEMA social stage in Politikens Hus with a screening of the film ‘Ibelin’ followed by a debate about the right to a youthful life full of parties, communities and love – also when living with a disability. Participants include TV host Anna Lin, ambassador for the Danish Institute for Human Rights and chairman of the Danish Association of Young People with Disabilities, William Korte, and researcher Emil Falster.

The full CPH:DOX programme will be announced on 21 February.

“As an art form, film has the potential to touch and engage a wide audience,” says Louise Holck, and continues: “Through film, complex human rights stories can be brought to life in a way that goes beyond statistics and reports. This is needed if we want to bolster the global support for human rights.”

In addition, on 15 March, CPH:DOX and the Danish Institute for Human Rights will re-launch the photo exhibition ‘Turning Points: 75 Years of Human Rights in the Press’ at Politikens Hus in connection with the festival’s community stage SOCIETY:CINEMA.

The films nominated for HUMAN:RIGHTS Award are:

Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito, Japan/UK/USA, europæisk premiere)
I Shall Not Hate (Tal Barda, Canada/Frankrig, verdenspremiere)
Limits of Europe (Apolena Rychlíková, Tjekkiet/Slovakiet/Frankrig, verdenspremiere)
Marching in the Dark (Kinshuk Surjan, Belgien/Holland/Indien, verdenspremiere)
Mediha (Hasan Oswald, USA, international premiere)
A Poem for Little People (Ivan Sautkin, Litauen/UK/Ukraine, international premiere)
Power (Yance Ford, USA, international premiere)
The Recovery Channel (Ellen Ugelstad, Norge, international premiere)
Silent Trees (Agnieszka Zwiefka, Danmark/Polen/Tyskland, verdenspremiere)
The Sky Above Zenica (Zlatko Pranjic, Nanna Frank Møller, Bosnien Hercegovina/Danmark, world premiere)