last week’s Human Rights Film Festival highlighted the country’s abuses against women, refugees, migrant domestic workers as well as detainees. (Photo via humanrights-lb.org)
lthough Lebanon’s NGOs struggle with human rights abuses that are common in many Middle Eastern countries, local victims and their advocates have both the freedom to speak up and an active art scene to help them get their message across. In spite of last week’s arguably delicate political scene, hundreds of spectators made their way to Achrafieh’s Metropolis Empire Sofil for the first large-scaleHuman Rights Film Festival in Lebanon.
Organized in partnership with Italian NGO Solidarity in the World (COSV), the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), the Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) and the local KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation NGO, the free, four-day human rights extravaganza opened its doors to the public with each of the days dedicated to a particular cause, namely women’s rights, refugees’ rights, migrants’ rights, detainees’ rights and enforced disappearances.
“We really didn’t expect this many people to show up,” said Sofia Palandri, a COSV member and the festival’s project manager, during Sunday’s closing. She had been anxious that recent political upheaval would deter cautious moviegoers. “Every day was [packed],” she told NOW Extra. “On Thursday, spectators were standing between the aisles and even seated on the floor,” she added enthusiastically.
“Nowadays, it is beyond doubt that audio-visual productions are an efficient medium for raising awareness,” stated Angelina Eichhorst, the EU’s newly-appointed ambassador to Lebanon during the festival’s launch. “In the era of communications, we know that a photo, a film, a documentary can be more effective at raising consciousness than the best and thickest of reports.”
With the entertainment that focused not only on film, but on theatrical and musical performances, relevant photo exhibits, live testimonies as well as open debates with key activists, victims of abuse, NGOs and government representatives, festival organizers made sure the message came across loud and clear.
Although initially scheduled to speak, Minister Ziad Baroud and Labor Minister Boutros Harb in the caretaker government did not attend the event. “It is unfortunate that they didn’t show up, because transmitting their message would have benefitted them,” said CLDH Secretary Wadih al-Asmar, adding that “ultimately, we are looking for dialogue [between different parties].”
However, Minister of State Mona Ofeich participated as one of the key speakers during Thursday’s discussion on women’s rights, arguing that religion continues to be a factor that hampers legislative change. The debate followed the unsettling film About Latifa and Others…, which exposed the realities of sexual abuse and domestic violence in Lebanon.
The feature highlighted the story of Latifah Kassir, who after an abusive 10 years of marriage and difficult struggle for divorce, was strangled to death with a towel by her divorcee. The Adventures of Salwa, a recently launched anti-harassment campaign by feminist collective Nasawiya, provided comic relief to the painstaking testimonies observed in the films. The 30-second animation showed an endearing heroin, Salwa, swatting sexual harassers with her purse.
A pair of parodies touching on migrant domestic workers (MDW) in Lebanon was among the biggest hits of the festival. In Shankaboot’s satirical Merci Madame Najem, a Lebanese employer justifies the reasons for abusing her maid. By inverting the roles of the MDW and Lebanese “Madame,” Wissam Saliby’s film titled Being a Migrant Domestic Worker: Sri Lankiete Libanieh (My Sri Lankan maid is Lebanese) pokes humor at the lopsided interaction between the two parties.
In a subsequent “forum theater,” actors played out a scene in which the MDW is physically assaulted by her “Madame” and then sexually abused by the husband. Actors thereafter invited audience members to freeze the performance and offer suggestions about actions the MDW can take to protect herself. “We wanted to make sure viewers didn’t remain passive,” said COSV’s Palandri. It was a new and enticing way of involving the audience.
Friday’s line-up about refugees’ rights and Sunday’s series about detainees and enforced disappearances witnessed an equally appealing program, with the official launching of “12 Angry Lebanese,” the documentary about Zeina Daccache’s dramatherapy project in Roumieh Prison as well as a live testimony by one of the inmates.
“I think the festival focused on some of the most pertinent human rights issues in Lebanon, and I am certain many of the films will have a lasting impact,” said 25-year-old attendee Alexandra Tarazi. “For me, the films on the refugees really hit hard.”
The film festival comes as the grand finale to the European Union’s Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights, a project that launched back in 2009, and features a variety of activities, workshops, trainings and research on human rights abuses in Lebanon.
The festival will hopefully become an annual happening, said Palandri, noting it might form an official partnership with the Milano Film Festival.
For more information about the European Union’s Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights project, please click here.
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