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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr" prefix="og: https://ogp.me/ns#"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <script src="/modules/custom/hrw_consent/js/hrwconsent.js?v=1.4"></script> <script> HrwConsent = new HrwConsent; HrwConsentSettings.domain = 'hrw.org'; HrwConsentSettings.expires = 365; </script> <script>var _mtm = window._mtm = window._mtm || [];_mtm.push({"mtm.startTime": (new Date().getTime()), "event": "mtm.Start"});var d = document, g = d.createElement("script"), s = d.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];g.type = "text/javascript";g.async = true;g.src="https://open-analytics.hrw.org/js/container_IrM3Hpzd.js";s.parentNode.insertBefore(g, s);</script> <meta name="description" content="(New York) –Human Rights Watch announced today that it would be closing its long-running film festival. Founded in 1988, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival showcased nearly 1,000 independent films, was presented in over 30 cities across the globe, and is the world’s longest running human rights film festival." /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://ff.hrw.org/news/human-rights-watch-end-its-celebrated-film-festival" /> <meta name="Generator" content="Drupal 10 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <meta name="MobileOptimized" content="width" /> <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="true" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <link rel="icon" href="/themes/custom/hrw_ff/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /> <script src="/sites/default/files/google_tag/hrw_ff_gtm/google_tag.script.js?sqht98" defer></script> <title>Human Rights Watch to End Its Celebrated Film Festival | Human Rights Watch Film Festival</title> <link rel="stylesheet" media="all" 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'true' : 'false'" x-transition x-cloak> <div class="views-element-container"> <div class="mega-menu js-view-dom-id-3305f4a6362098510841ba02bb10361520fc009ec4e7765e70ff9f3711e32f32 mega-menu__item"> <div class="mega-menu__inner"> <div class="mega-menu__list"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="l-constrained"> </div> <main> <a id="main-content" tabindex="-1"></a> <div class="region__content"> <div data-drupal-messages-fallback class="hidden"></div><div id="block-mainpagecontent"> <article class="node__story node__story--full"> <header class="article__header emb--full t-accent-default"> <div class="l-constrained"> <h1 class="page-title" ><span>Human Rights Watch to End Its Celebrated Film Festival</span> </h1> </div> </header> <div class="l-constrained--narrow"> <div class="field field--name-field-lead-media-item field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"><article class="t-accent-gray"> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Image</div> <div class="field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/public/2024-03/202403film_fest_presser.JPG?itok=LUCoHMDU" width="969" height="534" alt="A theater audience watches a panel discussion on stage" /> </div> </div> </article> </div> <h2><p>Showcased Nearly 1,000 Independent Films Over More Than 3 Decades</p></h2> </div> <div class="l-constrained--tight u-pb-20"> <div class="story__meta u-my-20"> <div class="field field--name-field-published-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2024-03-13T08:00:00-04:00">March 13, 2024</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-category field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/524" hreflang="en">Press Release</a></div> </div> <div> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>(New York) –Human Rights Watch announced today that it would be closing its long-running film festival. Founded in 1988, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival showcased nearly 1,000 independent films, was presented in over 30 cities across the globe, and is the world’s longest running human rights film festival.</p> <p>“It’s with sadness and deep regret that we have made the difficult decision to close the Human Rights Watch Film Festival,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The film festival is a celebrated cultural institution that educated and inspired hundreds of thousands of filmgoers and filmmakers around the world over three decades, providing a critical space for connection, conversation, and action on human rights issues.”</p> <p>The decision to close the festival was part of a wider restructuring due to financial constraints, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch Film Festivals will take place as planned across the United Kingdom and Ireland, opening on March 14, 2024, and across Canada starting on March 21.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch is immensely proud of the talented film festival leadership and staff, who built partnerships across the human rights community and film industry. The festival established a mainstream platform for impactful films and in-depth conversations about human rights issues, with a priority focus on underrepresented perspectives from around the world.</p> <p>The festival staff have been instrumental in pushing for increased accessibility standards in the film industry, resulting in three fully inclusive film festivals in the last two years. During the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that shuttered cinemas, the film festival team created a digital streaming site that tripled attendance figures, encouraged festival members to tune in for live conversations, and ensured that the public would not be isolated at home. The innovative site continued the festival’s work of creating spaces for dialogue, connection, and action on human rights issues.</p> <p>“We owe the Human Rights Watch Film Festival’s success and impact to the longstanding commitment of our festival staff and consultants, volunteers, partners, the filmmakers, and of course our audiences,” Hassan said. “They helped to nurture the human rights storytelling movement that we see thriving today.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> <div id="block-newsletter-signup" class="t-dark-blue block__link-banner"> <div class="l-constrained l-stack--tight"> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer role="contentinfo" class="c-site-footer"> <div class="c-site-footer__inner l-constrained"> <div class="c-site-footer__logo"> <a href="/" title="Home" rel="home" class="logo" > <img src="/themes/custom/hrw_ff/logo.svg" alt="Human Rights Watch Film Festival logo" class="logo__image" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/themes/custom/hrw_ff/logo.png'" > </a> </div> <div class="region__footer"> <nav role="navigation" aria-labelledby="block-footer-menu" id="block-footer"> <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="block-footer-menu">Footer</h2> <ul class="menu menu--footer" data-depth="0"> <li class="menu__item link--has-icon"> <a href="https://www.hrw.org" class="menu__link">Human Rights Watch</a> <svg viewBox="0 0 60 60" aria-hidden="true"> <use xlink:href="#icon_arrow_ext-sm" /> </svg> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/privacy" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/72351">Privacy</a> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/accessibility" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/72317">Accessibility</a> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/sitemap" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="sitemap">Sitemap</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="footer__back-to-top t-pale-blue t-accent-blue"> <a href="#top"> <svg viewBox="0 0 60 60" aria-hidden="true"> <use xlink:href="#icon_arrow_up" /> </svg> <span>Back to Top</span> </a> </div> </footer> </div> </div> <script src="/sites/default/files/js/js_4GPaLstJfAm2e_GQSyQY1pBZZkCSlSS56Api0d1W5Sg.js?scope=footer&delta=0&language=en&theme=hrw_ff&include=eJxlTdkOgzAM-6FCPwmF4h5a06AmDPH3O7R7L5YP2c59n4I0RTOf39yphEJ1YiyFplraSf2_NVoGw-mhBvYzKdzaxcSOFT5Vmam622iMP0qLYYgihv7RWClhsGIV7lywq7_jyLJsV-tRZSQaGG17bYF6yEkkVYxROj-DeTOT9nWZQQv6BeGYXv0"></script> <script src="https://unpkg.com/alpinejs@3.3.4/dist/cdn.min.js" defer></script> <script src="/sites/default/files/js/js_s1oZGzeriyXNVUHD_zDqtk1_CwIo5WcwcOTRz_ONM50.js?scope=footer&delta=2&language=en&theme=hrw_ff&include=eJxlTdkOgzAM-6FCPwmF4h5a06AmDPH3O7R7L5YP2c59n4I0RTOf39yphEJ1YiyFplraSf2_NVoGw-mhBvYzKdzaxcSOFT5Vmam622iMP0qLYYgihv7RWClhsGIV7lywq7_jyLJsV-tRZSQaGG17bYF6yEkkVYxROj-DeTOT9nWZQQv6BeGYXv0"></script> </body> </html>