Founded in 2003, the festival is an initiative of post graduate students on the MA course in Development and Emergency Practice. In attracting diverse audiences to each of our events, the festival hopes to raise awareness about a range of human rights concerns among Brookes students and the wider Oxford community. The festival is open to everyone and most events are free.
Each year the festival engages academics, film directors, actors and celebrities to present films and take part in the lively audience discussions following the screenings. The first festival, sponsored by Oxfam, opened in March 2003, and lasted 5 days. Award-winning director Jean Chamoun joined the second festival for the world premiere of his film 'Women Beyond Borders.' This also included an additional satellite film festival, held in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2004. Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy attended the third festival. Tuzla once again hosted a satellite Human Rights Film Festival in addition to Jersey which was organised by a former student. Film highlights included 'Kids behind bars', 'S21: The Khmer Rouge killing Machine' and 'Ghosts of Attica'. Legendary musician Annie Lennox presented the Oscar nominated South African film 'Yesterday' at the 2006 festival drawing one of our largest audiences to date. The 2007 festival included screenings throughout the centre of Oxford as well as on the Oxford Brookes University campus. Musician Billy Bragg opened the 10 day event which included the films 'Tsotsi', 'Afghan Ladies Driving School' and 'Born into Brothels'. Our sixth year began with a packed screening for the Brazilian film 'Favela Rising' which was followed by a lively performance from Brazilian band Illustrious Sambistas. The event closed with a performance from Malawian musician Ron Nkomba. The full programme is available on the Oxford Brookes website.
Each year the festival engages academics, film directors, actors and celebrities to present films and take part in the lively audience discussions following the screenings. The first festival, sponsored by Oxfam, opened in March 2003, and lasted 5 days. Award-winning director Jean Chamoun joined the second festival for the world premiere of his film 'Women Beyond Borders.' This also included an additional satellite film festival, held in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2004. Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy attended the third festival. Tuzla once again hosted a satellite Human Rights Film Festival in addition to Jersey which was organised by a former student. Film highlights included 'Kids behind bars', 'S21: The Khmer Rouge killing Machine' and 'Ghosts of Attica'. Legendary musician Annie Lennox presented the Oscar nominated South African film 'Yesterday' at the 2006 festival drawing one of our largest audiences to date. The 2007 festival included screenings throughout the centre of Oxford as well as on the Oxford Brookes University campus. Musician Billy Bragg opened the 10 day event which included the films 'Tsotsi', 'Afghan Ladies Driving School' and 'Born into Brothels'. Our sixth year began with a packed screening for the Brazilian film 'Favela Rising' which was followed by a lively performance from Brazilian band Illustrious Sambistas. The event closed with a performance from Malawian musician Ron Nkomba. The full programme is available on the Oxford Brookes website.
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Oxford Brookes Chancellor and Human Rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti opened the 7th annual festival. The programme included an evening of shorts, a photo exhibition organised by Photovoice and lunchtime seminars. Film highlights included 'Invisible Children', award-winning film 'Born into Brothels' and 'Hull Freedom Trail'. For the full programme please see the Oxford Brookes website.
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The 2010 festival began with a theatrical performance 'The Burma Play', complemented by a screening of 'Burma VJ' presented by Burmese Activist Ko Aung. The schedule of events included an evening of British hip-hop, a screening of the award winning film 'Milk', discussions led by Stonewall, Christian Aid and Anti-Slavery International. The festival closed with a screening of 'Stories from Guantanamo' followed by a discussion led by the directors and Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes. Please see the Oxford Brookes website for the full programme. Working in conjunction with Brookes Hub the 9th annual festival organised a workshop with A-level art students from neighbouring Cheney school and local arts organisation Artisjustaword to create artwork which was included in our publicity materials and exhibit at the opening. Local graffiti artist Kleiner Shames also created a massive banner to promote the festival. Guest speakers at the 2011 programme included representatives from Community Albums, Peace Brigades International, Christian Aid, Forward UK and Sandblast Arts. Film highlights include Oscar nominated film 'Ajami' and award-winning animation 'Persepolis', plus the documentary 'Forgotten Birds of Paradise'. Again, the full programme is available on the Oxford Brookes website. |
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