The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) is set to host the first edition of the Africa International Human Rights Film Festival scheduled to take place on the 10th of December 2022.
The festival is being held to commemorate International Human Rights Day.
The Executive Director of HRJN, Mr. Kehinde Adegboyega, said: “Human rights is a major concern for developing democracies in countries like Nigeria because citizens continue to experience different human rights abuse including police brutality, Gender-based violence, extra-judicial killings, and kidnappings by state and non-state actors, amongst others.”
He further explained that the film festival’s goal is to showcase local and international cinema, films, fiction, and documentaries that address human rights issues on the continent and worldwide.
“The core thematic areas of the film festival are; Forced evictions, inclusive Housing and Urban Development, Police brutality and Justice reform, Digital rights and justice, Gender and reproductive health rights, Freedom of expression, political participation, and the Civic space,” said Adegboyega. “This hybrid event will run for 3 days in the month of December. It will feature veteran filmmakers’ question and Answer panel sessions and master classes on scripting, direction, financing, distributing, and producing Human Rights films in Africa.”
Adegboyega, a filmmaker and human rights defender, noted that films could help spark conversations and make citizens take action on human rights issues within their society.
He added: “The festival will collaborate with different civic organisations that carry out advocacy on human rights and the thematic areas outlined for the first edition.”
