The third Cairo Human Rights Film Festival, which kicked off last Saturday at Sawy Culture Wheel, ends tomorrow with a program focusing on women's rights. During its run, the festival screened a series of short films and documentaries on human rights. The festival is free and open to the public. The festival presents movies from all over the world, previously selected by a watching committee composed by human rights activists and artists accepting submissions of movies that fit the mission of the festival from professional directors as well as amateurs from any country. Each day of the festival focused on different angles, such as the history of human rights, democracy, freedom of expression and women's rights. Among the short films, was “Konoungo,” a documentary about the humanitarian crisis in refugee camps in eastern Chad, which are home to many refugees from Darfur. It was produced by Al-Hurra Television, which describes itself as “The first Arabic-language network to tell the full story of Darfur.” The documentary shows the travels of Al-Hurra journalist, Mohamed al-Yahyai, among the refugees, reporting their personal stories and experiences in order “to give voice to the voiceless.” Another humanitarian tragedy in Africa is recalled in the two-hour film “Ghosts of Rwanda,” a 2004 PBS documentary directed by Greg Barker. “Ghosts of Rwanda” marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, during which 800,000 Rwandans belonging to the minority Tutsis were brutally murdered by Hutu extremists, part of the ethnic majority, while a generally indifferent international community refused to intervene. On Wednesday, the festival will screen a series of short documentaries in Arabic and English, such as “Violence Against Women,” produced by the Egyptian El-Nadeem Center for Physiological Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, and “Breaking the Silence,” on the injustices suffered by akhadam (“servant”) women in Yemen, a social group distinguished by the majority for their darker skin and African heritage. The CHRFF was launched in 2008 by the civil rights NGO American Islamic Congress (AIC), established in 2001 in Washington D.C. to promote human rights, freedom of expression and religious tolerance. The festival was the first of its kind in the Middle East.
