The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Dealing with human rights issues on celluloid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 05, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Dealing with human rights issues on celluloid

Staff Reporter

Two-day film festival under way in city

Eleven films are being screened at
the festival
Symposium and ‘unconference’ are other components of the programme

— Photo: R.Shivaji Rao

Film fete: Director of Goethe Institut of Max Mueller Bhavan Gabriele Landwehr (left) interacts with directors Nishta Jain (centre) and R.Rohini at the inauguration of a film festival on human rights in Chennai on Friday.

CHENNAI: A two-day film festival on ‘Human Rights: 60 Years and Way to Go’ got under way at the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, Anna Salai, on Friday.

It is being organised by Goethe Institut of Max Mueller Bhavan along with Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, Indo-Cine Appreciation Forum (ICAF) and Ability Foundation. Eleven films depicting various aspects of human rights and its violation are being screened at the festival.

Participating in the inaugural function, Director of Goethe Institut Gabriele Landwehr said the film festival was part of a three-day programme on human rights.

A symposium and an ‘unconference’ were the other components of the programme.

Objective

The objective of the festival was to create awareness among the audience of human rights and the need to protect them. Human rights issues were in many ways similar in India and Europe and such an event also provided a platform to deliberate on them, she said.

Films of Indian directors R.Rohini and Nishta Jain were also screened on Friday. While actor-director Ms. Rohini’s film ‘Silent Hues’ gave a glimpse into the lives and ambitions of child film artists, Ms.Jain’s film ‘Lakshmi and Me’ was about the problems in the life of a housemaid.

Ms.Rohini and Ms.Jain shared their experience about the films during an interactive session.

The symposium on Saturday would have several topics, including child rights, disability and human rights and dignity for homeless mentally ill people.

On Sunday, the ‘unconference’ would have open discussion about human rights issues, including education, child labour and workers’ rights. ICAF general secretary E.Thangaraj participated in the inaugural of the film festival.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu