Karama-Beirut HRFF

Karama Beirut Human Rights Film Festival successfully finished its fifth edition entitled “Occupy the Void” which held in Sunflower theatre from 23rd to 26th of September 2021.The theme focused on civil society and the power of youth and their ambitions for social and political change. KBHRFF’s fifth version coincides with the movement of the Lebanese people that aims to recover the true meaning of the Constitution and laws and reshape the national identity according to values of citizenship and the standards enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through film screenings, discussions and other activities, KBHRFF called to occupy the void with a rights- based, comprehensive, public, and practical culture to achieve human dignity.

During the four days of the festival, KBHRFF screened twenty-one human rights films and hold ten after-screening discussions. To encourage young filmmakers, Karama – Beirut Festival presented six films for Syrian refugees produced by the “Action for Hope Film School”, three of which are documentaries, while the three others are fictions. Eighteen films were premiered for the first time in Lebanon. These films were produced in several countries, namely: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Qatar, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Australia.

As part of the festival, two free-of-charge master classes for students and young film makers took place: the first one was given by university professor Dr. Najwa Kondakji and tackled “Ways to express revolution in cinema”, while the second class was given by writer Najib Nseir and is titled “Citizen’s Rights in Dramatic Writing” which was attended by students from various Lebanese universities, in addition to filmmakers and young filmmakers.