1905 Hong Kong Human Rights Film Festival

WHO WE ARE: The 1905 Hong Kong Human Rights Film Festival is a newly established human rights film festival in Hong Kong. Our organization sees film as an easily accessible medium to spread awareness about human rights abuses, which can have an immense impact on the festival's audience. 2020 SPECIAL: ASIA PACIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL IN NEW YORK (NOVEMBER '2020) *Please note, due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, dates can be adjusted. The festival aims to promote Asia Pacific Human Rights Filmmakers to the international audience. This year, the theme is "Tolerance and Non-discrimination". The festival takes place in New York in November 2020. Submissions are open for all members of the Asia Pacific Human Rights Network. BEHIND THE NAME: 1905, China produced its first film, "The Battle of Dingjunshan". In that same year, the Qing Emperor sent five ministers abroad to study constitutionalism, the first step towards establishing constitutionalism in China. In 1905, China took landmark strides in both film and human rights, which is why this festival has been named, the 1905 Hong Kong Human Rights Film Festival. OUR PURPOSE: Human rights violations exist in every society, however, many times they are unrealized or neglected. Human rights violations are often normalized because they are woven into the fabric of a social culture. Groups and individuals subject to such violations are also frequently marginalized and deemed invisible. Therefore, an awareness surrounding human rights issues is the first step towards addressing them. Our organization sees film as a powerful tool in vividly drawing human rights violations to the forefront of the dialogue, as well as capturing the hearts and minds of the audience. JUSTIFICATION OF PROJECT: There is a distinct lack of comprehensive human rights film festivals in East Asia, especially in and around China, where the topic remains a highly sensitive issue. In Hong Kong, Amnesty International organizes a Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. However, the festival only shows documentaries, which mainly attracts people already specialized in human rights (NGO members, human rights specialists etc). Our festival, instead, shows a mix of feature films, documentaries, and short films in order to attract specialists as well as a more general audience. 60 million mainland Chinese travel from the mainland to Hong Kong every year, about one million per week. It is also part of the Pearl River Delta area, with over 100 million inhabitants, one of the most densely urbanized regions in the world. Hong Kong, compared to mainland China is a much more liberal and open society, which makes it a perfect place to address human rights issues. We want to offer both mainland Chinese and foreign filmmakers a platform to present their works as well as to enter a discussion with an audience that is otherwise rarely confronted with such topics. FILM CATEGORIES: - Refugees - Freedom of speech - Women's rights - Ethnic minorities - Protest and activism - Justice - Labour rights - Universal suffrage