Humans of Film Festival

HUMANS OF FILM FESTIVAL Humans of Film Festival is a give-voice & Awareness film festival where human beings and their living environment are the focus point. In a society and a world that is increasingly polarizing and xenophobic in social and political terms, it is important to create spaces for encounters, where stories are told and shared that live amongst humans but aren't sufficiently heard. Through film, people can meet each other, and people who they wouldn’t otherwise meet. It is important to take the time for these encounters to get to know each other's perspectives and experiences better. Through documentaries, features, and short films we can provide a voice that gives insight into the lives, missions, situations, and goals of others that can generate awareness for various causes. Such as human rights, social justice, women empowerment, LGBTQ empowerment, anti-discrimination themes, and much more. *** 2021 | THE COMING YEAR’S TOPIC *** Even though we accept all sorts of topics, this coming festival edition we want to focus on films that regard discrimination and racism. 2020 has been a turbulent year for the entire world. The pandemic situation that we are living in has flared up issues that have always been present, but have become even more visible this year. That is why we want to give focus to films about the abnormal spike of racism that many Asians faced when Covid-19 started spreading around the world, the Black Lives Matter protests as even police brutality against POC's continued in these difficult times, the LGBTQ right’s protests in Eastern Europe and other countries that attempt to create LGBTQ free zones, and also gender-based violence and discrimination which took a surge during the worldwide lockdowns. This does not mean that we do not accept films of other topics or similar subjects that happen in entirely different areas from the ones mentioned above. We still want to display a wide variety of subjects and themes. *** HISTORY | BACKGROUND STORY *** Humans of Film Festival derives from the Humans of Film Amsterdam street photography blog, a platform where personal stories of Amsterdam residents are shared. This project shares the personal impact that film can have on people and how they can find representation and recognition. It also gradually reveals the lack of diversity in the film landscape. From this starting point, initiator Feargal Agard started a film festival that focuses on the so-called ‘human interest films,’ a niche that was still missing in the Dutch film festival scene. ‘Human interest’ refers to films that focus on people, their experiences, and the environment that they live in. Humans of Film festival first started out with a pilot film festival edition, consisting of short films, screened at VOX POP, a creative space at the University of Amsterdam. In 2020, we had our first official edition at LAB 111, a cult cinema in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We screened six feature films and seven shorts and despite the pandemic, it was a total success. Humans of Film Festival is organized by Foundation | Stichting Humans of Film.