Film

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms came into general force in 1953, yet day in, day out, human rights are violated. The German Human Rights Film Award aims to provide a forum for the subject, presenting awards every two years to significant media productions.

The German Human Rights Film Award (Deutscher Menschenrechts-Filmpreis – DMFP) was established on the occasion of Human Rights Day in 1998, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was originally planned as an amateur media competition, but as an increasing number of viewing copies was submitted to the jurors each year, it has developed over the years to become a fixed institution in the German media scene. The number of supporting institutions has meanwhile increased to 18. They include human rights, educational, cultural and media work institutions operating throughout Germany, religious and church organisations and municipal institutions.

The subjects of the award-winning films are unsettling, real and unlikely to be box-office hits. Only a few productions make it into the independent cinemas. One that did was The Green Wave, an award-winning entry in the professional category in 2010. The films usually show the dark sides of power in dealing with people. Deportment, torture, child labour, human trafficking and discrimination against fringe groups are just some examples of their contents. 248 films were submitted in 2010 and filmmakers could choose from five competition categories: professional, amateur, higher education, short film and education.

Human rights education in schools

One important sub-category of the German Human Rights Film Award is the education award, which was set up in 2008. “The aim of the award is to present human rights issues in a format that can be used as teaching material,” says Petra Jung, a member of the jury awarding the prize. To this end, the FWU Institute for Film and Picture in Science and Education cooperates with the German Human Rights Film Award. Petra Jung is convinced that dealing with human rights issues at an early age helps to enhance pupils’ opinion-forming skills. Educational material is produced on a DVD along with the award-winning film so that the pupils can deal with the subject in depth. Human rights issues feature prominently on the curriculum of pupils in years seven to ten.

“It has a major impact on pupils”, says Petra Müller, the programme’s Sectional Director at the FWU. “The pupils are sympathetic and get actively involved with the subject,” Müller adds. Thus, the subject of human rights is discussed by pupils in an age group that would otherwise tend not to deal with the subject. The DVD, which includes educational material, helps teachers, to deal with the material in depth in the classroom in a way that is appropriate for the age group.

Greater focus on the violation of children’s and youth rights

Particularly in recent years, the film-makers have placed a stronger focus on the subject of children and young people. The film Rückkehr ins Elend – Abschiebung der Roma ins Kosovo (Return to misery - Deportation of Roma to Kosovo) , which won the education prize in 2010, is about children who grew up in Germany and are deported more or less overnight to their mother’s country of origin. Two years previously, the education prize went to the film Kindersklaven (Child slaves). The high turnover rate of items on loan to schools and institutions is evidence that the films are having an effect.

Yet basically “every violation goes under your skin,” says Sabine Schwab of Missio. Regardless of whether children or adults are at the receiving end, every human rights violation is tantamount to a brutal infringement of fundamental human rights. The initiators therefore see one task of the prize as being to raise public awareness of injustice and human rights violations. Infringements of fundamental rights take place all over the world, regardless of a country’s prosperity. That includes Germany, as the films show.

Raising public awareness

That is why the so-called Long Nights of Human Rights Films have been held around Germany in connection with the award presentation since 2008. The event has been held in Berlin, Bonn, Munich and Vienna. Immediately after the award presentation, which takes place in December, the prize-winning films have been screened at these locations with the directors in attendance. Discussions of the films take place after the screening, in which “in-depth discussions” usually ensue, says Marko Junghänel of the German Human Rights Film Award.