The “International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights” – 2016

Each year many thousands people (more than 20,000) attended the Festival’s screenings and debates. The Festival’s director was Isabelle Gattiker. The Grand Prix for best documentary film went this year to “Among the Believers” by Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi, which addresses the issue of religious fundamentalism that threatens Pakistani society. It’s a film about The Red Mosque in Pakistan, which has students allied with ISIL and strong ties to the Taliban. With its leader, the controversial cleric Maulana Aziz, it shows how they take children and brainwash them with their radical jihadist philosophy, with emphasis on devotion to Sharia law. Prize of Gilda Vieira De Mello in tribute to her son Sergio Vieira De Mello was offered to the film “Hooligan Sparrow” (by Nanfu Wang).It’s a documentary that closely follows Sparrow, an admirable woman who embodies one of the many faces of the struggle for human rights in China. The Special Jury Prize was received by “A Syrian Love Story” (created by Sean McAllister), a film that follow a couple in exodus because of the war. Some other prizes had been accorded.