Cinema for Peace Foundation

Transcription

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Cinema for Peace Foundation - Annual Report 2014
ANNUAL REPORT
Overview of
Projects and Activities in 2014
Cinema for Peace Foundation
Friedrichstraße 113
D – 10117 Berlin
Tel +49-(0)30 76 77 525 11
Fax +49-(0)30 76 77 525 20
www.cinemaforpeace-foundation.com
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Table of Contents
1.
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
2.
Board of directors regarding structure, functions and operations of the Cinema for Peace
Foundation.................................................................................................................................. 3
3.
2.1.
Mission Statement / Purpose of the foundation ............................................................. 3
2.2.
Basic Principles of the foundation’s work ........................................................................ 3
2.3.
Bodies and structure of the foundation ........................................................................... 4
Cinema for Peace and Pussy Riot ............................................................................................... 5
3.1. Cinema for Peace at the Olympic Games with Pussy Riot .......................................................... 5
3.2. Cinema for Peace in Brussels with Pussy Riot ............................................................................ 6
3.3. Cinema for Peace in Washington, New York and Los Angeles with Pussy Riot .......................... 7
4.
Cinema for Peace at World Economic Forum and Munich Security Conference ....................... 8
5.
Cinema for Peace meets with Ai Weiwei in China to discuss human rights and film ................ 9
6.
Cinema for Peace – Special Screenings .................................................................................... 10
6.1. Cinema for Peace Emergency Screening in New York – “The Devil Came on Horseback”....... 10
6.2. Cinema for Peace Screenings in Ukraine .................................................................................. 10
7.
Cinema for Peace - Berlin Screenings ....................................................................................... 12
8.
Cinema for Peace Trailer of the Week ...................................................................................... 13
9.
Cinema for Peace network and Film Selection ......................................................................... 17
9.1.
Further development of the Cinema for Peace network ............................................... 17
9.2.
Cinema for Peace Film Selection .................................................................................... 17
10. Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014 .................................................................................................. 18
10.1. Cinema for Peace honors Nelson Mandela .................................................................... 18
10.2. Cinema for Peace honors Sir Christopher Lee ................................................................ 18
10.3. 2014 Film Selection ....................................................................................................... 19
10.3.1.
2014 Winners ........................................................................................................... 21
10.3.1.1.
Most Valuable Movie of the Year ......................................................................... 21
10.3.1.2.
Most Valuable Documentaries of the Year .......................................................... 21
10.3.1.3.
The International Green Film Award .................................................................... 24
10.3.1.4.
The Justice Award ................................................................................................. 24
10.3.2.
2014 Nominees......................................................................................................... 24
10.3.2.1.
Most Valuable Movie of the Year ......................................................................... 24
10.3.2.2.
Most Valuable Documentaries of the Year .......................................................... 26
10.3.2.3.
International Green Film Award ........................................................................... 26
10.3.2.4.
The Justice Award ................................................................................................. 27
11. The World 25 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall – New Crises, New Doubts, New Walls . 29
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1. Introduction
Since its establishment in 2008, the Cinema for Peace Foundation has forged ahead on the themes of
media literacy, peace education and international understanding, seeking to advance the topics of
the Cinema for Peace Initiative through the medium of film and the activities of the Foundation.
Cinema for Peace works as a global platform for the convergence of film, politics and society
harnessing the universal power of moving images whilst aiming to unify the consciousness of other
cultures. Beginning as an independent initiative in 2002, Cinema for Peace sought to raise the social
and sociological relevance of films produced and to illustrate the influence film can have on global
perception of abuses and humanitarian emergencies.
The projects and activities described here will demonstrate how the foundation works to further
peace and understanding worldwide through the support of cinematographic works.
2. Board of directors regarding structure, functions and operations of the Cinema for Peace
Foundation
2.1. Mission Statement / Purpose of the foundation
The Cinema for Peace Foundation is a registered non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany
that supports film-based projects dealing with global humanitarian and environmental issues,
building on the successful outcome of the annual Cinema for Peace Gala, which started in 2002. Since
its founding in 2008, the Foundation has been running internally originated, cinema-based
humanitarian projects.
The purpose of the Foundation is to promote peace and intercultural understanding through the
medium of film, also using selected protagonists from the world of film and staging media-effective
actions and campaigns. The Foundation seeks to fund film productions, film screenings and other
actions dealing with global challenges such as disease prevention (e.g. AIDS) and poverty, with
prevention of violence, environmental destruction, war, and the violation of human rights. All
supported films and actions aim at the elucidation of the countries concerned and / or the
mobilization of a broad international public in wealthy industrial countries to initiate change. In
addition to the funding and promotion of films that meet the objectives of the Foundation charter,
the Foundation’s activities also include their distribution in affected countries.
2.2. Basic Principles of the foundation’s work
The Board of Directors of the Cinema for Peace Foundation has developed basic principles guiding
the Foundation’s daily work and decision making processes. Each principle is made evident through
appropriate measures.
Transparency – The Cinema for Peace Foundation places a particular emphasis on a transparent
presentation of its work. Therefore, it issues a comprehensive newsletter published in regular
intervals, with information on the content of projects and organizations involved. In addition,
important documents, such as annual reports, are accessible and can be downloaded through their
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website. It is planned to complement the internet domain www.cinemaforpeace-foundation.com
with an online forum, where questions about the foundation and its activities can be discussed.
Equal Opportunities – Whereas the Cinema for Peace Foundation seeks to initiate change to achieve
a more just and more peaceful world via its various projects on a global level, it is also guided by an
equal opportunities policy in its working and decision making processes, ensuring to avoid any
discrimination or unfair treatment on the basis of gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, age or
disability.
Intercultural Understanding – The Cinema for Peace Foundation is convinced that every human being
can make a real difference in building a more peaceful world based on true intercultural
understanding. While always striving to enhance intercultural understanding via the medium of film,
it also cares for various cultures being represented within its international team.
Environmental Consciousness – The Cinema for Peace Foundation not only places emphasis on
“green” topics by running the Green Online Platform on its own internet domain, but it also extends
an active approach toward the environment, using energy and resources responsibly in its activities.
Appropriate measures include using as few paper prints as possible and conscientious use of
electricity.
2.3. Bodies and structure of the foundation
Main Bodies of the Cinema for Peace Foundation are the Board of Directors and the Supervisory
Board. The Board of Directors manages the Foundation pursuant to its statutes of their own
responsibilities. All Board members serve deliberately without remuneration. The Supervisory Board
advises, supports, and supervises the Board of Directors in carrying out its activities.
The current composition of the two bodies is as follows:
Board of Directors
 Jaka Bizilj – Chairman of the Board of Directors
 Dr. Ingo Mantzke
Advisory Board
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Andrea Dibelius – Chairwoman
Wilhelm Beier
Carola Meier
Oliver Prock
Michael Rosenblat
Christian Angermayer
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3. Cinema for Peace and Pussy Riot
The Cinema for Peace Foundation invited Nadezha Tolokonnikova and Maria Alykhina to join Cina for
Peace in Berlin after their release from prison. They were detained for two years. The Russian state
granted amnesty to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina at the end of December 2013, so
that they were able to leave the prison camp earlier. Cinema for Peace invited them to exchange
with other human rights activists, like the Femen activists. The Cinema for Peace Foundation also
organized for them to visit a women`s prison in Germany.
Together with explaining more on Pussy Riot and its members, the documentary “PUSSY RIOT: A
PUNK PRAYER” puts into light the human rights situation in Russia and the violations against freedom
of speech that happen there. Therefore, Cinema for Peace has been assisting with the promotion of
the film.
Nadezha Tolokonnikova and Maria Alykhina used the opportunity of their stay in Berlin to raise
awareness for their newly founded NGO, Zona Prava, which fights for the rights of prisoners and their
political ambitions. During the event, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina also expressed an ambition in a
political career after their new NGO has been grounded. After their striking visit in Berlin, the Cinema
for Peace Foundation invited the Pussy Riot members to join representatives of the organization on a
joint trip to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and to organize a screening of their film “RIOT:
A PUNK PRAYER” in Sochi, the screening was later prohibited by authorities. Cinema for Peace also
accompanied them to the European Parliament in Brussels, to New York, Washington and to LA.
3.1. Cinema for Peace at the Olympic Games with Pussy Riot
Jaka Bizilj, the director of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, accompanied Pussy Riot to Sochi, Russia,
to promote the Olympic spirit of equality and human rights, and to attend the Olympic Games.
Before the even the planned screening of the film RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER” was prohibited and at
Sochi the activists were denied access to the sports competitions. Before entering, every visitor must
pass an accreditation procedure from which human rights activists were rejected for the first time.
This did not happen at previous Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee's spokesman Mark Adams commented on the Pussy Riot
beatings as "very unsettling but largely an issue for the Russian government", and he further noted
that "it's a shame if the Olympics are used as a political platform". IOC president Thomas Bach has
also repeatedly said that "political statements should not be made on the backs of athletes". The IOC
restricted the access to the games for the first time by introducing a visitor's pass for the first time at
Olympic Games, which was granted by the Russian administration. At the 2014 Winter Olympics,
Russia put strong limitations on protests, ordering that any demonstration must get advanced
approval and be held only in the neighborhood of Khosta, which was unlikely to be visited by
outsiders. This in itself is also a political act.
After a short performance, as a protest against their denied access to the games, the activists were
brutally beaten by official forces. Band members had to go to a hospital, because in addition to
physical injuries - amongst others a blood wound to the head - the effects of pepper spray on the
protesters had to be examined.
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The activists filmed the attack and released it during a press conference which was organized
together with the Cinema for Peace Foundation on the following day in Sochi. In the clip they have
filmed in Sochi, Pussy Riot also denounces how unprecedented police presence in Sochi was.
You can read a report of the press conference here: http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fgwn-pussy-riot-held-in-sochi-20140218-story.html
In the two and a half minutes long video which has been edited the night before, it can be seen how
a uniformed Cossack brutally hits the masked women with a whip, and how Nadya and Masha are
thrown to the ground. The video can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjI0KYl9gWs
3.2. Cinema for Peace in Brussels with Pussy Riot
Cinema for Peace invited Pussy Riot to Kiev and to a hearing at the European Parliament on the
current developments in Russia.
In Brussels, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot took part in a hearing in
the European Parliament on the human rights situation in Russia today. During an additional public
event at the parliament by invitation from Werner Schulz in a more than packed auditorium, Cinema
for Peace screened excerpts of the film "Pussy vs. Putin", before Nadezhda and Maria gave their
public statements. They expressed their opinions on the Ukrainian conflict and suggested possible
solutions, predominantly in the form of further sanctions against Russia. They proposed that
sanctions should be avoided against the Russian people, and should only be targeted at the no more
than 300-500 people who form the ruling elite. This would follow the example of Browder's
Magnitsky-list, which had been signed by Barack Obama and put into effect last year. Further
information on the statements of the Pussy Riot members can be found here:
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/pussy-riot-warn-against-new-iron-curtain-301298
Cinema for Peace hosted a meeting in Brussels between Pussy Riot and Bill Browder, who met for the
first time and discussed the sanctions of the Magnitsky-list. It was suggested that this list shall be
expanded further with people who are involved in breaching human rights and the rule of law in
Russia. The following day the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the European
Council to introduce its own version of "Magnitsky-list" sanctions against Russia, which consists of 32
Russian individuals. For a full and up to date list of EU sanctions against Russia, please check:
http://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu_sanctions/index_en.htm
Pussy Riot and Bill Browder call for sanctions to help avoid a war that would take a costly toll on
human lives: pushing for asset freezes and visa restrictions on Putin's elite, in a way that would
prohibit them from enjoying the life of travel and luxury they are used to. The expected result is that
such measures would help to prevent Russia's political elite from waging a war. The Pussy Riot
members also mentioned that Putin is trying to reinstate an iron curtain between Russia and Europe.
He is already actively working on this, for example Russian television is full of anti-Western
propaganda, similar to broadcasts during the Soviet era. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina argued that
social and cultural contact between Europe and Russia needs to be maintained, and that Russians
should receive opportunities to experience Europe without relying on biased propaganda.
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3.3. Cinema for Peace in Washington, New York and Los Angeles with Pussy Riot
In New York, the Cinema for Peace Foundation
invited Nadezha Tolokonnikova and Maria Alykhina
to join the ‘Women in the World Summit’. This
summit, organized by Tina Brown Live Media, brings
together extraordinary female leaders and experts
and aims at improving the rights and life situation of
women and girls across the world. Here, Nadezha
Tolokonnikova and Maria Alykhina were endorsed
by Hillary Clinton, whom they met at the In a tweet,
Clinton praised Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina for
their strength, bravery and their refusal to let their
voices be silenced by Russia, and posted a picture of
herself with the two band members. At the same
summit, they took part in a panel discussion hosted
by Charlie Rose. Also during their stay in New York,
the Pussy Riot members were interviewed on The
Today Show, in which they stated their wish for a
free Russia.
Find the details to their appearance in the show
here: http://www.today.com/news/pussy-riotHillary Clinton poses with Pussy Riot on her Twitter feed.
member-i-want-russia-be-free-2D79477161
https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton/status/452130729691
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During their stay in New York, they also got in
contact with the producer of the `House of
Cards’.
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4. Cinema for Peace at World Economic Forum and Munich Security Conference
Cinema for Peace attended the 2014 World Economic Forum and the Munich Security Conference
where particular focus was put on the crisis in Syria. During the conference Cinema for Peace hosted
screenings of excerpts of films on the crisis and Syria and also the conflict in Ukraine which
highlighted the situation there and resulted in further talks on the topics.
Cinema for Peace met with some of the world’s leading policymakers on peace issues, with
discussions focusing on the situation in Syria in particular: Kofi Annan reiterated to founder Bizilj how
important the influence of artists can be in raising public attention and public pressure on
governments to stop the killing in Syria. The head of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang
Ischinger expressed the same view at a private Cinema for Peace dinner on Thursday, commenting
on how "shamefully" the UN Security Council has failed in this regard.
German President Joachim Gauck held a bold speech on the moral dilemma of intervention in which
he mentioned the United Nations responsibility to protect innocent civilians, a topic that Cinema for
Peace previously discussed with him in November, emphasizing that the UN and the world can't just
keep watching while people are being killed.
In another important announcement, the President of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) Ahmad
Jarba said that the SNC will take part in the next peace negotiations starting on February 10, while
asking what the international community and the UN Security Council planned to do. Jarba spoke
about democracy and how the SNC has fought the radicals that have tried to benefit from the chaos
in Syria. The panelists around UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi had also called for an Olympic ceasefire,
while Brahimi urged the world to put pressure on the Syrian parties taking part in the peace
negotiations in order to achieve results. This was underlined by the fact that as the peace talks took
place in Geneva, the war ravaged on in Syria, reportedly killing over 1.900 people.
Ahmad Jarba, born in the Qamishli tribe in 1969, is a former political prisoner, Syrian leader and
politician. He has been the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces, which is the main coalition of opposition groups of the Syrian Civil War, since July
6, 2013. Jarba holds a Bachelor of Law and is discussing with Cinema for Peace what artists can do
and how filmmakers can shine a light on what is happening in Syria.
During the peace talks UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that "enough is enough" and that
there should be a conclusion to the violence in Syria. At the Munich Security Conference he urged for
the peace talks to continue as well as demanded that it was important for "both sides and the
government in particular to allow the unfettered access required under international humanitarian
law."
Cinema for Peace Honorary Chair and UN Special Envoy for Refugees Angelina Jolie is regularly
visiting camps with refugees from Syria in order to help improve their situation. She has pleaded the
world to act: "I appeal to the world leaders – please, set aside your differences, unite to end the
violence, and make diplomacy succeed." Moreover, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio
Gutierrez commented on the scale of the suffering: "I have no doubt that the conflict in Syria is the
worst humanitarian crisis since at least the Rwandan genocide."
During the Security Conference, Cinema for Peace and Wolfgang Ischinger hosted a dinner to which
several of the attendees of the conference were also invited. At this dinner there were screenings of
excerpts of films on the topics of the crises in Ukraine and Syria. Following these screenings,
discussions were held on how best to tackle these conflicts. These talks kick started further processes
aimed at working towards solutions to the serious humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Syria.
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5. Cinema for Peace meets with Ai Weiwei in China to discuss human rights and film
In August 2014, Jaka Bizilj met with Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei in China. At the time of
writing Ai Weiwei still has his passport revoked by the Chinese government and cannot leave the
country. During their meeting, Bizilj and Weiwei discussed the protection of human rights and
freedom of speech, in particular which role the medium of film can play in this ongoing struggle.
Weiwei himself is a filmmaker with an established filmography of 26 films. His experience in
combating the infringement of human rights and freedom of expression has been very inspirational
and during this meeting Cinema for Peace was able to decide what the best course of action would
be and how we could help in continuing this important struggle.
Cinema for Peace sees Ai Weiwei’s films as being highly valuable to the issue of human rights and
freedom of speech, and would like to further promote and support Weiwei as a filmmaker.
Therefore, Cinema for Peace has viewed and analyzed all his films and will show a screening series of
Ai Weiwei in 2015.
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6. Cinema for Peace – Special Screenings
6.1. Cinema for Peace Emergency Screening in New York – “The Devil Came on Horseback”
Ciname for Peace hosted an emergency screening in New York of the documentary “The Devil Came
on Horseback” to highlight the atrocities which are happening in Sudan. This was done in the light of
a planned visit to the United Nations by the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir to hold a speech. AlBashir cancelled his visit at the last minute on grounds of a public outcry against it and the fear of
being arrested while being in the United States.
Organizations like the ENOUGH project, which is supported by artists such as George Clooney and the
Cinema for Peace Foundation, opposed the visit. They asked for his visa to be denied, requested
hotels not to provide accommodation and, in cooperation with Cinema for Peace, held an emergency
film screening in New York of "The Devil came on Horseback", about atrocities in Darfur committed
by Al-Bashir and his government during his originally intended speech.
At the screening, the First Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said:
"Bashir is a war criminal. He needs to be arrested."At the launch of the UN Preventing Sexual
Violence in Conflict Initiative hosted by Angelina Jolie and UK Secretary of State William Hague, Fatou
Bensouda, Moreno-Ocampo’s successor, expressed her wish for Bashir to be brought to trial in The
Hague.
Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity. The U.S. Government was deeply concerned by this unprecedented situation. U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power referred to the trip as "deplorable, cynical and hugely
inappropriate."
Sudan is one of the countries, where genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity have killed
thousands of people but that is often forgotten because of other humanitarian crises worldwide. The
screening of the film by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern was hosted by Cinema for Peace with
filmmakers in cooperation with Cultural Project & ENOUGH Project on the occasion of the UN
General Assembly in New York. The First Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno
Ocampo, gave the introduction to the screening.
Cinema for Peace has been engaged in several projects in Sudan. One ongoing project is the filming
of a documentary on the conflict and ethnic cleansing taking place in the Nuba Mountains and South
Kordofan regions of Sudan. The footage gathered is has been edited into a work sample as well as
into news clips for international distribution. Filmmaker Andrew Berends presented some excerpts at
the screening as well.
6.2. Cinema for Peace Screenings in Ukraine
Even though efforts have been made to reduce the conflict, severe violence has continued in Eastern
Ukraine throughout 2014. Russia, even though is apparently still fuelling the conflict further, and has
been facing increasing sanctions from the West. Cinema for Peace believes that at times of conflict it
is important to remind everyone of what the Russian and Ukrainian people have accomplished
together in the past. Therefore, screening of “Inseparable” have been organized in Ukraine. This
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2013 mini-series tells the story of two lovers in the aftermath of the horrific 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
This event, one of the worst ecological tragedies of European history, was met by a brave
collaboration between Russians and Ukrainians, working together in the light of an unfathomable
danger.
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7. Cinema for Peace - Berlin Screenings
The film series was launched in June 2011 where we presented the documentary Restrepo in
remembrance of war journalist and photographer Tim Hetherington who was killed in April 2011
while reporting from Misrata, Libya.
The screenings are organized every first Monday of the month in Berlin and every second Monday in
Hamburg. Since 2012, the Cinema for Peace Monthly Screenings were extended to Frankfurt. The
film screenings are followed by a Q&A session with guest speakers who have an expertise on the
subject.
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Mai 2014: Children on the Frontline.
Guest speaker in Berlin: Dr. rer. pol. Behrooz Abdolvand (Associate Fellow at Berthold-BeitzCenter of the DGAP, coordinator and dozent of the „Caspian Region Environmental and
Energy Studies“-Programm, Otto-Suhr-Institut der Freien Universität Berlin)
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September 2014: Islamic State
Syria – Iraq – terror organisation: Islamic State.
Guest speaker in Berlin: Robert King (photo-journalist, war correspondent)
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October 2014: IS – The International State of Terror: Can it still be stopped?
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8. Cinema for Peace Trailer of the Week
Cinema for Peace Foundation’s Trailer of the Week strives to connect those willing to know more
about current events around the world with excellent documentaries and feature films. Since July
2011, the Trailer of the Week presents several suggestions for film trailers that are related to the
news and events in order to provide more in-depth information and analysis on topics that can
sometimes be very complex and difficult to grasp through short news bulletins. Published usually
once a week, the Trailer of the Week is delivered to a mailing list of influencers and Cinema for Peace
Foundation constituencies. One can subscribe to the list on our webpage.
Here is an overview of the 2014 Trailers of the Week. For a complete list, see appendix 2.
January 5: 2014
The year 2014 marks the most important anniversaries in the recent history of peace and conflict.
These anniversaries both remind us of horrors that should not be forgotten but also inspire to boldly
take action in the face of adversity. […]
January 14: Golden Globes & Help Haiti Home
The winner of the Golden Globe for the Best Drama was 12 YEARS A SLAVE, a film Cinema for Peace
has previously highlighted as one of the most important films of 2013. It is also nominated at Cinema
for Peace Berlin due to take place on February 10. […]
January 26: Solution for Syria: Russia Must Take the Lead and Enable Olympic Ceasefire
This winter tens of thousands will die due to the war, cold weather and starvation in Syria. This is
mainly due to the fact that Russia and Iran support President Assad and the UN Security Council has
"failed shamefully", as the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said at the World Economic
Forum in Davos at a dinner by George Soros. […]
February 2: Cinema for Peace at World Economic Forum and Munich Security Conference – Focus
on Syria
Cinema for Peace met with some of the world’s leading policymakers on peace issues, with
discussions focusing on the situation in Syria in particular: Kofi Annan reiterated to founder Bizilj how
important the influence of artists can be in raising public attention and public pressure on
governments to stop the killing in Syria. The head of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang
Ischinger expressed the same view at a private Cinema for Peace dinner on Thursday, commenting
on how "shamefully" the UN Security Council has failed in this regard. […]
February 9: Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014: Nelson Mandela, Pussy Riot & Syria
The Cinema for Peace Gala will celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela and his fight against Apartheid
and for human rights in South Africa. Excerpts from "Mandela's Children" by grandson Kweku
Mandela will be shown for the very first time to a global audience. The documentary includes
Mandela's last interview and never-before seen footage with his grand-grandchildren posing him
questions, asking him for example how he fell in love for the first time or if he liked school. […]
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February 18: Cinema for Peace Condemns Olympic Detention of Pussy Riot
Cinema for Peace protests vehemently against the arrest of Pussy Riot. Two of the members of the
Russian band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Marija Alyokhina, have been arrested by Russian
authorities during the Olympic Games in Sochi. […]
February 23: War and Peace and the Olympic Games
After months of protest and deadly violence in Ukraine, the situation has improved considerably
during the weekend as President Yanukovich announced that there will be early elections and fled
the country. Ukraine was on the brink of a civil war, with people being shot on the streets. […]
March 2: Oscars With “The Square” – The Rise of the People
Three documentaries with a humanitarian background are competing for the Academy Award for the
Best Documentary today: "The Square", "Dirty Wars" and "The Act of Killing". The former two were
awarded with the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Documentary of the Year Award 2014, whereas
the latter was nominated for Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2013. […]
March 5: “Not Survive, But Live”
The Oscar gala on Sunday was also a stage for humanitarian tributes such as for Nelson Mandela and
articulating support for the struggling people of countries like Ukraine and Venezuela, where people
have risen against their leaders. […]
March 17: Aggression in the Name of Protection
In a referendum on Sunday the citizens of Crimea have voted for joining Russia. Our committee
member Vitali Klitschko reiterated Saturday night in a conversation with founder Jaka Bizilj in
Hamburg that the referendum in Ukraine is illegal, as is also Russia's act of seizing the Crimea region.
Klitschko said: "We don't want a war, we don't want Ukrainian and Russian soldiers shooting at each
other. But we need to send a clear signal to Putin through sanctions that this breach of citizens' rights
in Crimea cannot go unanswered." […]
March 24: “Unspeakable Atrocities” in North Korea
In North Korea, a country tightly closed from the outside world, numerous reports have told about
grave human rights breaches over the years. The recent United Nations report underlines that by
calling the atrocities committed around North Korea and especially in its prison camps
"unspeakable", and it goes on to suggest that the situation in North Korea should be referred to the
International Criminal Court to hold the country and its leaders accountable for their actions. […]
March 30: Pussy vs. Putin
While Russia's President Vladimir Putin continues to raise tensions in Ukraine by amassing troops on
the country's Ukrainian border following the annexation of Crimea earlier this month, also a
balancing force campaigning for human rights comes from Russia in the form of Pussy Riot. […]
April 5: Avoiding War With Magnitsky-Pussy Riot Sanctions
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The world has watched with fear in the past months, as the unfolding of the crisis in Ukraine has led
to a Russian military escalation on the country's eastern border and the annexation of Crimea. Is
Russia preparing for war – and if yes, how can the war be stopped? One method could be to try to
curb the actions of those responsible, the political and economic elite, by freezing their foreign assets
and denying them visas to the US and Europe. […]
April 14: Elections in Afghanistan: Democracy vs. Taliban Threat
After a decade-long operation of fighting the Taliban with the support of an international coalition,
Afghanistan is transitioning into an era where it will both get to shape its own future as well as take
responsibility for itself. Most of the foreign forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of
the year. […]
May 12: Larger Russia: Illegal Referendums, Stalinistic Laws and a New Cold War?
After Crimea's annexation to Russia, pro-Russian separatist groups have wreaked havoc and seized
control of governmental buildings in eastern Ukraine. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Sunday
conducted referendums, saying 89% and 96% respectively voted in favor of "self-rule". The EU and
US said the polls were illegal. […]
May 21: Cannes Film Festival Reflects The World in Crisis
The Cannes Film Festival is known for its political conscience and even controversies, and this year it
also presents films on Syria and Ukraine. […]
June 5: D-Day 70 Years Ago – How to End All Wars
Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when allied forces landed in France in an effort to
fight back Hitler and stop the Nazis. This year also marks the 100th and 75th anniversary of the start
of the First and Second World Wars, respectively. Woodrow Wilson stopped the war with the USA for
moral reasons and raised the question how to end all wars? Today the question is how can the
international community stop the slaughter in Syria? And how can we prevent governments from
killing their lawfully protesting citizens – as happened 25 years ago during the protests on Tiananmen
Square. […]
June 22: Cinema for Peace Screenings in East Ukraine
While Russia apparently continues to deliver further arms into Eastern Ukraine in order to fuel a civil
war in the region and potentially faces new sanctions, Cinema for Peace is starting this weekend a
screening campaign with the film "Inseparable", which features the love between Ukrainians and
Russians and the joint effort to overcome the horrors of Chernobyl. […]
July 15: Germany Wins World Cup
The football World Cup ended on Sunday with Germany beating Argentina 1-0. The championships
have displayed exciting and dramatic football at its best, especially when host country Brazil was
beaten 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals. […]
October 2: Can the United Nations regain leadership?
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The session of the UN General Assembly ended this week. With the pictures of the 310,000
attendants of the Peoples Climate March still present in the media, the UN Climate Change summit in
New York called for “a meaningful universal climate agreement” in Paris 2015. The biggest tangible
result of the summit was a commitment by nearly 40 companies to do their part to slow and
eventually stop the loss of forests. Additionally decisions were made on confronting ‘IS’ by the UN
Security Council and UN Women made a further step towards gender equality. […]
October 11: Ebola, Hong Kong, International Criminal Court
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has become the first head of state to appear before the
International Criminal Court. Mr. Kenyatta was charged in 2012 with crimes against humanity
including murder, deportation and rape for allegedly inciting—and financing—violence in early 2008
that killed more than 1,000 people and forced many more. […]
October 19: Nobel Prize: Malala vs. The Taliban
17 years old Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous, and near fatal
campaign to secure education for girls. Malala was awarded Cinema for Peace Justice Award 2013
and is by far the youngest laureate and she insisted on Friday that her work had only just begun. The
Pakistani campaigner, who survived an assassination attempt at the age of 15, will share the $1
million prize with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian activist who has dedicated his life to fighting for the
rights of children. […]
November 2: Celebrating President Gorbachev & The Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9 marks the 25th anniversary of the destruction of Berlin Wall - a sinister symbol of the
world divided by enmity and fear. In the aftermath of this event not only the reunification of
Germany could be achieved, but the Cold War has ended. As we are living in the danger of a new
Cold War, Cinema for Peace is welcoming President Gorbachev in Berlin to hold with him and the
New Policy Forum an International Symposium titled “The World 25 Years After the Fall of the Berlin
Wall: New Crises, New Doubts, New Walls” […]
December 17: Torture, Pakistan & Everyday Rebellion
The long-awaited report on the C.I.A.'s "enhanced interrogation" demonstrates that systematic
crimes and gross violations of international human rights law had been committed. "Now is the time
to act - those responsible must be held accountable," said the UN Special Rapporteur on Terrorism
and Human Rights, Ben Emmerson. […]
December 20: North Korea oppressing freedom of expression in the United States?
Sony Pictures has cancelled the US release on December 25 of the film THE INTERVIEW, after a threat
of terrorism against the movie. The film has been at the centre of a hacking scandal and major movie
theatre groups have canceled screenings because of terrorist threats. […]
For the full Trailer of the Weeks please see Appendix No. 1
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9. Cinema for Peace network and Film Selection
9.1. Further development of the Cinema for Peace network
Since its establishment, the Cinema for Peace Foundation has developed an extensive network of
film makers, actors, film and art critics, motion picture scientists, festival directors, etc. This network
is the basis of the international jury which suggests films relevant for the film selection of the Cinema
for Peace Foundation and also chooses the laureate of the Cinema for Peace Award for the Most
Valuable Movie of the Year. The network supports the Cinema for Peace Foundation in project
implementation and in disseminating information about the valuable movies on important social,
political and environmental issues. (See: Appendix 3)
9.2. Cinema for Peace Film Selection
Moving pictures shape our perception of reality. In our visual age, the role of the film artist is crucial
in influencing our views and actions. Cinema for Peace highlights the responsibility of the world
through film and media. War, terrorism and humanitarian catastrophes are sad realities in many
parts of the world, and since our perception of this world is so fundamentally shaped by the media
and by what we see, it is clear that film has a particularly important role to play. The Cinema for
Peace Foundation is constantly looking for valuable movies that deal with social, political and
environmental issues. Therefore, we review all kinds of films throughout the year.
In 2012, the Cinema for Peace Foundation selected valuable films for important humanitarian, political,
and environmental issues. Thirty-seven films constituted the Cinema for Peace Film Selection of 2012.
The laureates of the Cinema for Peace Awards were chosen from this film selection and presented to
the public at the annual Cinema for Peace Gala 2014.
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10.Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014
In February 2014 the Cinema for Peace Foundation gave particular attention to films which have
excelled in these categories and do a strong effort to tackle such topics. A jury, that consists of
representatives from several sectors including film, media, journalism and more selects and awards
valuable films. The Cinema for Peace Foundation invites filmmakers to join them in Berlin also to get
to know each other and get in an exchange with each other and human rights activists like Bianca
Jagger.
10.1.
Nelson Mandela
The Cinema for Peace Foundation colaberats with the Cinema for Peace Gala and uses it as a
platform to start a discussion about important and pressing topics as well as to honor real life-time
heroes. In 2014 the Cinema for Peace Foundation used the Gala to remember and honor Nelson
Mandela, who passed away only two months earlier. Mandela was one of the most important figures
and symbols in the fight against the violation of human rights during the past century. Indeed, his
efforts against apartheid form part of the foundations of many contemporary human rights
movements and organizations, including Cinema for Peace itself. Therefore, Cinema for Peace
honored his life achievements by posthumously awarding him the “Special Honorary Award”.
Several films have been made on Nelson Mandela. the Cinema for Peace
Foundation showed excerpts of “Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom” at the
gala and clips of never-before-seen footage of “Mandela’s Children”,
showing Nelson Mandela with his great-grandchildren for the first time as
well as his last interview. This film, which gives unprecedented insight into
Mandela’s family and personal life, was co-directed and produced by his
grandson, Kweku Mandela. Kweku was present at the gala spoke about his
grandfather and his relation to the Cinema for Peace Foundation.
Nelson Mandela had a long-standing relationship with the Cinema for Peace
Foundation: A co-operation between Cinema for Peace Foundation and the
UNICEF initiative “Schools for Africa” financed numerous schools in South Africa. During the World
Cup 2010, Mandela was the Honorary Patron of partner-organization Sports for Peace. He
campaigned for values like fair play, tolerance and reducing prejudices. He also fought to better the
education of schoolchildren with the help of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and South African
President Jacob Zuma.
10.2.
Sir Christopher Lee
The Cinema for Peace Foundation also honored the work of Sir Christopher Lee for UNICEF and
Cinema for Peace. The 92 year old actor holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the
actor who has the most appearances in films to date. Apart from his work in film, which includes
portrayals of legendary characters such as “Francisco Scaramanga” in “The Man with the Golden
Gun”, “Count Dracula” and the evil wizard “Saruman” in “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy”, Christopher
Lee has also put a large amount of effort into helping and supporting UNICEF and Cinema for Peace:
since 2002, the actor has been actively supporting UNICEF and raising public awareness on several of
the organization’s important topics. In 2012 he was appointed as Honorary Ambassador for UNICEF.
As a long-time Cinema for Peace supporter, he has traveled with Cinema for Peace to support UNICEF
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projects and has handed out prestigious awards at the annual gala, including one for Angelina Jolie
for her film about the horrors of war in Bosnia (where Lee fought the Nazis some 70 years ago and
met Tito), as well as lighting the World Peace Flame. He has also served as a Cinema for Peace
honorary board member. One of the most emotional moments of the Gala was when Christopher
Lee read a letter from Heba, a 17 year old girl from Syria. In the letter she tells of how her dreams
have been shattered by the current war, and asks if we can just sit back and do nothing while
currently innocent lives in Syria are being ruined.
10.3.
2014 Film Selection
Most Valuable Movie of the Year – 12 Years a Slave
The award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year was given to “12 Years a Slave”, one of the favorites
for winning an Academy Award. The film about a free man being sold into slavery gives a realistic and
unforgiving impression of the American slave trade. Director Steve McQueen, unable to attend the
event in person, delivered a video message in which he stated that still “21 million people are held in
slavery”, and that “slavery has not been abolished, it has been liberalized”. Giscard d’Estaing,
President of the 2014 International Jury at the event, added that “all these films are about people
that stand up for their societies and fight for their legitimate rights. But we do not act according to
moral principles if we use drones in wars and carry out surveillance”. Since the start of the First
World War 1914 more than 200 million people have died. “Moral values and civilization can stop
war.”
Most Valuable Documentaries
For the first time, all nominated documentaries received an award: “The Kill Team”, “!The Family”,
“The Square”, “Alias Ruby Blade”, Dirty Wars”, “The Missing Picture”, "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer”,
“Everyday Rebellion”, “Children on the Frontline”, “Recycling Medea” and “Ground Zero: Syria”.
Michael Barker, Co-founder and Co-President of Sony Pictures Classics, stated in his laudatory speech
that “Documentaries teach us about the world”. It was through his work that “Wadjda”, the first film
by a female film director from Saudi Arabia, Haifa Al-Mansour, reached such a wide audience.
“Michael Barker is a powerful advocate for the genre of documentaries”, Sabine Christiansen
mentioned. At the Gala, an excerpt of “Wadjda” was also shown.
Justice Award - #chicagoGirl: The Social Network takes on a Dictator
Another documentary was “#chicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes on a Dictator” which highlights
the power of social media and how it impacted the revolution in Syria. This film received the “Justice
Award”. It tells the story of an American teenage girl who uses social media to run the revolution in
Syria from her childhood bedroom in the Chicago suburbs. Armed with Facebook, Twitter, Skype and
camera phones, she helps her social network in Damascus and Homs, braving snipers, shelling in the
streets and the world of human rights atrocities run by one of the most brutal dictators. #chicagoGirl
explores the importance and potential of social media in modern conflicts, which has had an
undeniable impact on recent events such as the Arabic Spring. It needs to be understood fully to be
able to understand the new ways such events unfold today.
International Green Film Award – Big Men
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The International Green Film Award, focusing on films which tackle ecological topics, was awarded to
Big Men by director Rachel Boynton. Big Men takes us deep into the African oil industry in Ghana and
Nigeria, delivering an exposé on the ambition, greed and corruption that threaten to exacerbate
Africa’s resource curse and leave more of its citizens behind. It confronts us with questions which
arise when one of the most naturally wealthy regions on the planet is also one of the most
economically poor. Big Men manages to give voice to communities which otherwise remain hidden
to the world, but which are severely affected by the global industries.
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10.3.1. Most Valuable Movies - 2014
10.3.1.1.
Most Valuable Movie of the Year
12 Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Year: 2013 | Country: USA/UK | Length: 134 min
TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and
freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man
from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent
slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles
not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey,
Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.
10.3.1.2.
Most Valuable Documentaries of the Year
Alias Ruby Blade
Director:Alex Meillier
Year: 2012 | Country: USA | Length: 78 min
Kirsty Sword, a young Australian activist, aspired to be a documentary filmmaker, but instead
became a underground operative for the Timorese resistance in Jakarta code named 'Ruby Blade'.
Her task: to become a conduit of information and instruction for the enigmatic leader of the
resistance, Kay Rala "Xanana" Gusmão, while he was serving life in prison for his revolutionary
activities. Through correspondence, they fell in love. Alias Ruby Blade captures their incredible love
story from this beginning to the ultimate triumph of freedom in East Timor, demonstrating the
astonishing power of ordinary individuals to change the course of history.
Children on the Frontline
Director: Anthony Wonke and Marcel Mettelsiefen
Year: 2014 | Country: UK
The children of Syria are often the forgotten victims in the ongoing civil war. More than 11,000
children have been killed and over a million are now refugees. Syria's largest city, Aleppo, has
become engulfed by fighting between pro- and anti-regime groups and over 2000 children have been
killed there. Schools have shut, food is in serious shortage and there is the constant threat of shelling,
sniper fire and kidnap. This Dispatches documentary tells the story of five young children whose lives
have been changed forever by the war in Syria: young sisters Helen, Farah and Sara and their brother
Mohammed, whose father is a rebel commander in Aleppo; and Aboude, a singer and poster boy for
the Syrian uprising.
Dirty Wars
Director: Rick Rowley
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Year: 2013 | Country: USA/Afghanistan/Iraq/Kenya/Somalia/Yemen | Length: 87 min
Dirty Wars follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill into the hidden world of America's covert
wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia, and beyond. Dirty Wars is a gripping journey into one of
the most important and underreported stories of our time. What begins as a report on a deadly U.S.
night raid in a remote corner of Afghanistan quickly turns into a global investigation of the secretive
and powerful Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). As Scahill digs deeper into the activities of
JSOC, he is pulled into a world of covert operations unknown to the public and carried out across the
globe by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress.
Everyday Rebellion
Director: Arman T. Riahi and Arash T. Riahi
Year: 2013 | Country: Switzerland/Germany/Austria | Length: 118 min
Everyday Rebellion is a story about the richness of peaceful protest, acted out everyday by
passionate people from Spain, Iran, Syria, Ukraine, USA, UK and Serbia. It is a tribute to the creativity
of the nonviolent resistance. The project studies the consequences of a modern and rapidly changing
society where new forms of protest to challenge the power of dictatorships and sometimes also
global corporations are invented everyday. Everyday Rebellion wants to give voice to all those who
decide not to use violence to try changing a violent system.
Ground Zero: Syria
Director: Robert King
Year: 2012 | Country: Syria | Length: 60 min
Ground Zero: Syria is a compiled photojournalist and videographer Robert King's footage into a series
of raw, largely unedited vignettes that present a snapshot of the ancient city as it crumbles and burns
while its citizens are killed indiscriminately. During his time in Syria throughout much of 2012,
videographer Robert KIng followed Aleppo's Al-Tawhid Brigade as he dodged bullets and rocket fire
to learn more about the largest brigade of the Free Syrian Army.
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Director: Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin
Year: 2013 | Country: Russia/UK | Length: 88 min
A high-profile arrest made Russia's all-girl punk band Pussy Riot famous, but this documentary
spotlights the women behind the colorful ski masks. For the first time, the group's three members
discuss Vladimir Putin, their cause and life behind bars.
Recycling Medea
Director: Asteris Kutulas
Year: 2013 | Country: Germany/Greece | Length: 75 min
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Not just a music film. Not just a ballet film. Not just a political film essay. Here, an antique Greek
tragedy serves as an astute metaphor for Greece’s and Europe’s current tragedy. Medea kills her
own children. Society has turned against its offspring and thus ending their future. The balletic
retelling of a mother murdering her two kids, choreographed by Renato Zanella, is based on
Euripides’ play and features music by Mikis Theodorakis. Script, sound and dance join forces in a
powerful film that reflects the desperation of a society that spent all of yesterday turning its children
into today’s lost generation.
The Family
Director: Stefan Weinert
Year: 2013 | Country: Germany | Length: 91 min
"A two-year suspended sentence for firing the fatal shot. Imagine that.“ A compelling introduction in
today’s Berlin to protagonist Irmgard B. mother of a son shot dead in 1986. The harrowing effect of
the film unfolds as witness evidence is corroborated on various different levels. The statements of
those affected often present a stark contrast to the parallel entries in the Stasi files, formulated in a
cold, bureaucratic German that is even more unbearable than usual in this context.
The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss
Year: 2013 | Country: USA | Length:79 min
THE KILL TEAM goes behind closed doors to tell the riveting story of Specialist Adam Winfield, a 21year-old infantryman in Afghanistan who attempted with the help of his father to alert the military to
heinous war crimes his platoon was committing. When his father's pleas for help went unheeded,
Adam was left to face his scornful platoon members, who threatened to silence him - permanently.
Forced to choose between his conscience and his own survival, Adam finds himself drawn into a
moral abyss, forced to make a split-second decision that would change his life forever.
The Missing Picture
Director: Rithy Panh
Year: 2013 | Country: Cambodia/France | Length: 92 min
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's
Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979. "For many years, I have been looking for the
missing picture: a photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled
over Cambodia...[...] What I give you today is neither the picture nor the search for a unique image,
but the picture of a quest: the quest that cinema allows."
The Square
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Year: 2013 | Country: Egypt/USA | Length: 108 min
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The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing rollercoaster over the past two and a half years.
Through the news, we only get a glimpse of the bloodiest battle, an election, or a million man march.
At the beginning of July 2013, we witnessed the second president deposed within the space of three
years. The Square is an immersive experience, transporting the viewer deeply into the intense
emotional drama and personal stories behind the news. It is the inspirational story of young people
claiming their rights, struggling through multiple forces, in the fight to create a society of conscience.
10.3.1.3.
The International Green Film Award
Big Men
Director: Rachel Boynton
Year: 2013 | Country: UK/Denmark/USA | Length: 99 min
The film’s central story follows a small group of American explorers at Dallas-based oil company
Kosmos Energy. Between 2007 and 2011, with unprecedented, independent access, Big Men’s twoperson crew filmed inside the oil company as Kosmos and its partners discovered and developed the
first commercial oil field in Ghana’s history. Simultaneously the crew filmed in the swamps of
Nigeria’s Niger Delta, following the exploits of a militant gang to reveal another side of the economy
of oil: people trying to profit in any way possible, because they’ve given up on waiting for the money
to trickle down.
10.3.1.4.
The Justice Award
#chicagoGirl
Director: Joe Piscatella
Year: 2013 | Country: USA/Syria | Length: 74 min
From her childhood bedroom in the Chicago suburbs, an American teenage girl uses social media to
run the revolution in Syria. Armed with Facebook, Twitter, Skype and cameraphones, she helps her
social network in Damascus and Homs braves snipers and shelling in the streets and the world the
human rights atrocities of one of the most brutal dictators. But as the revolution rages on, everyone
in the network must decide what is the most effective way to fight a dictator: social media or AK-47s.
10.3.2. 2014 Nominees
10.3.2.1.
Most Valuable Movie of the Year
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
Director: Danis Tanovic
Year: 2013 | Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina/France/Slovenia/Italy | Length: 75 min
Nazif, an iron picker, finds his parther Senada laid up in pain one day. The following day, he borrows
a car to drive her to the nearest clinic, where she is diagnosed with a miscarriage and is still carrying
her dead five-month old fetus. As the condition is critical, Senada needs immediate treatment at a
faraway city hospital. Because she does not have a state-provided health insurance card, the hospital
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demands 980 Bosnian marks (500 euros), a fortune for a modest iron picker. Despite Nazifs begging,
Senada is denied the crucial surgery and forced to return home to their Roma community in central
Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the next 10 days, Nazif tries everything to save Senadas life desperately
searching for more scrap metal, seeking help from state institutions. For the next 10 days, Nazif and
Senada will be fully exposed to the callousness of contemporary society.
Dallas Buyers Club
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
The story is about electrician Ron Woodroof from Texas, who is diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and
begins an exhausting fight against the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies. He is
constantly in search for alternative treatments that helped established a way in which fellow HIVpositive people could join for access to his supplies.
For Those Who can Tell no Tales
Director: Jasmila Zbanic
Year: 2013 | Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina | Length: 82 min
On a summer holiday through Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kym is the picture of an average tourist: visiting
the sites promoted in her guidebook and keeping a video diary. Yet her stay at a hotel in Visegrad
inexplicably gives way to anxiety and sleepless nights. Upon returning home, she finds out that the
Vilina Vlas hotel was used as a rape camp during the war. Questions around the region's atrocities
begin to haunt her, as does the question of why the guidebook or the town itself, made no mention
of the event. The testimonies she later finds online compel her to return to Visegrad and investigate
this hidden history for herself.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Director: Justin Chadwick
Year: 2013 | Country: UK/South Africa | Length: 141 min
The movie is based on South African President Nelson Mandela’s autobiography of the same name,
which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming
President and working to rebuild the country’s once segregated society. Idris Elba (PROMETHEUS)
stars as Nelson Mandela with Justin Chadwick (THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL) directing.
Philomena
Director: Stephen Frears
Year: 2013 | Country: UK/USA/France | Length: 98 min
Philomena is the true story of one mother’s search for her lost son. Falling pregnant as a teenager in
Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen
woman”. When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America.
Philomena spent the next fifty years searching for him in vain. Then she met Martin Sixsmith, a
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world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off for
America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also
create an unexpectedly close bond between them.
The Butler
Director: Lee Daniels
The movie tells the story of a White House butler who served seven American presidents over three
decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from
the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life
and family. Forest Whitaker stars as the butler with Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, James
Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, John Cusack as Richard Nixon,
Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, and many more.
Wadjda
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Year: 2012 | Country: Saudi Arabia/Germany | Length: 98 min
WADJDA is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she
lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the
boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood
boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the
bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it,
fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. So Wadjda
decides to try and raise the money herself.
Walesa: Man of Hope
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Year: 2013 | Country: Poland | Length: 127 min
The depiction of the life of Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Poland's Solidarity movement,
Lech Walesa, as events in the 1970s led to a peaceful revolution.
10.3.2.2.
Most Valuable Documentaries of the Year
All nominees in this category won the award. See section 10.3.1.2.
10.3.2.3.
International Green Film Award
Blackfish
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
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Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer
whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent
and sentient creatures in captivity. A mesmerizing psychological thriller with a killer whale at its
centre, Blackfish is the first film since Grizzly Man to show how nature can get revenge on man when
pushed to its limits.
Expedition: Sumatra
Director: Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Year: 2013 | Country: Indonesia | Length: 30 min each part of the series
‘Expedition: Sumatra’ follows CNN special correspondent and environmental adventurer Philippe
Cousteau and his team on an unprecedented trek through the breathtaking Sumatran rainforest.
‘Expedition: Sumatra’ is a powerful and sometimes surprising series, which reveals why the carbonabsorbing rainforest of this tropical island is so important and why urgent measures must be taken to
preserve it.
The Human Experiment
Director: Don Hardy Jr. and Dana Nachman
Year: 2013 | Country: USA
The Human Experiment lifts the veil on the shocking reality that thousands of untested chemicals are
in our everyday products, our homes and inside of us. Simultaneously, the prevalence of many
diseases continues to rise. From Oscar® winner Sean Penn and Emmy® winning journalists Dana
Nachman and Don Hardy, The Human Experiment tells the personal stories of people who believe
their lives have been affected by chemicals and takes viewers to the front lines as activists go headto-head with the powerful and well-funded chemical industry. These activists bring to light a corrupt
system that’s been hidden from consumers... until now.
Tracks
Director: John Curran
Year: 2013 | Country: Australia | Length: 112 min
In the year 1977, the young Australian woman Robyn Davidson set out from Alice Springs to trek
across 2,700 kilometers of harsh desert of Western Australia to reach the ocean. Accompanied only
by her dog and four camels, Davidson´s sole purpose was to reach the ocean and find herself on a
journey of self-discovery.
10.3.2.4.
The Justice Award
Ai Wei Wei: The Fake Case
Director: Andreas Johnsen
Year: 2013 | Country: Denmark/China/UK | Length: 86 min
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After 81 days of solitary detention world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest.
He suffers from sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home,
police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Kafkaesque Chinese authorities
weigh him down. Journalists, the art world and his family all want a piece of him and on top of that
he is met with a gigantic lawsuit from the Chinese government, soon to be named 'The Fake Case'. Ai
Weiwei is shaken, but during the year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and
challenge the mighty powers of the Chinese authorities in his fight for human rights.
Five Years
Director: Stefan Schaller
Year: 2013 | Country: Germany/France | Length: 95 min
Based on true events, “Five Years” tells the gruesome story of Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish-German man
who was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 and detained in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp
for over five years. Arrested on suspicion of terrorism, Kurnaz maintained his innocence throughout
the 1725 days he spent in detention between 2001 and 2006. »Five Years« recounts the endless
torture and interrogation Kurnaz endured during this period.
Outlawed in Pakistan
Dircetor: Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann
Year: 2013 | Country: Pakistan/USA | Length: 40 min
Outlawed in Pakistan tells the story of Kainat Soomro as she takes her rape case to Pakistan's deeply
flawed court system in hopes of getting justice. The 13-year-old Kainat accuses four men of gang
rape and shortly after is ordered to be killed by her village elders. Spanning over five years, the story
is told through the perspective of Kainat and the four men accused of her rape.
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11. The World 25 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall – New Crises, New Doubts, New Walls
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cinema for Peace, in cooperation with
Mikhail Gorbachev’s New Policy Forum organized a Symposium, a gala, an honorary dinner and a
screening of the film “1989”, which gives insight into how the 1989 revolution was done peacefully. The
main aim of the event was to be inspired by this Peaceful Revolution to promote and suggest similar
solutions to current world problems, in particular the escalating conflict in Ukraine. The event was
attended by Gorbachev himself and several representatives from the film industry, politics and culture,
including: former US ambassador to Moscow Jack Matlock, former head of the Club of Rome and
UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, former Italian Prime Minister Massimo, AcademyAward winning actor Adrien Brody, German actor Jan Josef Liefens, Golden Globe-Award winning
actress Uma Thurman and more.
On 8 and 9 November in Berlin, corresponding to the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall the
Cinema for Peace Foundation and Mikhail Gorbachev's New Policy Forum organized the symposium
"The World 25 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - New Crises, New Doubts, New Walls" in the
Allianz Forum on Pariser Platz. Politicians such as former Hungarian Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth and
former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas discussed with Gorbachev, as well as conflict and peace
researchers from around the world, in a think tank on how to avoid a new Cold War. The most
distinguished attendee at the conference was of course Mikhail Gorbachev himself. After having
welcomed the German citizens at Checkpoint Charlie on the 7th of November 2014, the Symposium
formed part of a series of events in which Gorbachev partook that commemorated the Peaceful
Revolution twenty-five years ago. Mikhail Gorbachev, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, played a vital part
in these crucial historical events; his presence was therefore a great honor.
The conference was opened on Saturday morning by opening speeches from Jaka Bizilj, Wolfgang
Inschinger, the head of the Munich Security Conference and Board Member of Allianz, Roland Dumas,
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Wolfgang Schäuble and of course President Gorbachev himself. This was
followed by four discussion panels: "From the First Cold War to the second - what went wrong?",
"European Security - back on the agenda", "The Middle East - from the Arab Spring to the Jihadist
Challenge” and "Russia - a Global Issue". In the evening Cinema for Peace hosted a Gala which included
an honorary dinner for the Heroes of the Fall of the Wall and a film screening of “1989”, reminding
everyone present of how the Cold War was ended peacefully. The next day there were two more
panels: “A World in Change – between hope and chaos” and “Give the World a Chance”. The
Symposium was ended with a closing statement by President Gorbachev.
During the Gala, President Gorbachev was honored for the crucial role he played in the Peaceful
Revolution. He was named the “Man of the Century”, and German actor Jan Josef Liefers mentioned
that for Germans, Gorbachev would always remain “a friend, a hero and a mentor”. Academy Award
winning actor Adrien Brody (The Pianist) added that Gorbachev “changed the world” and that “there is
still a lot to be done. It looks like a new Cold War might be approaching. We cannot allow that!”
Gorbachev declared several times that he sees a high potential that the crisis in the Ukraine could harm
the East-West relations for a long time. Therefore, he also emphasized that the current conflict can only
be solved by diplomatic efforts by the United Nations, the EU and the conflict parties themselves. For
the former Soviet leader, it is essential that the situation will be solved with dialogue, and he also asks
for mitigation of everyone involved.
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At the Gala, the unique events that happened at the end of the 1980s were also remembered. Silent
heroes were honored; for instance Stanislaw Petrow, who saved the world in 1983 by not starting a
nuclear counter attack against the USA after a false alarm. After spotting Klaus Meine, the front man of
rock-band “The Scorpions”, Gorbachev recalled that they performed “Wind of Change” in his office.
Meine grinned while remembering how they “rocked that office”. In 1991, just before the
disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Scorpions were invited to the Kremlin. For the occasion, they
translated “Wind of Change” into Russian. The Scorpions have remained in friendly contact with
Gorbachev since. And of course, “Wind of Change” was performed at the event, this time accompanied
by a children’s choir.
One of the main results of the Symposium was the "Universal Peace Plan 2015", which included
solutions for fundamental reforms to develop international mechanisms to avoid wars and conflicts.
Inspired by the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, the “Universal Peace Plan” suggests several ways in which
a lasting world peace can be achieved. It includes eleven chapters on Ending Armed Conflict and the
Nuclear Threat, Universal Justice and Rule of Law, Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Health
and Mortal Diseases, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, Education, the Empowerment of
Women and Gender Equality, Good Governance and Democracy, Cultural Rights, Development and
Free Media, Freedom of Expression and Transparency.
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Appendix 1: Trailer of the Week
Newsletters
Table of Contens
Appendix 1: Trailer of the Week Newsletters .................................................................................. 31
January 05 ................................................................................................................................. 32
January 14 ................................................................................................................................. 38
January 26 ................................................................................................................................. 41
February 02 ............................................................................................................................... 46
February 09 ............................................................................................................................... 49
February 17 ............................................................................................................................... 53
February 18 ............................................................................................................................... 60
February 23 ............................................................................................................................... 63
March 02 ................................................................................................................................... 67
March 05 ................................................................................................................................... 70
March 17 ................................................................................................................................... 74
March 24 ................................................................................................................................... 77
March 30 ................................................................................................................................... 79
April 05...................................................................................................................................... 87
April 14...................................................................................................................................... 93
April 28...................................................................................................................................... 97
May 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 99
June 05 .................................................................................................................................... 106
June 22 .................................................................................................................................... 108
July 15 ..................................................................................................................................... 112
October 02 .............................................................................................................................. 118
October 11 .............................................................................................................................. 122
October 19 .............................................................................................................................. 124
November 02 .......................................................................................................................... 126
December 17 .......................................................................................................................... 128
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January 05
Cinema for Peace Foundation - Trailer of the Week
2014
BERLIN – The year 2014 marks the most important anniversaries in the recent history of
peace and conflict. These anniversaries both remind us of horrors that should not be
forgotten but also inspire to boldly take action in the face of adversity.
100 Years Since World War I
100 years ago, in 1914, the First World War started and took over 9 million lives. After a
century of peaceful co-existence, political developments in Europe led to a war that
extended for the first time to further continents. US President Woodrow Wilson led his
nation to join the war as he felt morally obliged to stop the slaughter, after the German
scientist Fritz Haber invented chemical weapons and other until then unbeforeseen
atrocities had been committed. After the first killings with chemical weapons Haber's
wife immediately committed suicide, while he himself went on to win the Nobel Prize in
1919 for his inventions. Woodrow Wilson's vision was to end all wars and for this reason he
initiated the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations.
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75 Years Since World War II
75 years ago, in 1939, the Second World War started as German troops invaded Poland
under a false pretext. Despite the goals set forth in the League of Nations, this global war
was bloodier than any one before it, thanks to its numerous war fronts and significant
developments in military technology. The Second World War was also marked by
horrendous crimes against humanity in Nazi Germany's concentration camps, where
during the Holocaust at least 6 million Jews were murdered. In Asia the worst fears
became reality, when the United States used their nuclear bomb for the first time in
history, killing over 200 000 civilians. In the end WWII is estimated to have caused at least
65 million fatalities. The Second World war led to the creation of United Nations, which
was supposed to end all wars.
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25 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall
The 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall marks a peaceful revolution carried
out by the German people – under the protection of the Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev and further enabled by skillful behind the scenes diplomacy by Hans-Dietrich
Genscher, Edward Shevardnadze, James Baker and Roland Dumas. The fall of the Berlin
Wall brought the Cold War to an end, and thus finished the threat of World War III. In
1983the lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Forces Stanislav Petrov avoided the
destruction of the United States by preventing the launch of Soviet Nuclear Missiles,
while ignoring a series of false alarms that signaled a nuclear attack by US cruise missiles
en route towards the Soviet Union.
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20 Years Since the End of Apartheid
and Nelson Mandela's Presidency
Finally, 20 years ago, in 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South
Africa and abolished apartheid, the racial segregation system that had been in place for
decades and discriminated people based on their race and ethnicity. In 1990, Mandela was
released from jail at the age of 71, having spent 29 years of his life in prison due to political
reasons. Yet, instead of retiring and leaving politics upon release, he worked furiously and
with determination for the next decade in order to peacefully unite his people and bring
down apartheid.
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The Vision for 2014 & 2015 –
How To End All Wars?
After the world failed to answer the question 100 years and 75 years ago, Gorbachev and
Mandela might inspire us in 2014 to answer the question of how to end all wars? How
to reform the UN Security System and make the implementation of global
peace the #1 goal for the UN and G8 in 2014 & 2015?
History has shown us that after great conflict the world is unified in its efforts to build an
organization that would stop conflicts before they become uncontrollable. This is all
incorporated in the current United Nations Charter. The UN Responsibility to
Protect (R2P), which Kofi Annan started after Rwanda and Bosnia and Ban kiMoon implemented, focuses on preventing and halting four crimes: genocide, war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, which it places under the generic
umbrella term of Mass Atrocity Crimes. In reality, however, the UN R2P has remained a
pale shadow of what it was meant to be. The solution could be to transform the UN R2P
from a recommendation into a binding law. Others consider this approach "pushing a dead
elephant" and lobby for an extension to the rule of law and justice.
The member states of the United Nations should be reminded by the anniversaries in
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2014to fulfill the original goal of the United Nations: to secure lasting global
peace.
We invite you to watch the following trailers:
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ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Lewis Milestone describes how a
young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of
World War I.
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES by William Wyler tells a story of three WWII
veterans returning home to small-town America to discover that they and their
families have been irreparably changed.
GOOD BYE LENIN! by Wolfgang Becker. In 1990, to protect his fragile mother
from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that
her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
CRY FREEDOM by Richard Attenborough recounts how South African journalist
Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the
death in custody of his friend the black activist Steve Biko.
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is a depiction of Nelson Mandela's life
journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first
democratically elected president of South Africa. It is based on South African
President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicle his
early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before
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becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society.
INVICTUS by Clint Eastwood tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela
joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their
country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and
economically divided in the wake of apartheid.
WATCH THE CINEMA FOR PEACE TRAILER OF THE WEEK:
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January 14
Golden Globes &
Help Haiti Home
12 Years a Slave wins the Golden Globe for the Best Drama.
LOS ANGELES –The winner of the Golden Globe for the Best Drama was 12 YEARS A
SLAVE, a film Cinema for Peace has previously highlighted as one of the most important
films of 2013. It is also nominated at Cinema for Peace Berlin due to take place
on February 10.
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12 YEARS A SLAVE recounts how in the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a
free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery in the 1800s.
Although set in the past, the film has reflections in our times as well: slavery has been
officially abolished, but it has transformed and become hidden in the structures of our
socities. The film reminds us of the 30 million slaves there are still today in the world.
Other winners included Cinema for Peace-honoree Leonardo DiCaprio for his role in the
film WOLF OF WALL STREET, a recount about the excesses, financial fraud and
corruption in 1990s New York. Matthew McConaghey and Jared Leto were awarded for
their roles in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, a true story about a man who smuggles unapproved
AIDS medicine into Texas after having found it is effective.
On the eve of the Golden Globes, for
the third year in a row Sean Penn
raised with "Help Haiti Home" 6
million USD in support of the people in
Haiti that are still suffering from the
consequences of the horrible January
2010 earthquake. Cinema for Peace
created "Help Haiti Home" for Sean Penn
and JP/HRO.
The earthquake in Haiti devastated the capital, made an estimated 1.5 million homeless
and forced them into packed and gloomy tent camps. Camp residents have suffered from
poor sanitation, crime and sexual violence; after four years, still some 146.000 people
remain in these temporary settlements. Some have left voluntarily, some thanks to rental
subsidies, but there have also been reports of violent evictions.
Haiti ranks among the world's poorest nations. After the earthquake the country has been
plagued by landslides and hurricanes as well as by cholera outbreaks. Haiti's President
Michel Martelly has said that billions of dollars have been pledged in aid to the country,
but only a third of the money has been delivered, and even that money has mostly
benefited NGOs in emergency operations rather than the rebuilding of Haiti.
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12 YEARS A SLAVE by Steve McQueen recounts how in the antebellum United
States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted
and sold into slavery in the 1800s.
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET by Martin Scorsese is based on the true story of
Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall
involving crime, corruption and the federal government.
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB by Jean-Marc Vallée is a story of electrician and hustler
Ron Woodroof, who works around the system to help AIDS patients get the
medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.
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January 26
Solution for Syria:
Russia Must Take the Lead
and
Enable Olympic Ceasefire
Russia should live up to the Olympic Truce and stop the killings in Syria.
DAVOS – This winter tens of thousands will die due to the war, cold weather and
starvation in Syria. This is mainly due to the fact that Russia and Iran support President
Assad and the UN Security Council has "failed shamefully", as the former UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos at a dinner by George
Soros.
Kofi Annan, who also spoke in Davos with
Cinema for Peace founder Jaka
Bizilj about what film artists can do, said
that while the political negotiations might
go on for a long time, the killings of
civilians must stop immediately. Annan
called for a people's movement to put
pressure on their leaders for them to
"wake up and act". Moreover, the people
should demand immediate action from
their governments to protect the people of
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Syria: "The council has failed shamefully and there is no time for such political
games anymore."
The Olympic Games might possibly make a difference, as Russia has improved its human
rights record considerably ahead of the games with an amnesty law and the release of
political prisoners such as Khodorkovsky and the punk band Pussy Riot. Now Russia
has the chance to prop up its new image and live up to the Olympic ideal of peace by
brokering a ceasefire together with the USA and the regional powers, which "need to be put
under pressure".
In Geneva, the peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition representatives
have been difficult and came close to breaking down on Friday. But now the two sides have
agreed to meet for the first time in the same room on Saturday, which is a hopeful sign of
progress. It is expected that the discussions will focus on a ceasefire in order to allow aid
deliveries to severely affected regions such as the city of Homs; an opposition figure
commented that they had agreed to face-to-face meetings with the goal of achieving a
ceasefire "under pressure from the USA and Russia".
As a backdrop to the urgency of reaching peace in Syria, a new report released this
week further exposes the horrors of the Assad regime. The report depicts summary torture
and executions of the 11.000 war detainees in the hands of the Syrian army, adding to the
list of war crimes committed in Syria.
Cinema for Peace has actively campaigned since 2012 to end the conflict in Syria, gathered
artists to support petitions to stop the violence and brought an aid delivery of baby milk
powder to Aleppo in June 2013, getting the attention of the full front page of Europe's
biggest newspaper and inspiring the German government to provide additional
humanitarian aid to Syria to the tune of 200 million euros. Furthermore, Cinema for Peace
has organized several screenings of the film GROUND ZERO: SYRIA, with a special
emergency screening taking place in Cannes on the occasion of the Cannes Film Festival.
A screening tour in the G8 capital cities with the goal of giving Western governments a
reliable democratic partner to work with in Syria was cancelled, when the most influential
rebel commander Hadji Mara was killed in combat. "We lost a huge opportunity," says
Cinema for Peace Chairman Jaka Bizilj, who was at the frontline in Syria: "We are working
on further ones and hope that Russia will live up to its responsibility." One of the initiatives
will be presented at the Cinema For Peace Gala Berlin on February 10 together with
Russian artists.
We invite you to watch the following trailers on the conflict in Syria:
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GROUND ZERO: SYRIA by Robert King is a compilation of photojournalist and
videographer King’s footage into a series of raw, largely unedited vignettes that
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present a snapshot of the ancient city of Aleppo as it crumbles and burns while its
citizens are killed indiscriminately.
AGONY OF ALEPPO by Marcel Mettelsiefen is a report from the city of Aleppo
in Syriaunder the grips of the civil conflict.
Can Klitschko Prevent
Civil War?
KIEV – After violent street protests left two demonstrators dead this week, Ukrainian
opposition leader and Cinema for Peace committee member Vitali Klitschko has demanded
immediate elections to be organized in the country. The protesters had died from gunshot
wounds, placing guilt on the riot police. The street protests have gripped Ukraine since
November, when president Yanukovych decided to pull out of a treaty with the European
Union.
The protests, originally taking place in the capital Kiev, have spread to many cities in the
western part of the country. Aside from the two deaths, there have been widespread
reports of police brutality, backed up by videos spreading in social media. Currently an
uneasy truce is being observed between the rioters and the police, and opposition leaders
have pleaded the protesters to keep calm while first negotiations with President
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Yanukovych seemed to have failed.
Cinema for Peace is organizing a special dinner at the Munich Security
Conference which is due to take place from January 31 to February 2. The
focus of the evening will be on Ukraine and Syria. Vitali Klitschko is invited to
hold a speech on freedom, provided that the situation allows him to travel.
We invite you to watch the following trailerson the topic of Ukraine:
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ORANGE REVOLUTION by Steve York chronicles Ukraine's 2004 presidential
campaign, from one candidate's poisoning to the intimidation of voters, acidbombing of ballot boxes, and the political pressure put on election officials to count
votes a certain way.
Iran's "Truth"
DAVOS – President Hassan Rouhani expressed Iran's continuing willingness to negotiate a
multilateral nuclear deal which would allow the country to use nuclear energy but abstain
from enriching radioactive material for nuclear arms.
There have been doubts as to the honesty of Iran's objectives, with for example the Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that "the regime of ayatollahs is hiding behind
Rouhani's smiles" while in his mind Iran had no intention on giving up developing nuclear
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weapons. Netanyahu obviously did not mention that also Israel has built a nuclear bomb
secretly – and imprisoned and tortured the nuclear engineer Mordechai Vanunu who made
this public to the world. Vanunu was kidnapped by the Mossad in Italy in the 1990s and
told his story to Cinema for Peace chairman Jaka Bizilj in Jerusalem, when Cinema for
Peace supported with the German Government the opening of the first cinema after
decades in Jenin, the world's capital of suicide bombers, as a cultural meeting place.
Iran has no credibility as long as it supports the war in Syria and Assad. It is a steadfast
supporter of Bashar al-Assad's regime and its main ally beside the Hizbollah and Russia.
Through legitimizing its nuclear aspirations, Iran seeks to lure investment into the country
and to get rid of the global sanctions that have crippled its economy, after previous hostile
administrations caused heightened tensions and fear regarding Iran's nuclear programme.
However, the US also expressed its doubts by saying that businesses should not reach for
Iranian deals before any conclusive agreement is reached.
We invite you to watch the following trailers on the Iranian human rights issues:
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WOMEN IN SHROUD by Farid Haerijenad and Mohammad Reza Kazemi, Cinema
for Peace 2010 nominee, tells how a dedicated group of Iranian lawyers and
activists work together to counter the injustice of the death penalty. In Iran, this
means risking everything to mount 'Stop Stoning Forever', a campaign to end the
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practice of execution by stoning, and to lessen this practice's impact on women in
Iran.
STONING OF SORAYA M by Cyrus Nowrasteh, winner of Cinema for Peace Award
for Justice 2010, is a drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a woman who is
murdered through stoning according to Sharia Law.
PERSEPOLIS by David Assmann & Ayat Najafi, Cinema for Peace Most Valuable
Movie of the Year 2008, is a poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and
outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.
LIVING WITH THE AYATOLLAH by Jane Corbin. In a country where men and
women can still be stoned to death for adultery, BBC reporter Jane Corbin asks
how much longer Iran can keep a lid on internal unrest as revolution and regime
change sweep across the Middle East.
WE INVITE YOU TO WATCH THE FOLLOWING TRAILERS:
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February 02
Cinema for Peace at
World Economic Forum and
Munich Security Conference –
Focus on Syria
Despite peace talks the war in Syria continues to claim lives on a daily basis.
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DAVOS/MUNICH – Cinema for Peace met with some of the
world’s leading policymakers on peace issues, with discussions
focusing on the situation in Syria in particular: Kofi Annan
reiterated to founder Bizilj how important the influence of artists
can be in raising public attention and public pressure on
governments to stop the killing in Syria. The head of the Munich
Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger expressed the same view
at a private Cinema for Peace dinner on Thursday, commenting on
how "shamefully" the UN Security Council has failed
in this regard.
Bizilj, who has travelled with artists to the Syrian
front in Aleppo on a humanitarian mission, states:
"We hope Russia will follow the Olympic principles
and initiate pressure with the USA on the regional
powers and create a ceasefire in Syria."
On Friday, German President Joachim Gauck
held a courageous
speech on the moral dilemma of intervention and
reminded of the United Nations Responsibility to
Protect, a topic that Cinema for Peace
previously discussed with him in November, emphasizing
that the UN and the world can't just keep watching when
people are being killed.
In another important announcement, the President of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC)
Ahmad Jarba said that the SNC will take part in the next peace negotiations starting on
February 10, while asking what the international community and the
UN Security Council planned to do. Jarba spoke about democracy and
how the SNC has fought the radicals that have tried to benefit from the
chaos in Syria. The panelists around UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi
had also called for an Olympic ceasefire, while Brahimi urged the
world to put pressure on the Syrian parties taking part in the peace
negotiations in order to achieve results. This was underlined by
the fact that as the peace talks
took place in Geneva, the war
ravaged on in Syria, reportedly killing over 1.900
people.
Ahmad Jarba, born in the Qamishli tribe in 1969, is a
former political prisoner, Syrian leader and politician. He
has been the President of the National Coalition for Syrian
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Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which is the main coalition of opposition groups of
the Syrian Civil War, since July 6 2013. Jarba holds a bachelor of law degree and is
discussing with Cinema for Peace what artists can do and how filmmakers can shine a light
on what is happening in Syria.
During the peace talks UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon stated that "enough is enough" and that there
should be a conclusion to the violence in Syria. At the
Munich Security Conference he urged for the peace talks
to continue as well as demanded that it was important
for "both sides and the government in particular to allow
the unfettered access required under international
humanitarian law."
Cinema for Peace Honorary Chair and UN Special Envoy for Refugees Angelina Jolie is
visiting regularly camps with refugees from Syria in order to help improve their situation.
She has pleaded the world to act: "I appeal to the world leaders – please, set aside their
differences, unite to end the violence, and make diplomacy succeed." Moreover, the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutierrez commented on the scale of the
suffering: "I have no doubt that the conflict in Syria is the worst humanitarian crisis since
at least the Rwandan genocide."
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Cinema for Peace nominee 2014 GROUND ZERO: SYRIA by Robert King is a
compilation of photojournalist and videographer King’s footage into a series of raw,
largely unedited vignettes that present a snapshot of the ancient city of Aleppo as it
crumbles and burns while its citizens are killed indiscriminately.
Cinema for Peace nominee 2014 AGONY OF ALEPPO by Marcel Mettelsiefen is a
report from the city of Aleppo in Syriaunder the grips of the civil conflict.
BATTLE FOR SYRIA by Jamie Doran presents a journey inside the heart of the
Syrian insurgency with rebels waging a full-scale assault.
THE SUFFERING GRASSES by Iara Lee seeks to explore the Syrian conflict
through the humanity of the civilians who have been killed, abused, and displaced
to the squalor of refugee camps.
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February 09
Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014
Nelson Mandela, Pussy Riot & Syria
BERLIN – The annual Cinema for Peace Gala will take place on Monday at the
Konzerthaus in Berlin. Besides awarding the most valuable films and documentaries of the
year, the evening will highlight a number of pressing global issues.
Uma Thurman, Catherine Deneuve, Ennio Morricone, Ornella Muti and Sir
Christopher Lee serve as the honorary chairs of the event. Furthermore, Sir Christopher
Lee, who is the first international actor whose movies grossed ten billion US Dollars, will
receive an honorary award for his long-standing work for UNICEF and Cinema for Peace.
Honorary guests include the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou
Bensouda, the Goodwill-Ambassador of the European Union, Bianca Jagger,
the Italian UN Special Ambassador Al Bano and the mastermind of the Fall of the Berlin
Wall Hans-Dietrich Genscher aside the former French President Valéry Giscard
d’Estaing, who is the President of the Jury and will also remind how 100 years after
World War I former enemies such as France and Germany with millions of murdered
victims have become European allies and friends.
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Celebrating Our Former Honorary
Patron Nelson Mandela
The Cinema for Peace Gala will celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela and his fight against
Apartheid and for human rights in South Africa.
Excerpts from "Mandela's Children" by grandson Kweku
Mandela will be shown for the very first time to a global
audience. The documentary includes Mandela's last
interview and never-before seen footage with his grandgrandchildren posing him questions, asking him for
example how he fell in love for the first time or if he liked
school.
We invite you to watch the following trailers on Nelson Mandela:
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Cinema for Peace Nominee 2014 MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is a
depiction of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village
through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of
South Africa. It is based on South African President Nelson
Mandela's autobiography of the same name.
INVICTUS by Clint Eastwood tells the inspiring true story of how
Nelson Mandelajoined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help
unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains
racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid.
CRY FREEDOM by Richard Attenborough recounts how South African journalist
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Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the
death in custody of his friend the black activist Steve Biko.
Fighting for Peace in Syria
Cinema for Peace is trying to raise awareness for the killings of innocent civilians in
conflict zones like Syria and other countries with films such as “Dirty Wars”, "The Kill
Team" and "Syria Ground Zero". Previously we have campaigned for the end of the conflict
in Syria through petitions, emergency screenings and a field trip, and suggested that
Russia demand an Olympic Truce in Syria to bring a ceasefire to protect the
civilians during the Winter Games. This demand was also echoed by a number
of global influencers in an open petition to President Putin on Friday by the
likes of Bishop Tutu.
In an encouraging small step this weekend women and children from the besieged city of
Homs were allowed to leave.
The 19-year-old Syrian student activist Ala'a Basatneh from the documentary
#chicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes on A Dictator, which is nominated for
Cinema for Peace Justice Award, will take part in the gala. Sir Christopher Lee
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will also be reading letters from children in Syria on stage.
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Cinema for Peace nominee 2014 GROUND ZERO: SYRIA by Robert King is a
compilation of photojournalist and videographer King’s footage into a series of
raw, largely unedited vignettes that present a snapshot of the ancient city of Aleppo
as it crumbles and burns while its citizens are killed indiscriminately.
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Cinema for Peace nominee 2014 AGONY OF ALEPPO by Marcel Mettelsiefen is a
report from the city of Aleppo in Syria under the grips of the civil conflict.
Cinema for Peace nominee 2014 #CHICAGOGIRL: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TAKES ON A DICTATOR by Joe Piscatella tells how a 19-year-old student named
Ala'a Basatneh has been helping to coordinate the Syrian revolution from a suburb
of Chicago since 2011, armed with all imaginable social media.

Human Rights in Russia
Celebrating Olympic Ideals / Release of Pussy Riot
As the controversial Sochi Winter Olympics began on Friday amid heightened security,
several human rights groups and heads of state around the world have called for boycott
due to Russia's anti-gay laws, while Russia's deputy prime minister said in a bizarre
comment that athletes are free to express their views and their sexuality "as long as they
leave the kids alone".
Russia has improved some of its human rights act in the run-up to the
games by releasing political prisoners such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and
the Pussy Riot punk band members, but concerns still remain high.
A documentary about Pussy Riot and their court proceedings is
nominated at Cinema for Peace 2014 and the members of the
punk band will take part in the gala.
Among the guests at the Gala will also be Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the
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legendary diplomat that facilitated the release of Khodorkovsky and who 25
years ago was the mastermind in bringing down the Berlin Wall.
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February 17
Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014 –
Celebrating Nelson Mandela, Heroes
and The Most Valuable Films of the Year
Honoree Sir Christopher Lee (91), honorary chair Uma Thurman, founder Jaka Bizilj, nominees Maria
Aljochina and Nadescha Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot
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BERLIN – The annual Cinema for Peace Gala honored the most valuable movies and
documentaries of the year and the lifetime achievements of former Cinema & Sports for
Peace Honorary Patron Nelson Mandela and Sir Christopher Lee. The Most Valuable Films
of the Year were "12 Years A Slave", "Big Men", "#ChicagoGirl" and 10 documentaries,
including "Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer".
The Gala was dedicated to Nelson
Mandela. Kweku Mandela
presented for the first time ever
the last interview with his
grandfather and never before
seen footage of Mandela's
conversation with
his
Honorary chair
said: "He was
role model for our world. He taught us that skin
orientation make no difference."
Former French President Valery
grandchildren.
Catherine Deneuve
probably the greatest
color, race or sexual
Giscard D'Éstaing presented as the President of
the Jury the Cinema for
Peace Award for the Most
Valuable Movie of the
Year to "12 Years a Slave". In his speech he reminded about the
horrors and lessons of the First and Second World War,
where almost 100 million people were killed, emphasizing how the
former deadly enemies France and Germany have become
European friends. D'Éstaing stressed our obligation to make wars
impossible and to defend our moral principles which are
threatened by the illegal use of killing drones and mass
surveillance.
Sir Christopher Lee’s decades-long engagement for peace and
children’s rights was awarded with a Honorary Award to an
emotional, nearly 10 minute standing ovation accompanied by the
music of Rule Britannia. Sir Christopher Lee has performed in an
astonishing over 300 films with a gross of 10 billion USD, worked
with nearly every major director in the film industry, and in the
last decade became the ambassador for UNICEF and Cinema for
Peace. During the evening he read a letter from a child in Syria:
“My name is Aba. I’m 17 years old. [...] My bitter reality repeats
itself every day, as my Syrian dream evaporates. My heart bleeds
every day and my dreams are shattered. I used to be happy. I want
peace to come back to my country, and I want all Syrians to be
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reunited. I hope that my dream will come true.”
Michael Barker, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics and recipient
of more than 100 Oscar nominations with his films, introduced
the first female Arabian filmmaker Haifa al-Mansoor, director of
the movie WADJDA, a film on women's rights that led the Saudi
Arabian government to allowing females to ride bicycles. Barker
also honored all nominees of the Cinema for Peace Most Valuble
Documentary of the Year, saying: "I wish the Academy would do it
this way – all nominees are the winners!" The award was shared
among all of the ten nominees, while "Pussy Riot" made a
statement on freedom: THE FAMILY, THE SQUARE, ALIAS
RUBY BLADE, DIRTY WARS, THE MISSING PICTURE,
PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK
PRAYER, THE KILL TEAM, EVERYDAY
REBELLION, CHILDREN ON THE
FRONTLINE and RECYCLING MEDEA.
Having recently been released from a Russian prison,
Pussy Riot members Nadescha Tolokonnikova and Maria
Aljochina also gave a press conference earlier in the day.
There, after Cinema for Peace Founder Jaka Bizilj asked a question about how Nelson
Mandela won the presidency after his release from prison and if something similar
was intended, Pussy Riot announced that they would consider to run for office
after starting their NGO for the rights of prisoners.
Tolokonnikova and Aljochina stated in their
accepting remarks that they "want to speak for those
who are currently imprisoned in Russia just for
protesting against President Putin and because they
wanted to have a fair election". They also visited a
women's prison in Berlin, where they learned how in
difference to Russian and American prisons the goal
is to resocialize people instead of punishing them, so
they are motivated to contribute to the society again
after their release. This Scandinavian model contributes to the fact that their prison
population is many times smaller than that of Russia (approximately 860 000) and the
USA (more than 2 million!).
The Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Movie of the Year was 12 YEARS A SLAVE, whose
director Steve McQueen emphasized the fact that there are still over 20 million slaves in
the world today and that "slavery was never abolished, but it was deregulated".
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The Cinema for Peace Award for Justice was presented by the
Senior Legal Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court, Shamila Batohi, who in 1995 was part of a hit
squad investigation task force in South Africa set up by Nelson
Mandela. The award was presented to the #CHICAGOGIRL –
Ala'a Basatneh, who is organizing opposition to Assad in Syria via
the Internet from Chicago.
Ala'a Basatneh said on stage that she had hoped "the film would
show the world that the Syrian crisis isn't about those people over
there fighting about things we shouldn't care about. With this
award, I am so glad that this vision is realized. [...] And I am
proud that together hopefully we are raising awareness to the
Syrian crisis."
The International Green Film Award was presented to director
Rachel Boynton and BIG MEN by the founder of Transparency
International Peter Eigen, who described it as "a film taking us
deep into the African oil industry in Ghana and Nigeria, delivering unparalleled insight
into the ambition, greed and corruption that threaten to exacerbate Africa’s resource curse
and leave more of its citizens behind."
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background,
or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught
to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
- Nelson Mandela
The winners and honorees of Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014:
***
Honorary Award to MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Justin Chadwick, Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Anant Singh
***
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Honorary Award to SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE
***
Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Movie of the Year 2014
12 YEARS A SLAVE
Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas, Dede Gardner,
Jeremy Kleiner
***
Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2014
#CHICAGOGIRL: THE SOCIAL NETWORK TAKES ON A DICTATOR
Joe Piscatella & Alaa Basatneh
***
The International Green Film Award 2014
BIG MEN
Rachel Boynton
***
Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2014
THE KILL TEAM
Dan Krauss, Linda Davis & Adam Winfield
***
THE FAMILY
Stefan Weinert
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***
THE SQUARE
Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer & Khalid Abdalla, Ahmed Hassan
***
ALIAS RUBY BLADE
Alex Meillier, Tanya Meillier, Richard Keddie & Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Xanana Gusmao
***
DIRTY WARS
Rick Rowley, Jeremy Scahill, Anthony Arnove, Brenda Coughlin
***
THE MISSING PICTURE
Rithy Panh, Catherine Dussart
***
PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER
Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin & Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda
Tolokonnikova
***
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EVERYDAY REBELLION
Arash T. Riahi, Arman T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber, Michael Seeber, Hercli Bundi, Susanne
Guggenberger
***
CHILDREN ON THE FRONTLINE
Marcel Mettelsiefen, Anthony Wonke
***
RECYCLING MEDEA
Asteris Kutulas, Klaus Salge
***
GROUND ZERO: SYRIA
Robert King
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February 18
Cinema for Peace Condemns
Olympic Detention of Pussy
Riot!
Global press conference in Sochi with Pussy Riot Thursday 9 am / register at:
[email protected]
Cinema for Peace Honorees Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Marija Aljochina were imprisoned in Sochi.
BERLIN – Cinema for Peace protests vehemently against the arrest of Pussy Riot. Two of
the members of the Russian band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Marija Aljochina, have
been arrested by Russian authorities during the Olympic Games in Sochi. Cinema for Peace
had invited the two activists to a trip to the Olympic Games in Sochi to peacefully attend
and watch sports events together with film artists.
"The group was arrested for no reason, abused and detained for more than
seven hours in police custody," said Jaka Bizilj, founder of Cinema for Peace. "We
protest vehemently against this totalitarian approach, through which the Olympic ideals
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are trampled." Cinema for Peace is not aware of any breach of law by Pussy Riot in Sochi.
"Two members of Pussy Riot detained in Sochi" -Washington Post
"2 Russian Protest Band Members Say They Have Been Arrested" -New York Times
"The police beat us" -BILD
“By constantly arresting us, they want to
deny us any possibility to make a political
statement here about how corrupt these
Sochi Games are,” Tolokonnikova told the Los
Angeles Times, wearing a blue mask. “People
who dare to speak out are simply doomed
to end up detained as a preemptive
measure.”
Cinema for Peace has previously endorsed the unifying ideals of international sporting
events and launched in 2008 the Sports for Peace initiative, which brought Muhammad Ali
to the Olympic Games to London in 2012, and which started a campaign for education in
2010 for the World Cup in South Africa with Nelson Mandela as the Honorary Patron. In
2008 before the Olympic Games in Beijing, Sports for Peace – in cooperation with
Amnesty International – brought more than 100 world champions and Olympic medalists
together to promote successful Olympic Games –
in respect for human rights domestically and in
Tibet.
The two band members had issued a statement
against the abuse of power in Russia and the
inhumane conditions in prisons and labor camps
as part of the Cinema for Peace Gala on February
10, 2014 at the Konzerthaus Berlin. For years, Cinema for Peace has been raising
awareness of such grievances with artists and filmmakers. With the Russian Nobel Peace
Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev and Leonardo DiCaprio Cinema for Peace initiated the
"Green Oscar", which is awarded annually at the gala in Berlin. The organization has also
co-produced a film about the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya
and honored a documentary about lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured in a Russian
prison to death.
We invite you to watch the following trailers on human rights in Russia:

PUSSY RIOT - A PUNK PRAYER by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin follows
the court cases on the Russian feminist/anti-Putinist punk-rock protest group
Pussy Riot. Winner of the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Documentary of the
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


Year 2014 award.
JUSTICE FOR SERGEI by Hans Hermans and Martin Maat, winner of the "Cinema
for Peace Award for Justice 2012", is a documentary film on Sergei Magnitsky, a
Russian lawyer who died in November 2009 at the age of 37 under excruciating
circumstances in a Moscow detention centre.
KHODORKOVSKY by Cyril Tuschi. Khodorkovsky, the richest Russian, challenges
President Putin. Putin warns him. But Khodorkovsky comes back to Russia
knowing that he will be imprisoned, once he returns. A personal journey
to Khodorkovsky.
LETTER TO ANNA by Eric Bergkraut tells the story of the well-known Ukrainian
journalist Anna Politkovskaya's life and death.
Please click here to read Trailer of the Week on the Cinema for Peace
Gala in Berlin.
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February 23
War and Peace and the
Olympic Games
The independence square in Kiev was devastated in protests.
KIEV – After months of protest and deadly violence in Ukraine, the situation has
improved considerably during the weekend as President Yanukovich announced that there
will be early elections and fled the country. Ukraine was on the brink of a civil war, with
people being shot on the streets.
To show solidarity to those who fought and died back home,
Ukrainian athletes wanted to wear black wristbands during the
Olympics, a wish that was refused by the International Olympic
Committee by saying that the Olympics are not a political stage.
Moreover, this week has been particularly controversial in Sochi
with the detention and beating of Pussy Riot and the detention of
a former Italian member of parliament for wearing a pro-gay
attire (left).
The International Olympic Committee's spokesman Mark Adams
commented the Pussy Riot beatings as "very unsettling but largely an issue for the Russian
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government", and he further noted that "it's a shame if the Olympics is used as a political
platform". IOC president Thomas Bach has also repeatedly said that "political statements
should not be made on the backs of athletes". Well, it was the IOC who made access to the
games impossible to human rights activists by introducing a visitor's pass for the first time
at Olympic Games, which was granted (or rather not) by the Russian administration. With
this act alone the IOC has made the Games highly political. The IOC's comments seem
surprising also given the history of the Olympic games. Every host country has tried to use
the Oympic Games for its political benefit beside its legitimate goal of advertising its
culture and country, each Olympic Games have been subject to politics and social
messages. Here are a few examples.

In 1936, the Berlin Olympics were boycotted by
western countries due to Hitler's rise
to power. Adolf Hitler regarded the
games as his Olympics and tried to
use the games for propaganda purposes, showcasing his postFirst World War country. Jesse Owens though made it
impossible to advertise the superiority of the white Aryan

race as he had intended.
The Soviet Union boycotted the Olympic games for political
reasons until 1952.
In Rome in 1960 Muhammad Ali won the gold medal, but in protest against

discrimination in the USA he threw it in the river when he was denied service in a
diner in his hometown due to being black, and his medal was replaced in 1996 in
Atlanta.
The Black Power protest in Mexico in 1968, when black athletes raised their black-




gloved fists during the medal ceremony.
 In 1972 eleven Israeli Olympic team members
were killed by terrorists during the Munich Olympics.
 In 1980, the US boycotted the Moscow Olympics
due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and a counterboycott was staged by Eastern Bloc contries at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
In 1988 a handful of countries and North Korea boycotted the Summer Olympics
that took place in South Korea.
A unifying act was seen in the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney, when runner Cathy Freeman carried both
the Aboriginal and Australian flags with her during her
victory lap. This was despite the fact that the IOC bans
unofficial flags from being used in the Olympics, and it
was seen as unifying a nation in which aboriginals had
experienced centuries of injustice.
The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were overshadowed by human rights
violations in China as well as in Tibet. Over 100 world champions and Olympic
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winners campaigned for human rights and successful Olympic games games, a
campaign that Cinema for Peace initiated. The Games also saw a moment of
reconciliation when Russian and Georgian medalists kissed and
hugged each other on stage.

Muhammad Ali took part in the Olympic games opening ceremony in London
2012, where he saluted a peace and justice progression with the Olympic flag
alongside other humanitarian icons. With Sports for Peace, who hosted him in
London, Ali presented his 6 core values to a global audience.

The participation or non-participation of heads of states in the Olympic games is
always political, equally so in 2014 when Presidents Gauck, Hollande and Obama
gave clear political signals by not participating because of anti-gay laws and
human rights abuses in Russia. President Obama also sent a clear message by
sending openly gay athletes in the US delegation to the Olympics.
In that respect 2014 proved no different. The
Sochi Olympics were overshadowed by
international issues such as the crisis in Ukraine,
where Russia has been playing a role, as well as
Syria, where an Olympic Truce was not achieved
although Russia is one of the major arms dealers
of the Assad regime. Russian internal issues such
as human rights violations and environmental
destruction were also highly visible through
protests in Sochi carried out by Pussy Riot and environmentalists, many of whom have
had to flee Russia and one of them having been convicted to a labor camp last week.
Given this background, the regular corruption scandals in the IOC (proven by journalists
latest again in 2012 in London) and the lack of improvement raises the question if possibly
a different body like the UN should select the host nation of Olympic Games in the future,
while giving the commercial income to charitable sports projects and letting the IOC
decide solely about sports issues? This would also stop corruption and the phenomena that
the world's largest and most popular sports events are being awarded to places with no
reason, tradition or experienced spectators – as for example the Soccer World Cup in
Qatar, which was bought with money and where FIFA found out to its surprise that it is
too hot to play football there in the summer.
We invite you to watch the following trailers on the Olympic games, Ukraine & Pussy
Riot:


CHARIOTS OF FIRE by Hugh Hudson recounts how two British track athletes,
one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, compete in the 1924
Olympics.
COOL RUNNINGS by Jon Turteltaub is a film based on the true story of the first
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
Jamaican bobsled team trying to make it to the winter Olympics.
AS ONE by Hyeon-seong Moon is the cinematic retelling of the first ever post-war
Unified Korea sports team, hastily formed to participate in the 41st World Table
Tennis Championships in 1991.

campaign, from one candidate's poisoning to the intimidation of voters, acidbombing of ballot boxes, and the political pressure put on election officials to
count votes a certain way.

MUSIC VIDEO by Pussy Riot, which was shot in Sochi and which depicts security
forces attacking and assaulting them.
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March 02
Oscars With "The Square"
– The Rise of the People
The uprising in Egypt started at Tahrir Square, followed by protests at the squares in Istanbul, Kiev and
Caracas.
LOS ANGELES – Three documentaries with a humanitarian background are competing
for the Academy Award for the Best Documentary today: "The Square", "Dirty Wars" and
"The Act of Killing". The former two were awarded with the Cinema for Peace Most
Valuable Documentary of the Year Award 2014, whereas the latter was nominated for
Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2013.
"The Square" is a documentary about the revolution in Egypt that started from the Tahrir
Square in Cairo. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to demand the
ousting of their dictator Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled the country for over 30 years.
After close to three weeks of protests the president was toppled.
The name of the documentary could, however, refer to
any of a number of recent events where citizens of a
nation have risen against their leaders in central
squares of major cities. Such as in Istanbul last year or
for instance at Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine (left),
where month-long protests finally resulted in a regime
change last week. Similarly in Plaza Altamira
in Caracas, Venezuela, anti-government protesters were vowing to replicate the events of
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Maidan Square.
Relevant Films at Oscars Tonight
"Dirty Wars" relates to America's covert wars that are expanding, as exposed in the
documentary by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. "The Act of Killing" is a reenactment of the mass killings in Indonesia by former death square leaders and it goes to
show the corruption and impunity that is still present in their society.
Further Academy Award nominees that were also nominated at Cinema for Peace Berlin
2014 include "Dallas Buyers Club", "The Wolf of Wall Street", "12 Years a Slave",
"Philomena" and "The Missing Picture".
Uganda's Anti-Gay Law Signed by
President
Uganda took a step back in tolerance and human rights this week
as the president signed a law that makes gay sex and same-sex
marriages punishable with life sentences. The next day a local
daily published a list of "200 top homosexuals". David Kato, a
murdered Ugandan gay activist (right), and a documentary about him, "Call Me Kuchu",
won the International Human Rights Film Award at Cinema for Peace Berlin 2013.
Syria: United Nations Security
Council Reaches Agreement
The United Nations Security Council has finally agreed
unanimously on a resolution that seeks to guarantee
humanitarian aid to be delivered to Syrians. The
resolution urged both the Syrian government troops and
rebels to obey the decision and also called for an end to
the use of barrel bombs in conflict. Two documentaries
about the crisis in Syria, "Ground Zero: Syria" by Robert King and "Children on the
Frontline" by Marcel Mettelsiefen and Anthony Wonke won the Cinema for Peace Most
Valuable Documentary of the Year Award 2014.
Russia Moves Troops Into
Ukraine, Places Opposition Figure
in House Arrest
On Friday, Russian forces moved into the Crimean
Peninsula, an autonomous region of Ukraine, raising
fears of a conflict and regional instability. It was still
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unclear what Russia aimed at, but international reactions condemned Russia's move,
which brings complexity in an already fragile situation in Ukraine. A pro-Russian Prime
Minister for Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, was put into office on Thursday, bypassing
standard procedure of being appointed by the President of Ukraine.
Inside Russia, while during the run-up to the Sochi Olympics Russia granted amnesties to
some of its vocal critics and dissidents, such as Mikhail Khodorvosky and Pussy Riot, this
week Alexei Navalny, a critic of President Putin and an opposition leader was sentenced to
house arrest. A film about Pussy Riot's trial, "Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer", was honored at
Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014 and was planned to be screened in Sochi, but unfortunately
our guests were detained and beaten, as one could see in the world news. The
following press conference with Pussy Riot was closed down by the police and had to
be held open air.


THE SQUARE by Jehane Noujaim displays a group of Egyptian revolutionaries
battling leaders and regimes and risking their lives to build a new society of
conscience.
DIRTY WARS by Rick Rowley shows how investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is
pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind
America's expanding covert wars.

THE ACT OF KILLING by Joshua Oppenheimer is a documentary which
challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in
whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime
scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

CALL ME KUCHU by Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall is a
story about a new bill in Uganda that threatens to make homosexuality punishable
by death. Uganda's first openly gay man, David Kato, campaigns fiercely against
the law – only to be brutally murdered during the filming.
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB by Jean-Marc Vallée. In 1985 Dallas, electrician and
hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the
medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET by Martin Scorsese. Based on the true story of
Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall
involving crime, corruption and the federal government.
12 YEARS A SLAVE by Steve McQueen. In the antebellum United States, Solomon
Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into
slavery.
PHILOMENA by Stephen Frears. A world-weary political journalist picks up the
story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago
after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
THE MISSING PICTURE by Rithy Panth uses clay figures, archival footage, and
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narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between
1975 and 1979.
March 05
"Not Survive, But Live"
Jared Leto won an Oscar for his supporting role in "Dallas Buyers Club", Lupita Nyong'o for her role in "12 Years
a Slave".
LOS ANGELES – The Oscar gala on Sunday was also a stage for humanitarian tributes
such as for Nelson Mandela and articulating support for the struggling people of countries
like Ukraine and Venezuela, where people have risen against their leaders. Jared Leto,
winner of the Oscar for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role ("Dallas Buyers Club"),
commented on stage: "To everybody out there around the world, watching this tonight in
places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here and as you struggle to… to
make your dreams happen, to live the impossible… We’re thinking of you tonight. And this
is, is incredibly special as well because there’s so many people that helped me get here. [...]
And for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS and to those of you out
there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand
here in front of the world with you and for you."
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"12 Years a Slave" won the Academy Award for the Best Film. The film,
directed by Steve McQueen, who was the first black director to win an Oscar, tells
the story of how in the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from
upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
On February 10, "12 Years a Slave" was also honored with the Cinema for Peace Most
Valuable Movie of the Year Award. Director Steve McQueen said:
I am deeply honored that our film has received the Most Valuable Movie
Award. As an artist, for me it’s always been about trying to give some kind of
truth. Today, unfortunately, there are still 21 million people who are in
slavery. Slavery was never abolished, it was deregulated, and I think that all of
us have to keep our eye on what’s going on here, and to try to do the best we can to solve
this unfortunate condition we constantly seem to be in. Once again, I’m honored for this
award, and thank you!"
The acceptance remarks were given by Dr. Aidan McQuade, the director of AntiSlavery International:
What an overwhelming and totally unexpected privilege it is for me – a long
time movie fan – to be here to pick up this award on behalf of Steve
McQueen, who’s someone I regard as one of the greatest directors of his
generation. With this movie, I believe, somebody has produced a movie that’s
going to be regarded as an all-time masterpiece. Because with “12 Years a Slave” Steve has
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stripped away the comforting myths that are still sometimes pedaled about US slavery, and
exposed that system of an archipelago of concentration camps that it was, maintained
through violence and racism for the purposes of dehumanization and exploitation of other
human beings.
I’m deeply proud that Steve has agreed to become a patron of Anti-Slavery International
because he recognizes that the slavery archipelago which he so forensically described in his
movie is still with us. Today a minimum of 21 million people across the globe are in slavery.
From the mines of Congo which enslave children to excavate coltan for our mobile phones
to the garment factories of South India which enslave girls and young women to produce
clothes in such volumes that each of us here are probably wearing a garment that is tainted
by such slavery, to the World Cup building in Qatar which is enslaving tens of thousands of
Nepalese, Indian and Bangladeshi workers, to the private homes of Europe where
vulnerable migrant domestic workers often toil in servitude in the midst of our own cities.
Slavery is with us still, trapping and brutalizing vulnerable people who have sought
nothing but decent work. Poverty will not be ended until slavery is ended. And yet the
international community fails to recognize slavery eradication as the fundamental
development goal. Our ideals of human rights are challenged by our failure to end slavery.
But today across the world there are 21 million people in slavery. 21 million Solomon
Northrups still struggling for freedom. And if those of us who already have that right only
fulfill a responsibility to stand with them, then truly finally we may be able to say: we have
overcome."
Although the film "12 Years a Slave" depicts historical events, the issue of slavery is
anything but history. Modern-day slavery has become hidden and embedded in the
structures of our societies. And although topping the list in rankings, slavery is not just
limited to the sweatshops in developing countries. Whereas in Germany or the US the
relative rate of slavery is very low, absolute figures still show that there are at least 10 000
slaves in Germany and 60 000 in the US – most probably victims of human trafficking sold
into sexual slavery. It is also more of a rule than an exception that major construction
projects around the world, especially those related to upcoming international sports
events, commonly take advantage of slave labor, as has been reported in Dubai, Qatar and
Sochi.
Cinema for Peace has supported documentaries on this topic, and we
have also welcomed socially-conscious members of the main cast
of 12 YEARS A SLAVE. Lead character Chiwetel Ejiofor (left) took
part in Cinema for Peace Los Angeles 2013, Brad Pitt in Berlin in
2012, Lupita Nyong'o won her first international award at Cinema
for Peace Berlin 2010. Interestingly, while coming back from the
Oscar Gala, Cinema for Peace Founder Jaka Bizilj had to help Lupita
Nyong'o to get through airport security as security personnel
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meticulously checked her Oscar statue for explosives.
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March 17
Aggression in the Name of
Protection
CRIMEA – In a referendum on Sunday the
citizens of Crimea have voted for joining
Russia. Our committee member Vitali Klitschko
reiterated Saturday night in a conversation with
founder Jaka Bizilj in Hamburg that the
referendum in Ukraine is illegal, as is also
Russia's act of seizing the Crimea region.
Klitschko said: "We don't want a war, we don't
want Ukrainian and Russian soldiers shooting at each other. But we need to send a clear
signal to Putin through sanctions that this breach of citizens' rights in Crimea cannot go
unanswered." Multiple reports say that foreign Internet connections in Crimea are being
censored, media outlets controlled and reinstated with pro-Kreml management and proRussia propaganda is being spread in a manner reminiscent of Soviet times.
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International sanctions that are being planned include removing Russia from the G8 group
as well as visa restrictions and asset freezes of top decision makers, a method that has
previously been supported and campaigned for by Bill Browder in connection to the
Sergei Magnitzky case.
The new leaders on the Crimean Peninsula, Sergei Axjonov and Vladimir Konstantinov,
have allegedly been a central part of the local organized crime circles and involved in largescale corruption. In the nineties Axjonov was part of a local mafia that used violence to
collect protection money whereas Konstantinov was behind a building scam where many
families lost their savings. Konstantinov's father has further been implicated in helping
separatist movements in Transnestria, a breakaway state effectively under Russian military
rule, where Russia declared in a similar way the necessity to "protect" its people.
After Crimea is lost for the Ukraine, everybody hopes that Russia will not try to "protect"
and invade further parts of the Ukraine, where mainly Russian Ukrainians live.
History has proven that war never changes people's life for the better. What th
e public is mostly not aware of: to date the international community has
not declared war illegal.
When Hitler attacked Czechoslovakia, as we were reminded by Hillary Clinton last week,
he also announced his aims to "protect" his people, a similar rhetoric as Putin is using
today in the Ukraine crisis. When George Bush announced the war against Iraq it was
justified as "Operation Freedom". Of course, Hitler's aim was not to "protect", Putin did
not save anybody by invading foreign territory, and the Iraq conflict left hundreds of
thousands dead, but brought little in terms of freedom and security.
Despite international condemnation, Russia seems decided to increase its "buffer zone" to
the West in what has been its backyard since the breakup of the Soviet Union, even though
it declared in 1994, after Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons arsenal in a deal with both
the US and Russia, to leave the newly independent nation untouched.
That breakup might indeed be an explaining factor for some of
Putin's latest moves in Russian foreign policy. During the Soviet
Union, Putin served as a KGB official stationed in Germany and
was very fond of the great Soviet state. The breakup of the Soviet
Union must have traumatized him – as he recounts in his memoir
that it was a personal humiliation – and it could well be that he is
using his current position to try to bring back some of that former
glory and is thus inclined towards justifying aggression on
secondary grounds. This comes, however, at the cost of breaching international
agreements and violating the sovereignty of independent states like the Ukraine.
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We invite you to watch the following films on Ukraine, Russia and how to justify wars:
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campaign, from one candidate's poisoning to the intimidation of voters, acidbombing of ballot boxes, and the political pressure put on election officials to count
votes a certain way.
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THE LAST REVOLUTION – EUROMAIDAN is a feature documentary film about a
group of American students caught up in the biggest social movement Europe has
seen in twenty years, Ukraine's Euromaidan.
WAG THE DOG by Barry Levinson. Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a
Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a
presidential sex scandal.
WAR MADE EASY by Loretta Alper reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to
expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged
the United States into one war after another.
HUBRIS – SELLING THE WAR IN IRAQ by Rachel Maddow looks at the key
government decisions that led the United States into the war in Iraq.
WAR SPIN by BBC Correspondent challenges the Pentagon's version of a story that
boosted American morale during a sticky point in the Iraq War as part of its
investigation into allied propaganda.
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March 24
"Unspeakable Atrocities" in
North Korea
Former North Korean prisoner Kim Kwang-Il described the cruel methods used in North Korean prisons for the
UN report, including the "pigeon torture" pictured here.
PYONGYANG – In North Korea, a country tightly closed from the outside world,
numerous reports have told about grave human rights breaches over the years. The recent
United Nations report underlines that by calling the atrocities committed around North
Korea and especially in its prison camps "unspeakable", and it goes on to suggest that the
situation in North Korea should be referred to the International Criminal Court to hold the
country and its leaders accountable for their actions.
The report included hundreds of testimonies from North Koreans that spoke about
widespread torture, enslavement, imprisonment, rape and so on. However, China
immediately commented that the report presented a distorted truth, raising doubts that
China could block any UN Security Council referral on North Korea.
On Friday North Korea caused further tensions in the
region by launching 30 missiles into sea without a
warning, though it said it was a justifiable response to the
US and South Korean
military drill taking
place since February.
Previously a film about the harsh realities of North
Korean prison camps, "Camp 14", has been nominated for
a Cinema for Peace Award in 2012. The film tells the story
of Shin Dong-Huyk, a political prisoner who was born into a North Korean “re-education
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camp” in 1983. Suffering from forced labor, beating and torture since the age of six, he was
finally able to escape with the help of an older prisoner. The film depicts with strong
images the horrific environment of the camps where still today some 200 000 people are
estimated to be held.
North Korea, however, is not the only country in the world that treats its
prisoners inhumanely and questionably. Rather, cruel prison conditions are the norm in
many developing countries – and also in some developed countries, such as Russia, where
recently the whole justice system has been under criticism.
The members of the Pussy Riot punk band had to
experience first-hand the harsh realities of Russian
prisons and prison camps while serving their two-year
sentence on "hooliganism", and they were recently
released from a Siberian prison. Now they are
campaigning for improving prison conditions around the
world with their newly founded NGO. Cinema for Peace
supports their work and is also traveling with Pussy Riot to a hearing at the European
Parliament on this topic on April 1st and to the USA. Their film "Pussy Riot – A Punk
Prayer" was also honored at Cinema for Peace Berlin 2014.
We invite you to watch the following films:
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the court cases on the Russian feminist/anti-Putinist punk-rock protest
group Pussy Riot. Winner of the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Documentary of
the Year 2014 award.
CAMP14 by Marc Wiese tells the story of Shin Dong-Huyk, a political prisoner in
a North Korean re-education camp. He was forced to labor since the age of six and
completely separated from the outside world until he managed to escape at the age
of 23. It was nominated for a Cinema for Peace Award in 2012.
KIMJONGILIA by N.C. Heikin exposes the propaganda system of North Korea. It
was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Award for the Most Valuable
Documentary of the Year in 2010.
SECRET STATE OF NORTH KOREA. Using undercover footage, , Frontline
explores life under Kim Jong-un.
PANORAMA – NORTH KOREA UNDERCOVER. Panorama reporter John
Sweeney spends eight days undercover inside North Korea.
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March 30
Pussy vs. Putin
KIEV – While Russia's President Vladimir Putin continues to raise tensions in Ukraine by
amassing troops on the country's Ukrainian border following the annexation of Crimea
earlier this month, also a balancing force campaigning for human rights comes from Russia
in the form of Pussy Riot.
Cinema for Peace honored Pussy Riot in February at the
Gala in Berlin and invited them to the Olympic Games in
Sochi.
The global tour brought Pussy
Riot this weekend to Kiev, and on
Tuesday they will travel with
Cinema for Peace to a hearing at
the European Parliament on the current developments in Russia,
followed by a dinner together with the mother of Sergei Magnitzky
and Bill Browder, whose global Magnitzky campaign is being used
as a blueprint for the recent blacklisting of Russian officials
involved in the Crimea crisis with travel bans and asset freezes. In
2013, Barack Obama signed in the US the Magnitzky Act, which punishes the people
involved in the murder of Sergei Magnitzky in prison, after he had exposed the theft of 230
million USD from the Russian people by government officials and the Russian mafia.
Pussy Riot will also visit New York and Los Angeles, where Roland Emmerich
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("Independence Day", "2012", "White House Down") will host a dinner in order to
introduce Pussy Riot to the creative community as well as to raise funds for their new NGO
Zona Prava that fights for the rights of prisoners, supported by artists such as Madonna.
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PUSSY VS. PUTIN by Gogol's Wives
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for Peace Award for Justice 2012", is a documentary film on Sergei Magnitzky, a
The Nuclear Threat
THE HAGUE – The third international Nuclear Summit took place in the The Hague this
week with some promising results. The international initiative was launched with the help
of US President Barack Obama in 2009 with an aim to prevent global nuclear terrorism.
The civilized world has already been on the brink of extinction
due to nuclear arms. In 1962 the Cuban missile crisis brought
the world close to a nuclear war when the Soviet Union
deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. However, the conflict was
avoided at last minute through negotiations between
Presidents Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy.
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An equally dangerous but secret moment in the history of nuclear threats was experienced
in 1983, when Russian officer Stanislav Petrov was in charge of the Russian nuclear earlywarning system, which went off with howling sirens indicating a full-blown nuclear attack
from the US. He was faced with a choice of launching a counter attack against the US,
effectively erasing the land of the free from the map. Petrov tried to verify the threat by
phoning the Kremlin and checking satellite photos for traces of potential launches. With
the evening sundowning in the US, the photos showed hundreds of light points that could
be left by launched nuclear warheads. However, Petrov went with his gut instinct and
deemed the alarm as false – as was later confirmed to be the case. His judgment and
decision avoided the start of World War III and a global nuclear holocaust.
Petrov will be invited by Cinema for Peace on November 8 and
9 to Berlin to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin wall in the company of the man who ended the insanity of
The Cold War and the nuclear threat of extinction: President
Mikhail Gorbachev.
Cinema for Peace also hosted the 20th
anniversary and invited MTV to present their main award at the Cinema
for Peace celebratory dinner, as President Gorbachev could not attend the
MTV awards. He thanked the "missile man", the international chairman
of MTV, Bill Roedy, who was formerly in charge of US nuclear missile
stations, and later promoted freedom and democracy by broadcasting
MTV also across the iron curtain.
The 25th anniversary will include a film screening of the documentary film "The Family"
about the victims of the wall, a symposium on how to end all wars and an honorary dinner
for Gorbachev and Genscher, the mastermind of the process which led to the fall of the
wall.
The Nuclear Summit and our film selection demonstrate the dangers of nuclear arms and
energy. James Baker said already two decades ago that it is not a question if there will be a
dirty nuclear bomb blown up by terrorists, but when this will happen for the first time.
When the last Nuclear Summit took place in 2010, Ukraine agreed to remove highly
enriched uranium from its nuclear fuel sites. Unfortunately, in many countries of the
former Soviet Union there are still large amounts of nuclear material missing and on the
black market, as can be seen in the documentary "Countdown to Zero".
Please see our film selection for more information on:
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the dangers of uranium mining: "Don't Mine Me"
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the threat that nuclear plants pose to humans and the environment: "Chernobyl
Heart" and "Atomic Alert"
the threat of nuclear terrorism: "Countdown to Zero" and "Dirty War"
the uncontrollable danger of nuclear waste: "Into Eternity"
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13 DAYS by Roger Donaldson is A dramatization of President Kennedy's
administration's struggle to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962.
THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD – A clip about Stanislav Petrov who
avoided nuclear holocaust.
INTO ETERNITY by Michael Madsen is a documentary on the safety of nuclear
storage.
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO by Lucy Walker is a documentary about the escalating
nuclear arms race.
BATTLE OF CHERNOBYL by Thomas Johnson is a documentary of the nuclear
disaster of Chernobyl.
ATOMIC ALERT by Thomas Johnson is gives a thorough understanding of the
strategic issues linked to nuclear energy and its risks on an international level,
including public health, waste management, environmental and political issues.
CHERNOBYL HEART by Maryann DeLeo is an Academy Award-winning
documentary that takes a look at children born with a deteriorated heart
condition after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster.
DIRTY WAR by Daniel Percival is a thriller that follows the journey of a radioactive
isotope into England, where it is ultimately turned into multiple dirty bombs and
detonated in central London. Meanwhile, the city of London conducts
preparedness drills for a possible terrorist attack.
DON'T MINE ME by Ellen Downing is is a documentary about the effects of
uranium mining on the Navajo Indian Reservation in the Southwest United States.
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"Pussy vs. Putin" by
Gogol's Wives
"Pussy Riot – A
Punk Prayer" by
Mike Lerner
"Justice for
Sergei" by Hans
Hermans
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"Thirteen Days" by Roger
Donaldson
"Countdown to
Zero" by Lucy
Walker
Stanislav Petrov
in "The Man Who
Saved the World"
by Peter Anthony
"The Battler of
Chernobyl" by
Thomas Johnson
"Into
Eternity"
by
Michael
Madsen
"Atomic Alert" by
Thomas Johnson
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"Chernob
yl Heart"
by
Maryann
DeLeo
"Dirty War"
by Daniel
Percival
"Don't Mine Me" by Ellen Downing
April 05
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Avoiding War With
Magnitsky-Pussy Riot Sanctions
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezha Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot at the European Union Parliament on Tuesday.
BRUSSELS – The world has watched with fear in the past months, as the unfolding of the
crisis in Ukraine has led to a Russian military escalation on the country's eastern border
and the annexation of Crimea. Is Russia preparing for war – and if yes, how can the war be
stopped? One method could be to try to curb the actions of those responsible, the political
and economic elite, by freezing their foreign assets and denying them visas to the US and
Europe.
Sergei Magnitsky
Such an effort to globally stop corrupt or criminal Russian officials has
already been made in the form of the Magnitsky list, advocated and
campaigned for by Bill Browder. The Magnitsky list has sought to place
visa sanctions and asset freezes on those Russian officials responsible
for the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, who while working as a
lawyer for Bill Browder's Hermitage Capital uncovered a massive tax
fraud to the tune of 230 million USD – stolen from the Russian people. Corrupt officials
and organized crime groups had granted themselves the biggest tax-refund in Russian
history as a Christmas present, by taking over Browder's company in Russia, changing the
books and claiming back the tax he had paid on profits. Magnitsky was imprisoned by the
same people he had caught in a criminal act, and just as the legal limit of one year of
imprisoning a person without a trial expired, he died in prison in excruciating conditions,
having been tortured, beaten and denied appropriate medical care.
Cinema for Peace has supported Bill Browder's work with the Magnitsky list and advocated
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for its implementation in the US and Europe since Bill Browder had been honored with the
Cinema for Peace Award for Justice along with the film "Justice for Sergei".
Nadezha Tolokonnikova and Bill Browder
in Brussels at Cinema for Peace Meeting
Pussy Riot's campaigning for human
rights in Russia and worldwide has
continued this week in Europe and the
US, where they were endorsed by
potential next US president Hillary
Clinton and interviewed on The Today
Show and Charlie Rose. In Brussels,
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezha Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot took part in a hearing in the
European Parliament on the human rights situation in today's Russia. During an
additional public event at the parliament by invitation from Werner Schulz in a more
than packed auditorium Cinema for Peace screened excerpts of the film "Pussy vs. Putin",
before Nadezha and Maria gave their public statements. They expressed their opinion that
sanctions should be avoided against the Russian people, and should only be laid on the up
to 300-500 people constituting the ruling elite, following the example of Browder's
Magnitsky-list, which had been signed by Barack Obama into effect last year.
Cinema for Peace hosted a meeting in Brussels between Pussy Riot and Bill Browder, who
met for the first time and discussed the sanctions of the Magnitsky-list. This list shall be
expanded with further people who are involved in breaching human rights and the rule of
law in Russia.
The following day the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the European
Council to introduce its own version of "Magnitsky-list" sanctions against Russia, which
consists of 32 Russian individuals. “The EU should deny visas to and freeze the EU assets
of 32 Russian officials involved in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, its judicial
cover-up and the continuing harassment of his family,” the EU Parliament statement
said on Wednesday.
Cinema for Peace, Pussy Riot and Bill Browder all call for sanctions to help avoid a war that
would take a costly toll on human lives: pushing for asset freezes and visa restrictions on
Putin's elite, in a way that would prohibit them from enjoying the life of travel and luxury
they are used to. The hope is that such measures would help to prevent Russia's
political elite from waging a war.
The key points of Pussy Riot's speech at the European Parliament as published in the
Huffington Post were:
1. The threat of an iron curtain exists.
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Putin wants a new Iron Curtain to fall between Europe and Russia. He is doing everything
for that. The TV screens spew shameless anti-western propaganda akin to that in the Soviet
Union during the cold war.
2. Resistance to the Iron Curtain.
The people of Russia do not need the Iron
Curtain. Who needs it is Putin, his officials and
oligarchy to keep on with their shameless
propaganda and oil and gas money-grabbing. To
them everyone around is the enemy. Except
Putin. The one that allows his cronies to earn
138 mln rubles a month in wages, like Igor
Sechin does.
Putin and his team live by Gegel's maxim: "If
facts contradict my theory, so much the worse
for the facts". This is the underlying principle of
all the Russian media seized by Putin's team.
3. YES - to expanding sanctions against Putin's official and oligarchy.
The EU should turn to strict sanctions against the Russian elite responsible for aggression
in Ukraine and corruption. The list of people under sanctions should grow.
4. NO - to sanctions against ordinary Russians.
The sanctions should not affect the Russian people. The saction list should only include the
members of Putin's elites responsible for aggression in Crimea and robbing Russia.
5. YES - to expanding contacts between Russia and Europe and lightening the
visa regime for Russians.
We must not let Putin build an Iron Curtain he'll benefit from. We need more cultural,
social and human rights contacts between Russia and the West. We advocate easening the
visa regime with the EU for ordinary Russian citizens – they should have a chance to visit
Europe and see everything for themselves without relying on the propaganda.
6. Aid to the people of Crimea from Europe.
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The people of Crimea are in a tough legal situation due to the region passing under Russian
control and may face problems getting visas to European countries. But if the EU turns
their backs on them, Crimea will be left one on one with Putin's oligarchs and crooks from
the EU's sanction list that will build villas on the pristine shores of Crimea and throw to jail
those who raise their voices against such treatment of the Crimean nature.
7. We suggest expanding the Putin's elite sanction list.
The Pussy Riot duo continued their journey on Friday to the Women in the World Summit
in New York, where they met Hillary Clinton on Thursday and participated in a panel
discussion on Friday.
On Sunday Pussy Riot will travel to Los Angeles, where a screening of the film "Pussy
vs. Putin" will take place at the Harmony Gold Theater at 4.30 PM.
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PUSSY VS. PUTIN by Gogol's Wives
for Peace Award for Justice 2012", is a documentary film on Sergei Magnitsky, a
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April 14
Elections in Afghanistan:
Democracy vs. Taliban Threat
KABUL – After a decade-long operation of fighting the Taliban with the support of an
international coalition, Afghanistan is transitioning into an era where it will both get to
shape its own future as well as take responsibility for itself. Most of the foreign forces are
scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year.
A significant test in how Afghanistan can manage its future was passed this week as the
country's presidential elections posted an estimated record turnout of 60 percent, and
despite threats by the Taliban there were no serious security issues. The vote counting is
still in progress, but currently the lead is held by a former opposition leader Abdullah
Abdullah, trailed by Western-leaning Ashraf Ghani.
In recent months, Taliban suicide bombers have rocked the capital Kabul, which caused
fears that the elections could be marred by violence. Furthermore, the election frauds of
2009 loomed over the process, but these elections were deemed as fair by international
observers.
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But despite Taliban's threats to disrupt the elections, Afghanistan and its people have
shown that they can function in the face of adversity and defend democracy. This might
have not been possible without important forerunners who have demanded and worked for
democracy and tried to build trust and empower the citizens of Afghanistan.
Malalai Joya
The first Afghan woman to enter parliament was Malalai
Joya. Her film "Enemies of Happiness" follows her
campaign to introduce democracy to Afghanistan, a
country long ruled by warlords and Taliban, despite
constant death threats and assassination attempts. After
she was denied a travel visa to leave the country, she left
illegally to come to Berlin to the Cinema for Peace Gala, where she was honored by Hilary
Swank with the International Human Rights Film Award. However she was forced to
resign, after expressing harsh critique of the warlords and war criminals populating the
Afghan parliament. She hasn't returned to national politics since, but has been active
globally on bringing light to the situation in Afghanistan.
Skateistan awarded at
Another Cinema for Peace award winner,
"Skateistan – Four Wheels and a Board in Kabul",
tells about the similarly named Afghan NGO
Skateistan, which works with youth from a range
of ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Its
goal is to build trust and to provide empowerment
through a combination of skateboarding and education for both boys and girls, a
remarkable feat considering the dismal women's rights record in Afghanistan. Skateistan's
approach has been crucial in a country that is divided across ethnic and tribal lines. The
film "Skateistan" received the Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Documentary of
the Year 2011.
Another symbolic win against Taliban aggressions was seen last year when Malala
Yousafzai, a Pakistani education activist, was shot in the head by Taliban fighters from
point-blank range, because she insisted on girls' rights to education. Luckily she survived,
and in fact became an even stronger campaigner for women's rights. A documentary about
her, "Class Dismissed", won the Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2013.
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ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS by Eva Mulvad, recipient of the International Human
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Rights Film Award by Cinema for Peace, Amnesty International and Human Rights
Film Network in 2008, follows the story of Malalai Joya.
SKATEISTAN by Kai Sehr chronicles the efforts of a grass-roots organization to
build the first skate hall in Kabul, follows the first international crew of pro skaters
on their visit to Afghanistan, and tells a tale of the irrepressible hope found within
a nation's children.
CLASS DISMISSED profiles Malala Yousafzai’s life in the Swat valley of Pakistan,
where the Taliban want to close down schools that provide education for girls.
ARMADILLO by Janus Metz, nominated for the Cinema for Peace Justice Award in
2011, depicts the war in Afghanistan through the perspective of Danish soldiers
fighting in the frontline of the Afghanistan conflict and give the Afghani population
a voice. The viewer has seldom been so authentically close to shooting and
controversial discussion.
Stop "Blood in the Mobile" and
Slavery
LONDON – On Friday, a Global Supply Chains Summit was organized to focus on the
social and environmental problems that exist in the production of goods around the world.
The event, organized by The Guardian, Humanity United and the Institute for Human
Rights and Business, strived to present the problems in global supply chains and to focus
on innovative solutions for businesses on how to tackle trafficking and forced labor.
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Recently, this year's winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, "12 Years a Slave" reminded the
world of slavery. The film was also awarded as the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Movie
of the Year 2014, and the director of Anti-Slavery International, Dr. Aidan McQuade noted
in his acceptance speech that in today's world, slavery has become hidden for instance in
the lengthy supply chains of multinational companies, in international prostitution rings as
well as in major construction projects around the world, especially those related to
upcoming global sports events.
The mobile phone industry is also known to be a user of so-called
"blood minerals" that have originated from rebel-controlled mines
in Eastern Congo, where slave labor extracts raw materials in
harsh conditions. Cinema for Peace has campaigned against the
use of blood minerals through a mailout and film campaign
aimed at global decision-makers and technology companies;
moreover, we have organized a Special Screening of the film
"Blood in the Mobile" followed by a discussion at the World
Economic Forum, with panelists including Ken Roth from Human Rights Watch as well as
Kumi Naidoo from Greenpeace.
Lately measures have been taken to make the sources of such minerals more transparent
and a smartphone guaranteed to be free of any "blood minerals", Fairphone, has been
released.
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12 YEARS A SLAVE by Steve McQueen recounts how in the antebellum United
States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted
and sold into slavery.
BLOOD IN THE MOBILE by Frank Poulsen, winner of the Cinema for Peace
Award for Justice 2011 (presented by the Chief Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo), is the story about how our phones are
connected to illegal mining in Congo (DRC). Every time we communicate through
our cell phones we are associated with the crimes in Congo.
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April 28
Watch a Film and Donate for Free –
Every Time You Click We Get 50
Cents
Please mail this link to all of your network
and ask them to do the same.
BERLIN – This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide which claimed
over a million lives. This devastating conflict is one of the three focal points of the
documentary "Beyond Right and Wrong", which you can now watch for free while
simultaneously raising funds for Cinema for Peace Foundation.
The Cinema for Peace Foundation is partnering with Filmraise. FilmRaise connects
filmmakers with people who love inspiring movies, amazing causes with people who care,
and donors with charities that need financial support to keep doing good work. You can
bring it all together when you watch the movie for free. When one million views
are reached, everybody wins, and $500,000 goes to charity.
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By watching the film "Beyond Right and Wrong" for free online you will
directly help secure donations for Cinema for Peace Foundation.
"Beyond Right and Wrong" is a transformative
documentary that epxlores what happens as victims of
three tragic conflicts rebuild their lives, balancing
forgiveness with their needs of justice. The film looks at
areas of conflict around the world and asks what it takes
to forgive, and what it takes to ask for forgiveness under
the most difficult of
circumstances.
Paired personal interviews of aggressors and victims from
Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Israel, and Palestine, "Beyond
Right and Wrong" examines anger, understanding, remorse,
tolerance, and sometimes clemency. The survivors' stories are haunting and inspiring, and
the film is a meditation on justice and its role in national and personal healing.
Please help us reach a bigger audience and share this
important message further with your network.
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May 12
Larger Russia: Illegal Referendums,
Stalinistic Laws and a New Cold War?
Referendums were held in eastern Ukraine on Sunday.
MOSCOW – After Crimea's annexation to Russia, pro-Russian separatist
groups have wreaked havoc and seized control of governmental buildings in
eastern Ukraine. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Sunday conducted
referendums, saying 89% and 96% respectively voted in favor of "self-rule".
The EU and US said the polls were illegal.
Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov told Ukraine's parliament that
"the farce that terrorist separatists call a referendum is nothing more than
propaganda to cover up murders, kidnappings, violence and other serious
crimes".
A number of towns in the two eastern regions refused to hold the referendums.
Russia's crackdown on human rights
Last week marked the second anniversary of the Bolotnaya Square protests
that took place in Moscow. During the protests, which were aimed at Vladimir
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Putin's inauguration for his third term, dozens of protesters were beaten and
arrested – facing years in prison. Once again, as protesters were trying to
gather on the square to mark the anniversary, many of them were arrested by
security forces. Such quelling of protest is sadly commonplace in today's
Russia, marked by outright persecution of dissidents and minorities by
draconian laws and totalitarian police brutality.
Internationally, Russia's interference in the internal politics of Ukraine through
the annexation of Crimea and support to pro-Russian separatist groups in
eastern Ukraine has caused fears of a more widespread conflict in the region.
Equally appalling has been Russia's policy towards the conflict in Syria: while
Russia is one of the major arms exporters to Syria, they have at the same time
blocked all related UN security council resolutions with their veto right.
On top of this controversy comes the estranged behavior of Russia's leader
Putin: announcing nuclear military exercises and signing laws effectively
banning criticism of Stalin – Soviet Union's brutal dictator, who killed millions of
people – as well as laws aimed at media censorship and propaganda.
Russia's future
The question remains which path will Russia and Putin wants to choose: one
that will leave the world in the grips of a new Cold War or a cooperative one
that works towards a world of shared responsibility? Will Putin want to go in
history comparable to a brutal ruler like Stalin, or will he follow the likes of
Nobel Peace Prize winner President Gorbachev, who showed Russia the way
to the west and steered it to become a modern democracy? One of the factors
that led to Gorbachev failing economically could also hit Putin: the sales prize
of oil and gas. Gorbachev faced a falling oil price, while Putin's current actions
are leading to international economic sanctions and countries seeking other
energy sources than Russian gas. The rise and success of Putin has been very
much connected to the increase of income from gas and oil over the past 15
years.
How could Russia avoid isolation, sanctions and the loss of
economic prosperity?
It could help foster peace, stop the extremist movements in parts of Ukraine
and not take over the pro-Russian regions as they did in Crimea.
By relinquishing the arms trade with Syria and support for Bashar al-Assad, it
would do its share in stopping the conflict in Syria.
Internally, Russia would have to abandon its recent draconian laws against
homosexuals and protesters that voice their opinion.
Overall, establishing a solid rule of law would be key, starting with the
punishment of those involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitzky and the
related embezzlement of 230 million USD of taxpayers' money.
Cinema for Peace's activities on Russia
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Cinema for Peace has been active on the topic of
Russia through a number of films and activities.
Cinema for Peace has co-produced
the documentary "Letter to Anna" about Anna
Politkovskaya and awarded the film "Coca - The
Dove from Chechnya" with the International
Human Rights Film Award. More recently it
supported Pussy Riot through awarding a documentary film at the Cinema for
Peace Gala in Berlin and traveling with them to Sochi, Brussels, Los Angeles,
New York and Washington in support of their new NGO "Zone of Law" and film
screenings of "Pussy vs. Putin".
Next autumn Cinema for Peace is organizing a symposium on the 25.
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with Mikhail Gorbachev, where also the
future of Russia and a world "Without New Walls And New Wars" will be
discussed with international Think Tanks.
Pussy Riot stand for human rights everywhere
Senator Cardin, Chair of the US Helsinki Committee
with Pussy Riot in Washington
Although they express harsh
criticism at Russia, Pussy Riot love
their country and they live in
Moscow despite all the threats
against them. And it's not only
human rights abuse in Russia that
they are critical towards – they try to
be objective and critical everywhere
they go, also in Washington where
they made clear that no country
should hold political prisoners.
In the USA, a Manhattan jury has convicted the Occupy Wall Street
protester Cecily McMillan for assaulting a police officer while the protesters
were being evicted from the Zucotti Park. McMillan maintained that her hitting
the officer was a natural reflex caused by the officer grabbing her breast in a
chaotic scene - nevertheless, she might face up to seven years in jail.
Pussy Riot also support McMillan and object to her imprisonment.
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PUSSY VS PUTIN by Gogol's Wives
LETTER TO ANNA by Eric Bergkraut tells the story of the well-known
Ukrainian journalist Anna Politkovskaya's life and death.
COCA, THE DOVE FROM CHECHNYA by Eric Bergkraut. What has
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been declared an "anti-terrorist operation" by President Putin has taken
on features of genocide. Up to thirty percent of the Chechen population
may have been killed. The world is looking away; be it out of ignorance,
helplessness or opportunism.
PUSSY RIOT - A PUNK PRAYER by Mike Lerner and Maxim
Pozdorovkin follows the court cases on the Russian feminist/anti-Putinist
punk-rock protest group Pussy Riot. Winner of the Cinema for Peace
Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2014 award.
KHODORKOVSKY by Cyril Tuschi is a documentary about the jailed
Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky who challenges President Putin.
JUSTICE FOR SERGEI by Hans Hermans and Martin Maat, winner of
the "Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2012", is a documentary film
on Sergei Magnitzky, a Russian lawyer who died in November 2009 at
the age of 37 under excruciating circumstances in a Moscow detention
centre.
Nigeria: Boko Haram Calls This
"Liberation"
CHIBOK - A shocking video has been released a month after the capture of
almost three hundred school girls in Borno state, Nigeria. There is no indication
when the footage has been shot, but on the video a Boko Haram leader
describes how the schoolgirls have been converted into Islam and that they will
not be released until Boko Haram prisoners are freed.
The leader states that "We have indeed liberated these girls. These girls have
become Muslims." See the video here.
May 21
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Cannes Film Festival
Reflects The World in Crisis
Besides the glamour the Cannes Film Festival is known for its political protest.
CANNES – The Cannes Film Festival is known for its political conscience and
even controversies, and this year it also presents films on Syria and Ukraine.
It was founded in 1939 to counter the Venice Film
Festival which was then considered to be screening
Nazi propaganda – before being closed down by
Hitler himself. In the 1960s, as France was going
through civil unrest the festival was closed down
in 1968 due to a show of solidarity to students and
laborers, with film directors hanging from curtains to
prevent the films from being screened.
Syria, which has been in the grips of a civil war for
three years, is seen in the film "Silvered
Water" which includes footage from local Syrians
sent from Homs that was edited together in Paris. Last year, on the occasion of
the Cannes Film Festival Cinema for Peace organized a Special
Emergency Screening on the topic of Syria. Shortly afterwards Cinema for
Peace travelled to Aleppo with a European actor on board a supply truck to
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deliver baby milk powder to help the suffering civilians. The travel was covered
on the full front page of Europe's biggest newspaper and many other media
outlets; as a result, Germany increased its humanitarian aid to the Syrian
people with an additional 200 million euros. This year Cinema for Peace is also
planning in Cannes initiatives on Ukraine and Syria.
The very recent struggle in Ukraine is also touched by the film "Maïdan" which
looks at the protests that took place on Maidan Square in central Kiev, Ukraine.
The protests that were met with police brutality eventually led to the ousting of
President Viktor Yanukovich; Ukraine is set to hold new presidential elections
on May 25th.
Cinema for Peace is trying to promote
peace in that region and is planning to hold
screenings of the movie “Inseparable”,
which shows a love story between
Russians and Ukrainians and how
cooperation saved lives during the
Chernobyl incident.
Here are also a few other films at the Cannes Film
Festival this year that focus on humanitarian topics:
The Ukrainian struggle
has brought to mind
some of the bloody
conflicts that have taken place in Russian border
zones over the past decades, including the
Second Chechen War, which is depicted in the
film "The Search".
In conflict-stricken Mali, the film "Timbuktu" describes how this historic city
has become silent, with doors closed and streets empty; tea, music and bright
colors are banned by religious fundamentalists that spread terror in the region,
trying to enforce a strict Sharia law.
Finally, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World
War. To commemorate that, the film "Bridges of Sarajevo" is a collaboration
of European filmmakers who have all contributed short films to the feature
which explores the role of Sarajevo in Europe in the past 100 years and its
incarnation in today's Europe.
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SILVERED WATER by Wiam Bedirxan and Mohammed Oussama is
a look at first-hand video accounts of violence in modern-day Syria as
filmed by activists in the besieged city of Homs.
MAÏDAN by Sergei Loznitsa is a look at the 2013 and 2014 civil unrest in
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the Ukrainian capital's central square.
THE SEARCH by Michel Hazanavicius recounts, on a human scale, a
powerful story of conflict told through four lives that will be brought
together by a shocking twist of fate.
TIMBUKTU by Abderrahmane Sissako. Timbuktu is silent, the doors
closed, the streets empty. No more music, no tea, no cigarettes, no
bright colors, no laughs. The women have become shadows. The
religious fundamentalists are spreading terror in the region.
BRIDGES OF SARAJEVO by Aida Begic shows how 13 European
directors explore the theme of Sarajevo and what this city represents in
European history over the past hundred years, and what Sarajevo
incarnates today in Europe.
INSEPARABLE by Maria Poezhaeva is an account of love and loss,
bravery and supernatural stoicism in the face of unbeatable odds.
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June 05
D-Day 70 Years Ago –
How to End All Wars?
OMAHA – Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when allied forces landed in
France in an effort to fight back Hitler and stop the Nazis.
This year also marks the 100th and 75th anniversary of
the start of the First and Second World Wars,
respectively. Woodrow Wilson stopped the war with the
USA for moral reasons and raised the question how to
end all wars? Today the question is how can the
international community stop the slaughter in Syria? And
how can we prevent governments from killing their
lawfully protesting citizens – as happened 25 years ago
during the protests on Tiananmen Square.
And finally, there is a discussion on how to end sexual violence in conflict? This issue is
tackled by a unique summit in London, chaired by Angelina Jolie and William Hague, and
supported by Cinema for Peace with a selection of films. The power of film in this domain
has been proven by filmmakers like Ilse & Femke van Velzen with their film "Weapon of
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War", which they showed to the Congolese army, which led to a measured reduction in
rape by the army.
Farce Elections in Syria
ALEPPO – While the civil war ravaged on and civilians were being killed and bombed,
elections were organized in Syria this week, with only one outcome possible. The ruling
president Bashar Al-Assad won the most votes in what the west mostly called a "farce
election". He was facing candidates that few even knew before the election.
Mirroring the credibility of the elections, they were
monitored by observers from Syria's allies North Korea,
Iran and Russia, and they took place only in governmentcontrolled areas; 60 per cent of the country was excluded.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallim commented that
the election would be a "starting point in a political
settlement in Syria". This seems highly doubtful given the devastation of the threeyear civil war as well as the opposition against Assad's brutal regime.
Could there really be an end to the violence and fighting in
Syria with Assad in power? And will the international
community finally help the suffering civilians – through
cross border aid without asking Assad for permission,
adopting binding UN Security Council resolutions and
referring Assad to the International Criminal Court?
We invite you to watch the following films on Syria:
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June 22
Cinema for Peace Screenings
in East Ukraine
DONETSK – While Russia apparently continues to deliver further arms into Eastern
Ukraine in order to fuel a civil war in the region and potentially faces new sanctions,
Cinema for Peace is starting this weekend a screening campaign with the film
"Inseparable", which features the love between Ukrainians and Russians and the joint
effort to overcome the horrors of Chernobyl.
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Angelina Jolie's Summit
To Stop Sexual Violence in Conflict
LONDON – The week-long summit "End Sexual Violence in Conflict", chaired by actress
and humanitarian Angelina Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, has ended
in London with the launching of the first ever international protocol on how to document
and investigate sexual violence in conflict as a means of overcoming the barriers to
prosecutions of these crimes.
The event was attended by participants from over 178 countries,
and it is the largest ever summit held on this issue. The summit
had thousands of delegates including 79 Foreign Ministers, Heads
of 8 UN agencies as well as presidents and prosecutors from the
International Criminal Court (ICC) and international tribunals.
Cinema for Peace has been campaigning for the end of sexual
violence since 2008, when Nicole Kidman was a chair of Cinema
for Peace in Berlin as the international spokesperson for the UN
Women’s “Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women” initiative. Cinema for Peace
hosted in 2013 Nicole Kidman and UN Women and presented their global work for
women's rights, protection and empowerment.
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In 2012 Angelina Jolie was honored at
Cinema for Peace Berlin for her film "In
the Land of Blood and Honey" with the
Most Valuable Movie of the Year Award.
Cinema for Peace founder Jaka Bizilj
hosted a press workshop with Jolie and
the Chief Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo in
order to discuss how to stop sexual violence in conflict, an issue that Angelina Jolie has
fiercely moved forward and which has now taken the form of the UN Declaration of
Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. The declaration has thus far been ratified
by 140 countries, starting last September at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The summit was a success for the world at large and the victims of
sexual violence in conflict. For instance, Britain committed 6
million pounds towards victims of rape, while several nations,
including United States, Finland, Bahrain, Australia and Japan
announced pledges toward a new African Union pilot project that
targets victims of sexual violence in urgent need of help in the
Central African Republic.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague
outlined its own comprehensive Policy Paper; which it
says will guide the Office of the Prosecutor in its work in
fighting impunity for sexual and gender-based
crimes. ICC Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said while
unveiling the document "Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes" that it would
contribute to ensuring not only the effective investigation and prosecution of sexual and
gender-based crimes, but also to enhancing access to justice for victims of these crimes
through the ICC.
Cinema for Peace contributed towards the summit with a selection of films on the issue.
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INSEPARABLE by Maria Poezhaeva is an account of love and loss, bravery and
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supernatural stoicism in the face of unbeatable odds.
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY by Angelina Jolie, Cinema for Peace Most
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Valuable Movie of the Year 2012.
ANOTHER WAR by NRC Liberia examines the critical issues around sexual gender
based violence.
WAR BABIES by Raymonde Provencher tells about how many of the women who
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survived wartime rapes now live with a daily reminder of their ordeal: the children
born of this heinous crime, the children of the enemy. And, for the time being,
there is no sign that the new century will be any different than the last.
FIGHTING THE SILENCE by Ilse & Femke van Velzen. During the Democratic
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Republic of the Congo’s seven year war, more than 80.000 women and girls were
raped. “Fighting the Silence” tells the story of ordinary women and men struggling
to change their society. Husbands talk of the pressures that led them to abandon
their wives. Soldiers and policemen share their (shocking) views about why rape
continues to flourish in the Congo.
LUMO by PBS. Lumo Sinai was just over 20 when marauding soldiers attacked her
in the eastern Congo. A fistula, a medical condition common among
victims of violent rape, rendered Lumo incontinent and threatens her ability to
bear children. Rejected by her fiancé and cast aside by her family, she awaits
reconstructive surgery.
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July 15
Germany Wins World Cup
RIO DE JANEIRO – The football World Cup ended on Sunday with Germany beating
Argentina 1-0. The championships have displayed exciting and dramatic football at its
best, especially when host country Brazil was beaten 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals.
The World Cup ended with great celebrations,
including Chancellor Merkel and German
President Gauck, but the 75 000-head crowd also
booed for Sepp Blatter and FIFA during the night,
who faced criticism for instance for censoring
the TV feed
from the
stadium –
for example by not showing a streaker who ran during
an earlier game with the text "Save Favelas' Children"
on his shirt.
Looming in the background of this joyful month of
great football and cheering fans are also some
concerns about FIFA's demands in poor countries, how host countries are chosen
and a fresh scandal as FIFA partners sold tickets on the black market and an executive is
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fugitive. To ensure that fair play rules are obeyed both on and off the field, the
international community could review the process and structure of how games are
awarded to host nations – for example, through a vote in the UN General Assembly or
through a direct vote by all citizens of the world through the Internet?
Cinema for Peace founder Jaka Bizilj visited the German team when they reached the finals
in 1996, 2002 and now in 2014: "It's wonderful to see the social skills of the German team,
supporting humanitarian work, embracing the defeated Brazilians as friends and
celebrating the World Cup victory on the pitch with their children." The German team has
proven that sports can be an ambassador among the nations for peaceful understanding –
as long as it does not turn into a football war like between Honduras and El Salvador in
1969, when the two countries went to arms because of underlying tensions that were
aggravated into conflict by riots at the FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds.
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THEMBA by Stefanie Sycholt. Against all odds Themba realizes his dream playing
for the National soccer team, Bafana Bafana. Themba Screening Campaigns in
South Africa are supported by Cinema for Peace.
THE DAMNED UNITED by Tom Hooper is a look at Brian Clough's 44-day
reign as the coach of Leeds United.
FIFA's DIRTY SECRETS by Andrew Jennings looks into allegations of
corruption with FIFA, the world's governing body of association football.
FIFA's Sepp Blatter and Brazilian President booed at during the World Cup
opening
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USA Keeps Spying Illegally
BERLIN – As of late, the US National Security Agency, responsible for gathering
intelligence worldwide, has refused to follow democratic and legal decisions. Just this week
Germany had to expel the CIA Chief in Berlin because of spying on a government
committee investigating the NSA crimes.
Experts have suggested to avoid passing any data
traffic through countries such as the US and UK,
who are heavily involved in spying on private
data. This, however, would also require a heavy
shift towards software and hardware development
that does not rely on US companies, who have
been forced by NSA to create backdoors in
software and equipment. Then again recent
documents leaked by Edward Snowden show
that foreign intelligence agencies' – like that of the German BND – collusion
with the NSA is way more widespread than thought.
In a step towards more distributed control, the US congress is preparing a bill that would
create a separation between the data and those who collect it. Telephone companies would
have to hold the databases of communications instead of NSA, and to access that data NSA
would have to have a court order.
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WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS by Alex Gibney is a
2013 American independent documentary film about the organization started by
Julian Assange, and people involved in the collection and distribution of secret
information and media by whistleblowers.
THE LIVES OF OTHERS by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a drama film
about the monitoring of East Berlin by agents of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police.
War Between Israel and Palestine
Israeli rockets hit Gaza.
GAZA – While the world has watched with horror how the conflict in Syria goes on and has
given birth to the Islamic caliphate ISIS, another serious conflict in the region is once again
resuming, as Israel and Palestine have been exchanging rocket fire for over a week now.
The Israel-Gaza conflict is an ongoing dispute, which militarily escalated after the Islamic
political party Hamas was elected to government in 2005. In 2007, Hamas fought and won
an internal battle against Fatah over the rule of Gaza; Gaza is now governed by Hamas
while West Bank is run by Fatah. Israel has continued its globally criticized policy of
building settlements in Palestinian territory, while some say Israel has been worried about
the recent cooperation attempts by Hamas and Fatah towards a unified Palestine.
The current escalation has roots in events in June,
when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped.
Israel blamed Hamas, which vehemently denied
responsibility. During the search and rescue
operation many Palestinians were detained,
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including Hamas leaders. The teenagers were subsequently found killed on June 30th.
Later a Palestinian boy was burned alive by Israelis as an act of retaliation.
The fact that Israeli weaponry is more sophisticated and deadly
means that Israel's missiles have been sadly killing more than
100 civilians in the past week, while the ineffective Hamas
missiles have luckily not killed anybody. Israel is saying it has
tried to mitigate killing innocent civilians by alarming residents of
targeted houses that are suspected to harbor terrorists with
telephone calls, but the reality of the war is bloody.
The award-winning film "The Gatekeepers" quotes the former heads of Israeli intelligence,
coming to the conclusion that answering suicide bombers and Hamas terror with Israeli
military terror and retaliation always made it worse and never better.
Cinema for Peace has tried to bring both sides peacefully together, for example through en
abling the Cinema Jenin project in the world's capital city of suicide bombers as well as by
uniting the families of a Palestinian suicide attack perpetrator and the Israeli widow of
the victim at the Cinema for Peace Gala in Berlin.
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AFTER THE SILENCE by Stephanie Bürger and Jule Ott. Shadi Tobassi, a
suicide bomber from Jenin, blows himself up in an restaurant in Haifa, killing 15
people. Among those killed was Dov Chernobroda, an Israeli architect, who for his
entire life had tried to bring about a peaceful settlement between Israel
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and Palestine. His widow meets family Tobassi and embraces them in a
unique gesture of peace - in the film and at Cinema for Peace 2011 in
Berlin.
BUDRUS is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian
community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members
along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of
Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier.
THE GATEKEEPERS by Dror Moreh, Cinema for Peace Most Valuable
Documentary of the Year 2013, features interviews with all surviving former
heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are
closely held state secrets.
5 BROKEN CAMERAS by Guy Davidi, Cinema for Peace Nominee 2013, is
a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West
Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.
THE HEART OF JENIN by Leon Geller & Marcus Vetter, Cinema for Peace
Winner 2009, is the story of Ahmed Khatib, a Palestinian boy shot
by Israeli soldiers. His father decides to donate his son's organs to Israeli children
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as a gesture of peace.
MIRAL by Julian Schnabel is a drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl
growing up in the wake of Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the
conflict.
PROMISES by Carlos Bolado, B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro follows several
Jewish and Palestinian children are for three years and put in touch with each
other, in this alternative look at the Jewish-Palestinian conflict.
TEARS OF GAZA by Vibeke Lokkeberg In a rough style, by way of unique
footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed.
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October 02
Can the United Nations regain leadership?
310,000 attended of the People Climate March
NEW YORK – The session of the UN General Assembly ended this week. With the pictures
of the 310,000 attendants of the Peoples Climate March still present in the media, the UN
Climate Change summit in New York called for “a meaningful universal climate
agreement” in Paris 2015. The biggest tangible result of the summit was a commitment by
nearly 40 companies to do their part to slow and eventually stop the loss of forests.
Additionally decisions were made on confronting ‘IS’ by the UN Security Council and UN
Women made a further step towards gender equality.
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Leonardo DiCaprio at the People Climate March
DiCaprio: ”I pretend for a living. But you do not.’’
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Academy Awardnominated actor and committed environmental activist, Leonardo DiCaprio, as an
UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change. “Mr. DiCaprio is a credible
voice in the environmental movement, and has a considerable platform to amplify its
message,” said Mr. Ban. He also praised DiCaprio’s longstanding commitment to fight for
environmental causes. The actor created the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998
in order to build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world.
He also produced and narrated the 11th Hour, a documentary about cl
imate change Furthermore Leonardo DiCaprio spoke on Sept. 23 at the U.N. Climate
Summit and addressed the topic of climate change, the international organizatio
n announced on Tuesday. " Honoured delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a
living. But you do not. […] And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest
challenge of our existence on this planet”, DiCaprio told the UN Climate Summit.
At Cinema for Peace, Leornardo DiCaprio introduced together with President Mikhail
Gorbachev the ‘’International Green Award’’ to honor artists protecting the environment.
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Leonardo DiCaprios Speech to the UN:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTyLSr_VCcg
The 11th Hour: Humanity hast to act on the threat of Climate Change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBG2V98IBY
Green World Rising – Episode 1: Carbon: How tar sand exploitation contribute to the
Climate Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP-Twj2lzB8
Green World Rising – Episode 2: Last Hours: How methane impacts the world´s
climate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bRrg96UtMc
UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson: Feminism
is about Equality
British actress Emma Watson delivered a speech on gender equality helping to launch her
new initiative, HeforShe, to the United Nations in New York. The campaign focuses
specifically on the role that men can play in speaking out against gender inequality.
Watson expressed the goal in clear words: “We want to end gender inequality. And to do
this, we need everyone involved.”
Emma Watson’s speech on the HeforShe Campaign:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk
Wadja: A girl in Saudi Arabia dreams of being able to do what boys do: ride a bicycle in
public.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pcCCbLzhcY
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Iron Jawed Angels: America´s Suffragette movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StF3_Mj0tBg
UN Security Council Acts on Threat posed by IS
U.N. Security Council members passed a resolution to address the "growing threat" posed
by foreign terrorist fighters, a measure that U.S. President Barack Obama applauded while
insisting it "must be matched and translated into action"to have any effect. At the UN
General Assembly US President Barack Obama has urged the world to help dismantle the
Islamic State's "network of death’’. The United States started last week to conduct air
strikes on targets in Syria to fight the Islamist terror group ‘Islamic State’ (IS), also known
as ISIS (‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and ISIL (‘Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant’).
The US is supported in this operation by several Arabic States. Also the Turkish parliament
has scheduled a debate on a military intervention.
IS is a radical offshoot of the terror network al-Qaida, that made rapid advances across
Iraq, seizing swaths of territory in bloody battles and declaring a caliphate, or Islamic state,
in areas of northern and western Iraq and eastern Syria.
The Islamic State: Vice´s inside view of the IS
https://news.vice.com/video/the-islamic-state-full-length
The Rise of the Islamic State: The BBC gives background information on the rise of IS
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28116033
Cinema for Peace
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October 11
Ebola, Hong Kong, International Criminal
Court
First Time in History a Seating Head of State Faces Charges at Inter
national Criminal Court
THE HAGUE - Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has become the first head of state
to appear before the International Criminal Court. Mr. Kenyatta was charged in 2012
with crimes against humanity
including murder, deportation and rape for allegedly inciting—and financing—
violence in early 2008 that killed more than 1,000
people and forced many more.
Ebola a Global ‘Threat to Peace and Security’
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New York/Madrid - The news that a nurse in Spain has become infected with the Ebola
virus is an indication that Ebola is becoming a global threat. In Western Africa it has alrea
dy killed more than 3,400 people.The World Health Organization said that Europe would a
lmost certainly see more cases of Ebola. The UN adopted a resolution allocating funding of
49.9 million U.S. dollars for the newly established UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Respo
nse (UNMEER).
Thousands return to Hong Kong streets in protest
HONG KONG –
Hong Kong's government has called off a meeting on Friday with student leaders of the pr
odemocracy movement. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said it would be "impossible to have a co
nstructive dialogue" after protest leaders called for an increase in efforts to occupy main pr
otest areas. The protesters want free and fair elections to be held in 2017 for the office of th
e chief executive.
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October 19
Trailer of the Week: Nobel Prize: Malala vs. The Taliban
OSLO- 17 years old Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for her
courageous, and near fatal campaign to secure education for
girls. Malala was awarded Cinema for Peace Justice Award 2013
and is by far the youngest laureate and she insisted on Friday that her work had only just
begun. The Pakistani campaigner, who survived an assassination attempt at the age of 15,
will share the $1 million prize with Kailash Satyarthi, an indian activist who has dedicated
his life to fighting for the rights of children.
The two Nobel laureates have pledged to work together on future
campaigns and called on the leaders of their two quarreling nations to join them at the
prize ceremony in December as a symbol of reconciliation. Malala joined an illustrious roll
call of winners of the prestigious peace price which includes Nelson Mandela, Martin
Luther King Jr. and Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel Prize committee said: '' Despite her
youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls education,
and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to
improving
their
own
situatuions.''
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Malala Yousafazai was attacked in October 2012 by the Taliban in thei effort to shut down
schools offering education for girls in Swat Valley. Yousafzai has been a vocal educational
and girls' rights activist since 2009, when she started blogging for the BBC about her
experiences under the Taliban rule. She was shot in the head from point-blank range, but
she survived and was transported to the UK to undergo surgery and major skull
reconstruction. The Malala Yousafzai andf the documentary film CLASS DISMISSED by
Adam B. Ellick were awarded with the Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2013. The Chief
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda said: '' CLASS DISMISSED
follows the exceptional story of Malala Yousafzai. The film revelas the pressure Malala and
her family went through to get an education within a conflict zone.''
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November 02
Celebrating President Gorbachev &
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
BERLIN – November 9 marks the 25th anniversary of the destruction of Berlin Wall a sinister symbol of the world divided
by enmity and fear. In the aftermath of this event not only the reunification of German
y could be achieved, but the Cold
War has ended.
As we are living in the danger of a new Cold War, Cinema for Peace is welcoming President
Gorbachev in Berlin to hold with
him and the New Policy Forum an International Symposium titled “The World 25 Years Af
ter the Fall of the Berlin Wall: New
Crises, New Doubts, New Walls”. The symposium intends to bring together outstanding po
liticians, important social movements and
leading figures of the world of art and culture to draw public attention to the dangerous det
erioration of the world situation, to
discuss possible solutions to current conflicts as in Ukraine and Syria and discuss solution
s to avoid a new Cold War.
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This symposium is accompanied by a HEROES-Dinner and the premiere of the film ‘1989’.
President Gorbachev is being supported on this weekend by artists such as Leonardo DiCa
prio, Uma Thurman and Tom Hanks
and will present on November 9 a Universal Survival Plan with the Cinema for Peace Foun
dation, which will promote these goals
through films.
The Murders at the Wall: Premiere of “The Family”
BERLIN The award winning documentary ‘The Family’ by Stefan Weinert was honored as Most Val
uable Documentary of the Year
by Cinema for Peace 2014 and shows the victims and murderers of the Berlin Wall. The fil
m's climax arrives in the form of a
meeting between a marksman and the son of his victim.
The Film premieres on November 2 at Volksbühne Berlin and is in cinemas on November 6
.
For more information see www.diefamilie-derfilm.de and our facebook page under
www.facebook.com/cinemaforpeacefoundation
WATCH THE CINEMA FOR PEACE TRAILER OF THE
WEEK:
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December 17
Trailer of the Week - Torture,
Pakistan & EverydayRebellion
Release of Torture Report Underscores Need for
Accountability
Washington - The long-awaited report on the C.I.A.'s "enhanced interrogation"
demonstrates that systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights
law had been committed. "Now is the time to act - those responsible must be held
accountable," said the UN Special Rapporteur on Terrorism and Human Rights, Ben
Emmerson.
Republican Senator John McCain, former prisoner of war who was tortured by the North
Vietnamese, said: "Most of all, I know the use of torture compromises that
which most distinguishes us from our enemies, our belief that all people,
even
captured
enemies,
possess
basic
human
rights."
European Governments are discussing to issue arrest warrants if the USA will not take
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legal action itself against the perpetrators.
Many passages in the report on C.I.A. torture are blacked out - but what you can read, is
appalling enough. The report sets in concentrated and hardly withstanding form how far
the C.I.A. went and how cruel the methods were - walling, attention grasps, slapping, facial
hold, stress positions or even letting somebody die over night naked in a cold prison cell.
The perpetrators have indicated that their victims may never be released in order not to tell
anybody what has been done to them. Captives were isolated and locked in a wooden box
for example for 11 days. The interrogators acted sometimes so brutally that even some
agents started to sob and cry while watching.
Most often torture happens in secret: authoritarian regimes torture and kill people in their
dungeons and there are no reports in countries like Iran, North Korea or Eastern Ukraine,
where Human Rights Watch is reporting of atrocities too.
The USA has abandoned its global moral authority and its constitutional values. The report
points out that the C.I.A. misled the public, Congress and the White House. In the last days
the C.I.A. tried to justify its actions and had to be corrected by Dianne Feinstein, the chair
of the Senate Intelligence Committee, via Twitter. Meanwhile Senator Udall threatened to
read the full report to the public like the Pentagon papers in the 1970s by Alaska senator
Mike Gravel.
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Five Years
a film by Stefan Schaller
Based on original documents, Five Years is the true story of the German Turk Murat
Kurnaz, an innocent man interned in Guantánamo, one of the most feared and notorious
prisons in the world.
Watch the Trailer now!
Nobel price winner Malala is condemning Taliban attack on
Pakistani school
Pakistan - On Tuesday more than 100 children were killed in a Taliban attack on a Pakistan
school and many were hold hostage for hours.
The Pakistan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban, claimed responsibility, saying it was in revenge
for a ferocious army offensive in the tribal areas since June. "“We selected the army’s
school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females",” said
the Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani "“We want them to feel the pain”."
Pakistani education activist, nobel Price Winner and surviver of a cruel Taliban attack,
Malala Yousafzai, immediately released a statement in which she condemns the attack:
"Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this. I condemn these
atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of
Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable. I, along
with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters."
Malalas documentary "Class dismissed" won the Cinema For Peace Award for
Justice in 2013.
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Class Dismissed: Malala’s Story 2009
a film by Adam B. Ellick
At the age of 11, Malala Yousafzai took on the Taliban by giving
voice to her dreams. As turbaned fighters swept through her town
in northwestern Pakistan in 2009, the tiny schoolgirl spoke out
about her passion for education — she wanted to become a doctor,
she said — and became a symbol of defiance against Taliban
subjugation.
On Tuesday, masked Taliban gunmen answered Ms. Yousafzai’s courage with bullets,
singling out the 14-year-old on a bus filled with terrified schoolchildren, then shooting her
in the head and neck.
"Everyday Rebellion": A plea for non-violent resistance!
Wien / Berlin - The film "Everyday rebellion" is looking for support for their cross-media
plattform everydayrebellion.net on kickstarter. Their goal is to give a voice to the people
who try to change violent and repressive systems with non-violent protest methods and
tactics and to inspire everybody else.
The first part of the cross-media project, the cinema documentary, has been finished and
had it's world premiere at the renowned CPH:DOX film festival in November 2013 where
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the film won the audience award with the highest rating in the history of the festival. More
than 50 festival invitations followed. "Everyday Rebellion" was one of the 11
honorees of the Cinema for Peace Award for the Most Valuable Documentary
2014.
Everyday Rebellion
a film by Arash T. Riahi and Arman T. Riahi
EVERYDAY REBELLION - The Art of Change - is a documentary
and cross-media project celebrating the power of creative,
nonviolent protest and civil disobedience from Syria to New York
City, from Teheran to Kiew, from Istanbul to Madrid. The goal of
the project was to give a voice to the people who try to change
violent and repressive systems with non-violent protest methods
and tactics. It followed inspiring non-violent activists and
movements like Occupy Wall street, the Spanish Moviemiento
15M or Ukraine's topless feminist movement Femen. The
documentary production gained the support of lesser known Syrian and Iranian activists as
well as some of the legends of the non-violent movement like The Yes Men, Reverend Billy,
Inna Shevchenko or Srdja Popovic from the former Serbian movement OTPOR that
managed
to
overthrow
Serbian
dictator
Slobodan
Milosevic.
Support the Cross-Media-Project now on Kickstarter!
WATCH THE CINEMA FOR PEACE TRAILERS OF THE WEEK:
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Dec 20
Trailer of the Week - North Korea oppressing
freedom of expression in the United States?
Sony cancels theatrical release of North
Korea Comedy
Los Angeles - Sony Pictures has cancelled the US release on December 25 of the film THE INTERVIEW, after a
threat of terrorism against the movie. The film has been at the centre of a hacking scandal and major movie
theatre groups have canceled screenings because of terrorist threats.
A group calling itself Guardians of Peace (GOP) claim responsibility for a huge hack on Sony`s computer
systems and have published an online message on Tuesday warning cinemagoers to stay away from screenings
of THE INTERVIEW, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, which depicts the assassination of North Korean
leader Kim Jong-un.
The threats and the decision to cancel the release are seen by many in the US as a massive attack on their
freedom of speech and artistic expression. According to a film database "The Interview" is scheduled for release
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in the UK on February 6 and throughout Europe in late January. It is unclear if Sony plans to delay the release in
other countries as well.
Brad Pitt and Seth Rogen lead backlash
against media over Sony hacks
Los Angeles - The Sony hacks not only led to the cancelation of the release of the film THE INTERVIEW, but
also revealed private and shocking conversations between senior staff and managers.
The published documents uncovered for example email conversations between Sony executives and producers,
discussing in a despicable way the likes of, for example, Cinema For Peace Award Winners Angelina Jolie and
Leonardo di Caprio.
In spite of the bad practice of Sony, also the media needs to rethink their responsibility, just as Brad Pitt has
pointed out at the premiere of Angelina Jolie`s film UNBROKEN:
“I don’t see a difference in News Corp hacking phone calls and hacking e-mails. I don’t think we should be able
to participate. I think someone’s conversation, whether in e-mail or in person, should be private. We shouldn’t
be participating and these sites that are disseminating them should stop. They won’t. And we should stop
reading them. We won’t. It’s more of an indictment on us, I think.”
Seth Rogen, director of the film THE INTERVIEW, said in an interview that “everyone is doing exactly what
these criminals want... It’s stolen information that media outlets are directly profiting from.”
There are yet more information and documents to be published, as the Guardians for Peace have threatened to
release another batch of files as a “Christmas gift”.
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The Interview
Watch the Trailer
a film by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen
Dave Skylark and producer Aaron Rapoport run the celebrity tabloid show
"Skylark Tonight." When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean
dictator Kim Jong-un, they are recruited by the CIA to turn their trip to
Pyongyang into an assassination mission.
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