The Communication Initiative
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Stories on Human Rights

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This cinematographic and literary project was inspired by the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR (December 10 2008). The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR), with funding from the European Commission (EC), engaged the non-governmental organisation (NGO) ART for The World to produce a series of 3-minute films directed by filmmakers and video artists from all over the world. The 22 films are inspired by the 6 themes of the UDHR:

  • Culture - UNDR holds that "everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community"; by implication, no one has the right to dominate, direct, or eradicate that culture or impose theirs upon us.
  • Development - UDHR provides a vision of the world in which everyone has equal opportunity to grow and develop in freedom and equality and to the fullness of their potential. It also makes clear our responsibility to help other people and nations, through individual and joint actions, and to create a social and international order that enables the enjoyment of all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political, and social.
  • Dignity and justice - Dignity means we must treat each other with respect, tolerance, and understanding; governments must do the same, in law as well as in practice. The idea of justice and the equality of everyone before the law appears throughout the UDHR.
  • Environment - The idea is that the actions of nations, communities, businesses and individuals can dramatically affect the rights of others - because damaging the environment can damage the rights of people to a secure and healthy life.
  • Gender - UDHR acknowledges that men and women are not the same, but insists on their right to be equal before the law and treated without discrimination.
  • Participation - One of our basic rights is to be allowed to take a full, active, and meaningful part in the life of our community. The idea is that our voices should be heard, and we should be in a position to influence our own destiny and take part in decisions affecting us.
Communication Strategies

Stories on Human Rights brings together artists and filmmakers of various backgrounds and sensibilities, all of whom have a deep interest in the promotion of human rights. Film is the medium at the centre of this effort to create and share a multiple-voiced representation of the meaning of the UDHR at the international level. The movies have been shot in more than 15 countries around the world and in different languages. They exist as both a series of single short movies and as a long feature film of 1h and 20 min, subtitled in the 6 official languages of the United Nations, or UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). The long feature film premiered in cities around the world on December 10 2008, and both the short movies and the long feature will be screened globally in 2009 at film festivals, cinemas, schools, museums, and cultural institutions. Many of these screening events include discussions and keynote speakers. The films will also be broadcast on international TV channels, and will be made available free of charge on the EC's online audiovisual service.

 

The film will be accompanied by a plurilingual book, published by Electa, including interviews with the filmmakers and artists, still frames of the short movies and backstage pictures, and contributions by 12 authors (5 of them Nobel Prize winners) referring to the 6 themes of the UDHR. The aim of this book is to extend the discussion on the historical impact and the values of the UDHR and to raise awareness about human rights in readers all over the world through these varied artistic expressions.

 

In addition, ART for The World and the New Academy of Fine Arts (NABA) in Milan, Italy, opened a competition for posters under the title "Shake Your Rights". Arts students in more than 20 countries competed to have their winning poster designs selected for display wherever the films are shown and anywhere human rights are being taught or discussed. One thousand copies of the six winning posters, one for each of the six themes, have been printed and are being distributed by the UN and made available electronically for others to download and print locally (click here for access). Exhibitions of the best 30 designs are also planned.

Development Issues

Human Rights.

Partners

ART for The World, EC, the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DGCID), the French Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs, the Brazilian Social Services of Commerce (SESC), and the French National Centre of Cinematography (CNC).

Sources

Email from Charlotta Asplund to The Communication Initiative on December 5 2008; and EC website.