Rights take centre stage at Karama film festival

AMMAN — The 13th edition of Karama Human Rights Film Festival comes as a reminder of human rights priorities in a changing world, according to the festival’s director.

Organised by Ma3mal 612 Think Factory, the festival will take place through December 21 under the theme “Transformations in Human Rights”. The festival will look into human rights priorities and changes in a post-pandemic era, and the accompanying deviations and mutations.

In an interview with The Jordan Times on Thursday, festival director Sawsan Darwaza said that “nowadays human rights are increasingly described through digital spaces”. 

Darwaza stressed that it is important, now more than ever, to identify different attitudes towards human rights and not to forget or overlook “the basic expressions of human relationships, values and rights”. 

Shedding a spotlight on the importance of an integrated approach to human rights, Darwaza said that digital human rights are extensions of traditional human rights norms. 

This festival is dedicated to reflecting what people can do better, “reminding us to consider human rights film festivals and not to rely on digital screens,” Darwaza added.

According to the festival’s website, Karama has founded several festivals in the Arab region including; “Karama Palestine” in 2013, “Karama Mauritania” in 2014, “Karama Gaza-Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival” in 2015, “Karama Beirut” in 2016 and “Karama Yemen” in 2018.

It has also supported “Karama Tunis - the International Festival for Human Rights Films” and “Erato Human Rights Film Festival in Libya” within the framework of “ANHAR- The Arab Network of human Rights Film Festivals”, which was founded by Ma3mal 612 in 2015.