I am honored, as one of the Festival’s founders, to help introduce the Sixth Edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival Albania (IHRFFA). It is a credit to the organizers, sponsors, artists and contributors that this event has become an annual tribute to the importance of celebrating human rights via the art of film. It would have been hard to imagine the success and reputation of the Festival six years ago when it began as a rather modest attempt to bring the human rights message to the people of Albania. Since then scores have participated in the Festival. Albanians, members of the international community, students have come to learn and appreciate, via film, the plights of peoples from a variety of cultures and nations and have witnessed the global challenges of protecting human dignity. Today the IHRFFA is a respected international festival where films from around the world are submitted long in advance of their showing, reflecting significant human rights issues and the human response to the denial of rights. In fact it is a credit to this effort that the IHRFFA has become a model of a successful human rights film festival and has inspired other festivals to follow its example.
Given contemporary events it is only appropriate that we now gather in Tirana, Albania’s capital, to pay tribute to pursuit of human dignity. Just as the first Festival in 2006 was held at a moment of monumental transitions, when European States began to meet the challenges of the post cold war world, the world continues to face critical choices in the pursuit of human rights and promotion of human dignity. Today, as we watch films from across the globe, we are entering the ‘Autumn of the Arab spring’. We have seen fundamental changes in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya; with persistent problems yet to be resolved in other parts of that region. There is little question that the road to the protection of human rights is long and arduous and each generation must meet the demands of new circumstances to realize the promise made by the world community. Yet the fundamental issue remains the same; the “…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family..,”(UDHR, Preamble 1948)
We must be mindful as we celebrate the victories of the cause of human rights, that the effort continues and that the denials of rights still causes grief to scores of victims across the globe. Despite the recent dramatic events and the positive developments towards the realization of human rights, we cannot forget that there are many other parts of the world where the promise of human rights and the respect for human dignity has yet been realized. In fact we need to accept the reality that the pursuit of human rights remains a perpetual challenge where different circumstances require different responses. No people, no nation is immune from human rights violations. The films we are about to see provide ample evidence that the promise of human rights, articulated in the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, requires that we all witness, in this instance through the art of film, the many instances where humans are victimized by others and where the courageous make efforts to respond to violations with courage and persistent effort.
Last year in my remarks I wrote the following. The message remains the same and needs to be repeated;
“…We must recall that before 1945, until the drafting of the UN Charter, States were not legally obligated to protect or promote human rights. The Charter changed that reality by having “…members pledge …to take joint and separate action…for the achievement of …universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion” (Arts. 56 & 55 – UN Charter).
As these films will attest, we must also remember that while we will celebrate this coming December 10th, (now the 63rd) anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides “…a common standard of understanding of these rights…”, human rights abuses, unfortunately, remain too common of an occurrence in societies around the world.
Quite obviously the legal commitment to human rights promotion and observance is not sufficient to make human rights a reality for the peoples of world. To have the rhetoric of the UN instruments, along with the Constitutional promises States make to their peoples, a reality, more is needed than organizational monitoring, diplomatic or military intervention or even legislation.
The Universal Declaration envisions, “that every individual and every organ of society …shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights,…”. Hence, from the inception of the human rights era, until now, it has been understood that the respect of fundamental freedom and human dignity is not just the responsibility of governments, but rather requires the commitment of civil society to provide the lessons of the human condition and the respect of human rights to all. If human rights are to be universal then it is incumbent for all people to commit themselves to the promotion and understanding of human rights. This Film Festival is a commitment to that theory.”
Over the years the Festival has become more than the showing of films. It is has become an event where those committed to human rights can come together, express again their commitment to the rights found in the human rights instruments and a place where we can introduce a understanding to the new generations of Albanians and internationals, who have never or rarely considered these important issues before. Accordingly the Festival not only brings the filmmaker together with advocates and members of the international community, but offers students and the general public an opportunity to discuss and consider the messages they saw on the screen. This effort, undoubtedly, would make the drafters of the Universal Declaration proud. It is consistent with the idea expressed by Eleanor Roosevelt, the first Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Commission when she said; “The Declaration was not intended for philosophers and jurists but for ordinary people”. The IHRFFA’s efforts reflect that message.
This Sixth Edition of the IHRFFA, supported via the committed efforts of the Academy of Film & Multimedia, MARUBI, joined with the support of the international community, businesses, Colleges and Universities, along with Albanian and international NGOs and organizations, is a telling statement on how human rights can continue to be brought forth as a contemporary issue to the public in a meaningful way.
Academic works on human rights and the law that attempt to defend human interests have their value in promoting and protecting human rights, but we must be mindful that before we intellectualize the intricacies of human rights protection we need to have peoples and government recognize and then empathize with the plight of those whose rights and dignity have been denied or abused. Film is an important media relevant to engaging in an effort to “teach”; to illustrate; to bring the human rights message to Albanians and international guests. Hence, the importance of this Festival is quite evident. To quote Mrs. Roosevelt again regarding why human rights must be a local concern, and why an International Festival in Albania is valuable… “Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” (Remarks at the United Nations, March 27, 1958).
The IHRFFA by showing films portraying human right problems around the globe to Albanians in their capital city of Tirana is a demonstration that while human rights remains a global concern, we must begin at home in Tirana to make the promise of human dignity a reality.
In my earlier welcome messages I expressed the hope that this edition would not be the last edition, but that the Festival “will truly become an ongoing tradition, so that new generations of Albanians will continue to understand, via the art of filmmaking, that human rights must be understood in order to be practiced.” This Sixth Edition is therefore a reconfirmation that the cause of human rights has continued significance and relevancy in contemporary Albania. There is little doubt that this effort has become part of the fabric of the human rights cause that remains alive and vibrant and will continue to enlighten the minds of those living in Albania as to the importance of human rights.
Theodore S. Orlin – IHRFFA- Honorary President
Clark Professor of Human Rights Scholarship and Advocacy (2005-2010), Utica College, New York, USA
