28/04/2008

In 2007, the Council of Europe decided to present a Film Award (FACE) at the Istanbul International Film Festival to a director whose entry to the festival raises public awareness and interest in human rights issues and promotes a better understanding of their significance. The FACE award is intended to honour an artistic or documentary film that promotes human rights in accordance with the values of the Council of Europe and the principles of individual freedom, political liberty and the rule of law.

Since 2007, the Istanbul International Film Festival has therefore included a new competitive section entitled “Human Rights in Cinema”, and the first FACE award was attributed to Mauritanian born Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako’s Bamako.

The 2008 Jury and competing films

The 2008 FACE Jury consisted of Nurdan Arca (Producer - Director), Philippe Boillat (Director General of Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe), Tony Gatlif (Director), Abderrahmane Sissako (Director) and Jan Vandierendonck (Eurimages Executive Secretary). The films competing for the FACE award were:

Chop Shop, Ramin Bahrani (USA)
Battle for Haditha, Nick Broomfield (United Kingdom)
Disengagement [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], Amos Gitai (Israel)
Hidden Faces, Handan Ipekçi (Turkey)
Blind Mountain (Mang Shan), Li Yang (China)
The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy (USA)
The Mark of Cain, Marc Munden (United Kingdom)
Otobus-e Shab, Kiumars Purahmad (Iran)
Lucky Miles, Michael James Rowland (Australia)
PVC-1, Spiros Stathoulopoulos (Colombia)

The 2008 FACE award was attributed to BLIND MOUNTAIN by Li Yang (China) for "for its powerful message against all violence, no matter its form to women all over the world, because this message is both universal and timeless."

Interview with Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe on “The Philosophy of the FACE award”.

How did the idea of a Council of Europe Human Rights Award emerge?
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: As an organisation who finds its purpose in the defence of Human rights, we believe that it is important not just to decide on the norms, mechanisms and technical assistance when it comes to human rights issues. We also believe that all men and women around the world should share this notion and philosophy. We therefore consider that a Human Rights Award in a cinema festival is likely to reach a great number of people, simply because the cinema is an artistic expression accessible by all. Linking together these two parallel objectives, that is the promotion of the production of European films, mainly through our sister organisation Eurimages, and the human rights issue, our participation in this festival became almost natural.

Why give the FACE award to cinema?
The philosophy underlying the award's creation is the belief in the ability of film to transport its own message of human rights, tolerance and social inclusion to a wide audience. Cinema is not only an important expression of European culture, it is also a compass that can help to map out a route towards the Europe of the future – one that celebrates diversity and difference, that promotes equal opportunities for all its citizens, and that challenges abuse and intolerance.

Of all festivals in Europe, why and how did you choose to give the FACE award at the Istanbul International Film Festival?
First of all, Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe since 1949 and has ratified its Human rights convention as early as 1954. We have therefore been elaborating norms and principles together as of that date. As far as the Council is concerned, Turkey is a European country. Furthermore, the Istanbul International Film Festival has a very important regional dimension. Istanbul has a unique dimension with regards to international dialogue, since it is a European city with, geographically speaking, one foot in Europe and the other in Asia. This is symbolically very important. Through its multicultural quality, the city also reflects a very key dimension of the Council of Europe, that of intercultural dialogue. As a matter of fact, Turkey is one of the key drivers in the United Nations intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. Therefore, I believe that Istanbul is a very appropriate setting for the Council’s engagement in this line of work. Finally, although certain problems related to freedom of expression still exist in the country, our presence in this festival can also help bring into focus the importance of freedom of expression in Turkey.