Quarterly Newsletter #3 — 2024
Summer's No Respite for Those in Urgent Need
To document human rights violations and governmental repression, war crimes and man-made atrocities, and to translate those to film and audiovisual journalism, has become more vital than ever — but dangerous to those doing so, such as filmmakers in Myanmar, Georgia, and Iran; and even fatal to our colleagues in Ukraine and, especially, in Gaza, where at least 146 film workers and journalists have been killed since October 7, 2023 (according to the Committee to Protect Journalists).
Time and again, these filmmakers and their films, voices and stories, that bear witness and speak truth to power, prove essential in making this world a more just and liveable place for all. One current example is the film No Other Land by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor & Hamdan Ballal, a powerful collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers/activists, travelling a bumpy road through European censorship and other backlash to eventually end up on screens around the world, touching audiences far and wide with its clear-eyed depiction of human rights violations and, beneath it all, its quiet, shivering hope for friendship and a way forward through 'co-resistance'.
This is why we continue to stand up for film workers across the globe. If anything, our commitment — to supporting our colleagues at severe and acute risk of persecution, imprisonment, and worse — is stronger than ever before.