The Swedish Human Rights Festival – Nimble fingers event

And so the third annual Swedish Human Rights Film Festival is over for this year. Over the weekend we gathered almost 600 people (!) around important and relevant human rights films and discussions.
But none of this would be possible without the support of all of our collaborators and partners over the year. Therefore, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law would like to express its sincere gratitude towards everyone helping us organise this:

– Biografen Kino i Lund
– UPF Lund – The Association of Foreign Affairs
– Lund University
– Film i Skåne AB
– Folkuniversitetet Malmö/Lund
– Lunds kommun
– Spyken High School
RWI also wants to thank our student ambassadors and all of our amazing moderators and discussants who contributed with their knowledge and research after each screening:
– Catarina Kinnvall, Chris Sidoti, Michael McEachrane, Rahel Weldeab Sebhatu, Anna Bruce, Marta Kolankiewicz, Julia Bergström, Ferestha Begum, Ali Farhad Saleh, Tina Askanius, Marina Svensson and Parsifal Reparato.
And finally, a great thanks for all of you who attended the festival. Without you – no festival.
See you next year!
The Swedish Human Rights Festival

“To Hope in Times Like These
The people among us who have power and bad intentions, like farmers in the fields, plant their seeds of fear and carefully cultivate them until they blossom into raging anger and outrage.
And what drives these leaders, these men, because let’s be honest, it’s almost always men? They are at least partly driven by their own insecurities and fears. These “leaders,” who strut around, from workplaces to the world stage, like bullies in a school yard, have proven their superiority to the world. They have the power. And fear is their currency.
How do you generate hope in times like these? This weekend we’ve been watching human rights films that shed light on the worst in people. From ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and sexual harassment in the United States to outright racism in Europe, the films we’ve screened all highlight how everything from prejudice to serious human rights violations grow out of our fears and insecurities. I’m not excusing the mindsets and actions that bring pain and suffering to others, but I think it’s important to think about where they come from.
And fear is understandable. There’s terrorism and unemployment; climate change and honour killing; enormous economic inequality and raging wars. As tiny human beings inhabiting a miniscule planet in an infinite universe, there is a lot to be scared of. After all, life is not all that fair. We’re born vulnerable and fragile and most of us leave this world in the same condition. That’s part of being a human.
But there is another way. We’ve seen it before and I think we’re seeing it again, even if the media doesn’t always pick up on it.
In Slovakia, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in over 35 cities in the country to protest corruption and the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancé. In the United States, a record number of women are running for Congress in this November’s mid-term election, twice as many compared to 2016. All around the world, the #metoo campaign continues to challenge our male-dominated cultures, with many experts saying that it will lead to real improvements for gender equality.
I’m not trying to sugar coat things. I do believe our fundamental human rights, like the right to live free from discrimination, the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to education, work and leisure, and the right to security, are all under threat. There is little doubt about that.
But I choose hope because I refuse to let fear win and because, as cliché as it sounds, I believe most people know right from wrong.
We need to persevere and keep the struggle alive.”

//Gabriel Stein, Raoul Wallenberg Institute

Thank you all spectators, it has been amazing to discuss with so interested audiance, it makes this Project greater and meaningfull!!!
Every feedback you want to share about the Nimble fingers and the event will be more than welcome!