Human Rights Selection: Burning Issues of Humanity Through the Language of Animation
Among many film programs, we strive to create a space for a debate on humanity’s burning issues through the language of animated films. Human rights are not simply given; they are earned through standing up for truth and justice, raising awareness, and giving voice to the silenced and marginalized. This selection holds up a mirror to the challenging realities of our time: from the stories of those forced to wander in search of a home, to children growing up amid the flames of war, to women denied ownership over their own bodies. Through intimate portraits, social analysis, and reflections on past and present, these seven stylistically diverse films foster understanding and compassion, sensitizing us to look directly at the injustices we witness every day.
Below you can find the programme which will be screened on July 17th from 2 pm at Jusuf Gërvalla Cinema.
Inside, The Valley Sings (Nathan Fagan, Natasza Cetner; Ireland) is a documentary-based animated film that follows the stories of three people trapped in the unrelenting horror of prolonged solitary confinement in the United States. Enduring unbearable conditions, they enter dissociation, the most primal and powerful of defense mechanisms. Minimalist black and white line animation gradually transforms into a vivid, colorful world of imagination. The film is a poetic exploration of survival, isolation, and the inner landscapes people are able to create.
En Route (Stefano Poggioni, Pietro Elisei; Italy) uses object manipulation, abstract forms, and sound experimentation to convey the horror and torture experienced by millions of African people, far from home, somewhere along their journey in search of a better future. The story subtly raises the issue of the treatment of refugees, which is often dehumanizing, and exposes systemic injustice even in societies that formally invoke human rights.
When it comes (it will have your eyes) (Izibene Oñederra, Spain) presents a dystopian reality in which a community endures severe pollution and environmental collapse, conditions that go hand in hand with lethargy, deprivation, social isolation, and the erosion of human connection. In the film’s bizarre, nightmarish world, people move through life on autopilot: making love mechanically, unable to reproduce naturally. With blank expressions, they submit to fabricated ideologies. The stench that spreads through the city is not just physical; it is, above all, moral and spiritual. Resonating with this year’s slogan, the film leaves us in a mood of profound questioning: what’s going on?
Cimarron (Alexey Evstigneev, France) is set in a historical epoch and follows an African American man who, in a desperate attempt to save his own life, becomes an executioner in a French colony in North America. Through classical storytelling and visually striking animation, the film portrays how a powerless individual becomes both a murderer and a betrayer, as well as the heavy burden of guilt he must ultimately confront. Although it explores events from nearly a hundred years ago, the film remains relevant today, revealing how certain concepts, such as slavery and colonialism, which we believed modern society had overcome, have merely changed their form.
K’uchu: A Childhood Place (Alexey Evstigneev, Peru) takes us to the memories of 40-year-old Oscar, who walks along a deserted highway, returning to his hometown in search of shelter during the COVID crisis. As he nears the place where he grew up, vivid colors and fragmented images begin to resurface, echoes of a carefree childhood abruptly cut short by terrorist violence. The film’s warm, intense color palette evokes the atmosphere of South America while reflecting a child’s perspective: one that doesn’t fully understand the events but deeply feels their weight. Fear, symbolized by images of fire and experienced in childhood, remains buried within the individual forever.
Impossible Journey (YUCA; Brazil, United States) is a simple, metaphorical story that follows two storks delivering babies. One stork’s journey is relatively safe, while the other faces a series of life-threatening obstacles, raging storms, dark and menacing forests, mountain erosion, volcanic eruptions, and countless other dangers that threaten her life. By reimagining the archetypal image of storks delivering babies, the film powerfully addresses the urgent crisis in maternal health care, shaped by systemic inequality and race-based discrimination. The story concludes with a letter to a mother who never got the chance to meet her child, an emotional tribute to the victims of medical abuse.
Romina (Bee Grandinetti, United States) tells the story of a teenager who wants to have an abortion in a U.S. state where it is banned. While acknowledging the pain and emotional turmoil such a situation brings, the author focuses on the story’s hopeful side, the compassion, solidarity, and support the young girl receives. Step by step, the narrative follows her journey, illustrating how a caring and determined community comes together to help her treat her body and live her life as she chooses, despite legal obstacles.
Author: Ivona Djuric
