The 9th PNG Human Rights Film Festival officially opened in Madang over the weekend, to a packed audience at Divine Word University’s Sir Peter Barter Auditorium.
The films shown over the three-day programme, embodied the Festival’s theme, “Stand up today to change tomorrow”.
Audience members were challenged to consider their individual responsibilities to respect human rights and to take action to address human rights issues facing Madang, and PNG.
The festival included films on forced evictions, sorcery accusation related violence, and a film on renowned PNG singer, the late Moses Tau.
The Pacific Voices films, a set of six shorts by PNG and Tongan filmmakers made through the Commonwealth Writers group, also debuted in PNG for the first time at the Festival.
Filmmakers Katherine Reki and Glen Burua, are based in Madang and introduced their films in person.
Next week the Festival will open in Port Moresby at the Moresby Arts Theatre on October 11, before its continues to the University of Goroka on the 23rd, and later to parts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in November.
