29/11/2024 Prizes | Standing Committee
PACE is today launching the “Human Rights in Motion” Award, in partnership with four international film festivals across Europe, to be awarded quarterly to the director of a documentary film which best promotes “human rights or the fight for democratic values”.
The 5,000-euro award will be available for films submitted to four established international documentary film festivals taking place across the year, from different corners of Europe, beginning with the FIPADOC Festival in Biarritz (France) in January 2025. A jury selected by each Festival will decide the winning film from among those submitted to it, based on established criteria.
“This initiative aims to raise public awareness of the Council of Europe’s work as well as to support filmmakers promoting our principles and values,” said PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, announcing the creation of the award at a meeting of PACE’s Standing Committee today in Luxembourg. “Documentaries can show the consequences of human rights violations in vivid ways which engage sympathy and understanding.”
The first award will be made at the FIPADOC Festival, which runs in the French coastal town of Biarritz from 24 January to 1 February 2025. The winning film will receive a certificate and plaque, to be presented by a member of the Assembly at the festival’s closing ceremony.