Completely drenched through courtesy of the latest monsoon downpour, I arrived at the Human Rights Film Center (HRFC) in Kathmandu with a friend of mine in a rather bedraggled state! As I scanned the lobby of the building I noticed almost instantaneously that I looked both wet and under-dressed, having just returned from the Eastern Terai about an hour earlier! I am unsure of what the various dignitaries present thought of my appearance so at each handshake I ensured that I over-compensated by smiling my best English smile!
To give a little more detail regarding the above, HRFC is an organisation which promotes human rights through the use of film. The group was specifically founded by a group of media professionals and film makers in order to promote and protect human rights in Nepal. Believing that film is the most powerful tool to advocate for human rights, it is hoped that that public debate will help to promote changes in national policy.
The films that are being crafted include searching stories which are untold and unseen. These films include both short feature length documentaries and dramatic narratives which bring to the surface pressing human rights issues in Nepal. One of the first screenings in the Human Rights Film Festival, which I had been fortunate enough to be invited to was titled The Desert Eats Us. Produced and directed by Kesang Tseten, the 1 hour long documentary film provides a rare glimpse of the experiences of migrant workers in Qatar. While it is often poverty that propels workers to leave Nepal in search of work in other countries, they often find that their treatment and working conditions in other countries are very poor. The long working hours and intense heat often mean that workers struggle in their new environment, and the dream of finally raising a salary to send home often becomes a nightmare as the promise of a well-paid wage is broken.
HRFC hope that video is a powerful tool to raise the voice of the voiceless, and to empower poor and marginalised communities with a voice to address poverty, inequality and injustice.
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