AGADIR: SEMINAR ON DOCUMENTARY FILM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and the Agadir International Documentary Film Festival (FIDADOC) hold a seminar on documentary films and human rights, on 26 and 27 of April 2013 in Agadir.

This seminar is held in line with the Citizenship Platform for the Promotion of the Culture of Human Rights. It will discuss international experiences in using documentary films to promote human rights. The participants will also discuss ways and possibilities to crate centers for documentary films in the regions where CNDH’s regional commissions operate. They will exchange on training documentary stakeholders on human rights in order to communicate the principles and values of human rights through documentaries.

This national gathering will be an opportunity to sensitize the actors and partners concerned with the implementation of the Citizenship Platform, officials of CNDH’s regional human rights commissions and civil society actors about the role cinema can play in conveying and promoting human rights.
The participants will attend some FIDADOC activities on Friday, April 26. A presentation will highlight documentary film production and distribution in Morocco. Image education in schools, universities and cinema club will be highlighted as well. The participants will learn about several experiences from Algeria, Tunisia, Central Africa and West Africa in documentary film production and distribution training.

A plenary session will be held on Saturday, April 27. It will be chaired by Mr. Driss El Yazami, CNDH President. Mr. Mohamed Charef, Chairperson of the Regional Human Rights Commission of Agadir, Mr. Hicham Falah, President of the Association of Culture and Education through Audiovisual (ACEA), which organizes the Festival, will have the floor in the plenary session.

In addition to the plenary session, two workshops will be held to draw an outline for a regional plan of action to educate and training film actors on human rights and reflect on the opportunities of documentary film resource centers. The participants are also expected to reflect on the implementation terms of this plan. They will identify possible stakeholders, training trends and needs and any possible national and international cooperation that should be targeted.

This seminar will bring together official of CNDH and its regional commissions, members of the Steering Committee of the Citizenship Platform, academicians, cinema clubs and civil society representatives, supervisors of human rights and citizenship clubs, journalists, cinema critics, etc.