The 16th International Human Rights Film Festival (FICDH) is a cinematographic and competitive meeting organized by the Instituto Multimedia DerHumALC (IMD). This edition took place from June 17th to 24th, 2015, in the City of Buenos Aires.

The objective of the International Human Rights Film Festival is to present the best productions which tackle the social problems related to the defenses of human rights and the environment from multiple and original points of view, promoting in this way a critical cinema that contributes to social transformation.

During the past week in Buenos Aires, 112 titles from 39 countries were screened, and more than 26 international guests and around 21 national guests came together. With screenings in over 10 venues in the city, including a sub venue in Moron district, the attending audience up to Wednesday 24 was around 10,000 people. This Festival was made possible by the work of the 35 members of our staff and the support and dedication of over 130 volunteers committed to several areas.

Regarding the awards, the awarded film for the 1st Prize for the Feature Film Competition was the Danish work “The Look of Silence”, by Joshua Oppenheimer. Likewise, both “Los del suelo” (Argentina), by Juan Baldana, and “The Wanted 18” (Canada, Palestine, France), by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan, were awarded with a Special Mention by the jury of feature length films.

The short film “Listen” (Finland/Denmark), by Hamy Ramezan and Rungano Nyoni, was positioned as the winner of the Short and Medium Length Films Official Competition. The First Mention of the Short and Medium length Film Official Competition is awarded to “Giovanni and the water ballet” (The Netherlands), by Astrid Bussink, followed by the animated short film “Padre” (Argentina), by Santiago ´Bou´ Grasso, which was awarded with the Second Mention.

For the Argentinian Documentary Films Official Competition, the juries Liliana Hendel, Camilo Juárez y Gabriel Rojze awarded the 1st prize to “Mujeres de la mina” (Argentina), by Loreley Unamuno and Malena Bystrowicz. In this category, the jury decided to grant a Second Mention to “Gran Chaco” (Argentina), by Lucas van Esso, which also received the Audience Award, since it was the most voted film by the audience of the FICDH festival.

Once again, the FICDH festival team would like to thank all the participants, directors and the great team of volunteers for being part of this network, Networking, identities in contact, looking forward to a new meeting in 2016 and paving the way for the International Environment Film Festival (FINCA), to be held next year.