“10 Years of Cinema For Peace" was the theme of the Cinema for Peace Gala on February 13 at Berlin’s famous Gendarmenmarkt Concert Hall under the patronage of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, featuring guests of honor Angelina Jolie and Bob Geldof.
For the last ten years, Cinema for Peace has been supporting the fight for human rights, social justice, humanitarian missions, and environmental protection through captivating social film expression. Recognized as one of the world’s most important film events, the Cinema for Peace gala now has partner events in both New York City and Los Angeles, with many projects funded by generous sponsors and private donations.
This year’s Cinema for Peace gala focused on Bosnia and Burma through Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey”, which was presented with a special Award for Opposing War and Genocide. In November 2011, the Cinema for Peace Foundation opened an office in Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina, as recognition of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, which is the primary focus of the foundation. The foundation hopes to conduct over 10,000 interviews with witnesses and survivors of the massacre in order to bring clarity to the horrific event. The interviews will be made available in an online library and eventually the subject of documentary. Students, scientists and non-government organizations will provide detailed insight regarding the event of the massacre in Srebrenica during the war in former Yugoslavia. The international criminal court for former Yugoslavia has placed 161 accused war criminals before the court.
“I wanted to make a film that would express, in an artistic way, my frustrations with the international community’s failure to intervene in conflicts in a timely and effective manner,” said Angelina. “I also wanted to explore and understand the Bosnian War, as well as broader issues such as women in conflict, sexual violence, accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the challenge of reconciliation. It was the deadliest war in Europe since World War II, but sometimes people forget the terrible violence that happened in our time, in our generation, to our generation.”
This year the “International Human Rights Film Award” was awarded to both human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and to the movie “The Lady” by Luc Besson, starring Michelle Yeoh. The prize is awarded by Amnesty International, Cinema for Peace, and Human Rights Film Network.
Other awards included the “International Green Film Award,” originally introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev and Leonardo DiCaprio, which was presented by Opel and brand ambassador Katie Melua.
Along with guest of honour Angelina Jolie, Cinema for Peace 2012 welcomed Christopher Lee, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger, and German actors Katja Riemann, Jan Josef Liefers and Anna Loos.
