Spanish director Mabel Lozana was awarded top prize at the 2011 Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) Human Rights Film Awards which were help in the Irish Film Institute on Wednesday 15th June. The winning film by actress-turned film director Lozano ‘Listen to Me’ looks at the sex trafficking industry and particularly at how the complicity of clients allows the trade to continue. It is based on the true story of trafficking victim Svetlana Demidovitch.
Speaking about her film at the awards, Lozano said “This is a film festival about human rights. One of the worst violations of human rights that I can think of is the trafficking of women and girls; the buying and selling of human beings as if they were bags or shoes. I hope that my film and films like it will help to highlight this serious human rights violation.”
Jury members at the awards included actor Stephen Rea (V for Vendetta, The Crying Game); documentary filmmaker Ken Wardrop (His and Hers); Senator David Norris and actress Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot). Ken Wardrop spoke about the awards saying that “As filmmakers, we are in a unique position to highlight injustice and call for a more just society through our work, and the ICCL Human Rights Film Awards provide just such an opportunity.”
Other nominees who were shortlisted include Fran Cassidy for ‘Freedom Driver’, Hilary Fennell’s ‘Hearing Silence’, Kyle Kroszner’s ‘Emerald Warrior’, Patrick Semple’s ‘Head Space’ and Patrick Tierney’s ‘Election of Discontent’. It was the 3rd annual Irish Council for Civil Liberties Human Rights Awards.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties was founded in 1976 by Mary Robinson and others and has played a leading role in successful human rights campaigns in Ireland that have produced results including the legalisation of the right of divorce, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the introduction of equality legislation. The aim of the awards is to provide film makers and those working in human rights with an opportunity to contribute to human rights discourse in Ireland. For more information or to view the films go to www.humanrightsfilmawards.org
