With more than 500 guests, the fifth Human Rights Film Festival Berlin began on the evening of 13 October at the Colosseum cinema in Berlin. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and festival patron, and Luise Amtsberg, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights, gave the opening speeches. The ten-day festival opened with the film ‘Ithaka’ about the Assange family’s struggle to achieve justice and freedom for their son, brother and husband Julian. 

‘Most displaced people want nothing more than to return home in peace and security and to have their rights respected. And while states have a duty to protect rights, it is up to us global citizens not to remain blind and silent. Instead, we need to hear their voices and their stories, and uncover the grievances. That’s why I’m so grateful and honoured to be able to make a contribution to the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin,’ said Filippo Grandi, patron of the 2022 Human Rights Film Festival Berlin, in his video message, which was shown at the opening of the fifth Human Rights Film Festival Berlin. 

‘We have long been beyond red lines and the multiplicity of the crossings threatens to take our breath away. How do we respond to these challenges as an international community, as individuals? The answers are given by the people to whom this film festival gives the floor,’ said Luise Amtsberg in her keynote. 

The festival was opened by the impressive film ‘Ithaka’, a surprising documentary produced by Julian Assange’s brother that defies the mainstream narratives surrounding Assange. It shows a family’s struggle to free their son in an almost intimate way and makes clear the brutal reality behind the campaign to free Julian Assange. Stella Moris, lawyer and wife of Julian Assange, his father John Shipton and half-brother Gabriel Shipton were present at the German premiere of the film.