Special Screening on 5 October

The highlight of the special screening is the discussion with the two directors Can Dündar and Sarah Mabrouk as well as US Army veteran Ethan McCord and Sajjad Mutashar, survivor of the ‘Collateral Murder’ airstrikes in Iraq. McCord rescued the seriously injured Mutashar from the minibus, which was being shot at by US combat helicopters. Mutashar is coming to Germany for the first time on the initiative of the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin to talk about his moving story. Afterwards, Dündar and Mabrouk will discuss the current tensions surrounding freedom of the press and freedom of expression with WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, who met Mutashar as a child in Baghdad in 2010. The event will be moderated by Dr Melinda Crane, Chief Political Correspondent at Deutsche Welle (DW).

Time and place: 5 October 2024 | 7.45 p.m. | Kino in der KulturBrauerei Berlin

‘The defence of freedom of the press and freedom of expression is one of the central tasks of our time. We are therefore all the more pleased that we are able to tie in thematically with our film programme in order to explore current issues in greater depth,’ says Lydia Spiesberger, who co-directs the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin with Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust. Friedrich-Rust continues: ‘We are grateful that Sajad Mutashar and Ethan McCord are allowing us to share their story. With WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, we discuss the possibilities and limits of investigative journalism, the tension between press freedom and politics and the compatibility of journalism and activism.’

For the DW documentary Guardians of Truth: Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War, Turkish journalist Can Dündar followed the fight for press freedom in the Julian Assange case six months before his surprise release on 25 June 2024. Dündar and co-director Sarah Mabrouk focus on the disturbing ‘Collateral Murder’ video, the most explosive publication by WikiLeaks, which caused a worldwide sensation and had a massive impact on Julian Assange's life. The video shows US soldiers killing civilians in Baghdad from combat helicopters and cynically commenting on this. Dündar and Mabrouk find Sajad Mutashar and Ethan McCord, a survivor of the attack in Iraq and a US soldier who was involved in the incident, and show that even 17 years after the events, the trauma and pain continue to linger. The special screening and panel discussion is presented by the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin with its main partner Reporters Without Borders and the support of Deutsche Welle.

Co-director Can Dündar is also patron of the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin 2024 and is one of the most prominent Turkish-speaking journalists and filmmakers. Dündar lives and works in exile in Berlin and has written several books, made highly acclaimed documentaries and been honoured with numerous awards, including European Journalist of the Year and winner of the Reporters Without Borders Human Rights Award - main partner of the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin 2024.

In its seventh edition from 4 to 12 October, the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin will show documentary films on the most pressing human rights issues of our time. In this super election year, the focus will be on films that deal with the challenges to democracy, freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The full programme of the festival has been published here: www.humanrightsfilmfestivalberlin.de/en/programme-2024 

Note to editors: For interview requests with the festival management, the patron Can Dündar or the directors and protagonists of the films as well as for electronic press kits and screeners, please contact presse@aktiongegendenhunger.de 

About the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin

The Human Rights Film Festival Berlin was founded in 2018 by Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust, Managing Director of the humanitarian and development organisation Action Against Hunger. Today, it is the most important German human rights film festival with an international reach. The film festival shows films from all over the world that tell of human rights violations and the resistance against them in an impressive way. With a comprehensive accompanying programme, the festival also offers a unique platform for exchange and networking between NGOs, filmmakers, activists, politicians and the public. Prominent human rights activists, politicians and artists such as Ai Weiwei, Nadia Murad, Filippo Grandi, Loujain al-Hathloul, Gesine Schwan and Enissa Amani have taken on the patronage of the festival in recent years.

The Human Rights Film Festival Berlin 2024 will take place from 4 to 12 October and is organised by Action Against Hunger in partnership with Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for freedom of the press and information worldwide.