Free Burma Political Prisoners Now!

Dear friends,

I would like to ask you for supporting petition for releasing political prisoners in Burma . I am very pleased to share with you the Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now! Campaign.

Our aim is to keep Burma the priority for UN and to raise awareness on Burma . We would like to create a great global momentum that can inspire many people to take action on Burma.

Please send out the petition around your country in order to spread the word about the situation in Burma and gain more support for the cause. The petition target is 888,888 signatures by May 24th, symbolizing 8.8.88, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously protested in Burma’s largest democracy uprising. The petition is calling on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and will be handed over to UN SG on May 24.

This is a hugely ambitious target, but with your help it is achievable. Since the launch of the Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now! Campaign on March 13, almost 200,000 signatures from different parts of the world have been collected. Having 175 organizations in 25 countries on board (including Avaaz and others), there are so far only Polish and Czech NGOs supporting it in new member states. We are seeking to change it!


Many thanks,

Marie

------------------------------------------
Marie Zahradníková

Programme Officer

Burma Projects, Human Rights and Democracy

People in Need, Czech Republic

UN says Burma detention 'illegal'

The UN has said the detention of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi violates both international legislation and the laws of Burma.

The UN working group on arbitrary detentions called for Ms Suu Kyi’s immediate release.Ms Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest, and many of her democratic allies have been jailed.Analysts said it is unusual for a UN body to accuse a member state of violating its own laws. MORE>>

Think For Yourself!

Matei Branea

DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING DOCUMENTARIES IN EUROPE

Bucharest, 21 & 22nd of March 2009, Czech Centre

Call for Applications!

If you need information, training and financial support for coproducing a documentary film, now is the moment to apply to DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING DOCUMENTARIES IN EUROPE. The event will take place in 21-22 March 2009, at the Czech Centre in Bucharest, Romania. This training session is organized by DocuMentor (Romania) and „Documentary in Europe“ (Italy), with the support of MEDIA Programme in association with the One World Romania Festival.

How to get development funds and support for your projects? How important are training initiatives? Which are the most important business markets and events that you must know? Networking and raising production funds. What is a pitching forum? Why do you need trailers? All these will be analyzed and discussed with case studies and first hand witnesses. Tutors: Leena Pasanen - YLE Fact and Culture (Finland), Alexandru Solomon - DocuMentor (Romania), Stefano Tealdi - Documentary in Europe & Stefilm (Italy).

The training session is appealing to all documentary filmmakers and young talents from Central and East Europe and will be held in English. Everybody who is interested in must register in English, till March 14th, 2009, included. All you must send is a one page synopsis and your cv at this address: ancutza_muresan@yahoo.com. The access is free.

For more informations:
Anca Muresan, DocuMentor
Mail: ancutza_muresan@yahoo.com
Tel: 0747 50 10 13

ONE WORLD ROMANIA - THINK FOR YOURSELF!

One World is the biggest documentary film festival on human rights in Europe. The festival started in Prague in 1999, as an initiative of Haclav Havel, and during the past 10 years expended in other cities like Bruxelles, Madrid, New York or Kiev.

ONE WORLD ROMANIA was born in 2008, after one and a half years of Documentary Mondays at the Czech Center. In 2009, we decided it's time for more. Bucharest has a documentary film public and the second edition is welcomed.

One World Romania
One World Czech Republic

The Unwinking Gaze

UK, 2008
Director: Joshua Dugdale
Website

Ashin Sopaka

“Peace inside is peace outside.”

Ashin Sopaka is a well known Burmese monk and the creator of the Movements for Peace and Freedom in Burma.
He played an important role in the Myanmar democracy movements, especially in the September 2007 "Saffron revolution".
In 2008, Ashin Sopaka has been awarded the International Freedom Prize by the Society for Liberty in Rome.
He is the founder of Cologne Buddhism Center in Germany.

Website: ashin.de
Youtube: Peacewalk

Yodok Stories

Norway,Poland; 2008; 83 min
Director: Andrzej Fidyk

Today, more than 200.000 men, women and children are locked up in North Korea's concentration camps. Systematic torture, starvation and murder is what faces the inmates. Few survive many years in the camps, but the population is kept stable by a steady influx of new persons considered to be 'class enemies'.

A small group of people have managed to flee from the camps to a new life in the prosperous South Korea. Some of them gather and decide to make an extraordinary and controversial musical about their experiences in the Yodok concentration camp.

Despite death treats and many obstacles the musical becomes a tour de force for this ensemble of refugees and for them a possibility opens to talk about their experiences and inspire others to protest the existence of the camps.

Website: Yodok Stories

Children Underground

US 2001, 104 min
Director: Edet Belzberg

The film follows a group of abandoned adolescent street children who live in the Romanian subway system. The street kids are encountered daily by commuting adults, who pass them by in the station as they starve, swindle, and steal, all while searching desperately for a fresh can of paint to get high with.

One World 2009_Czech Republic

The eleventh One World festivalwillbe held in Prague from 11 to 19 March 2009 and then travel to a further 29 towns and cities throughout the Czech Republic.In addition, a selection of One World films will be presented in Brussels and in Washington DC as part of the Czech Presidency cultural program.

The festival is organized by People in Need and held under the auspices of Václav Havel, the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra, the Minister of Culture Václav Jehlička, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg, and the Mayor of Prague Pavel Bém.

One World is today the largest and most important human rights film festival in Europe and is firmly established as one of premier cultural and media events in the Czech Republic. One World presents approximately 120 films from all around the globe and seeks to promote the best quality documentary filmmaking on social and political issues. In 2007 One World was awarded UNESCO special mention for its contribution to human rights and peace education.

Website: One World

Playing For Change - Stand By Me

Playing For Change

Life must go on in Gaza and Sderot

This blog is written by 2 friends. One lives in Sajaia refugee camp in Gaza and the other lives in Sderot, a small town near Gaza on the Israeli side. There is ongoing violence between Israel and Gaza which has intensified greatly since October 2000. Many have been killed and many have been injured. The media coverage on both sides has been extremely biased. Our Blog is written by 2 real people living and communicating on both sides of the border.

Blog

Every Human Has Rights - Campaign Highlights

Every Human Has Rights - Campaign Highlights from Every Human Has Rights on Vimeo.

A Lesson of Belorussian

Poland 2006, 51 min
Lekcia Bialoruskiego / Miroslaw Dembinski

In 1990, Belarus declared its sovereignty and a year later it announced its full independence after the collapse of the USSR. At the beginning of this period, an elite national lyceum was established in Minsk. In 1995, Alexander Lukashenko's rise to power meant the end of freedom and democracy in Belarus as well as the beginning of tough times for the lyceum. In 2003, this oasis of freedom, which fostered the cultivation of the Belorussian language, was outlawed. Neither the students nor the teachers refused to throw in the towel, however, and they illegally continued to have lessons. Moreover, they began to rebel more and more intensely. The film does not just provide engrossing testimony of the situation in a totalitarian state, but also offers proof of how young people have the power to influence their living conditions and the courage to protest against demoralizing totalitarianism.