CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC: Film director from Burkina Faso screens politically charged film at International Human Rights Film Festival

A director from Burkina Faso shows his controversial film about the murder of a journalist at the International Human Rights Film Festival in Bangui, after his own country refused to screen it. In Bangui [pron: bong-ðee], the capital of Central African Republic, fans of the cinema have packed into a university auditorium - to watch one of the 24 films at the international human rights film festival. This film is about journalist Norbert Zongo who was murdered by the President's guards in his home country, Burkina Faso. Sitting in the audience is the film's director, Luc Damiba. He couldn't get his film screened in his home country Burkina Faso, even though the continent's biggest film festival FESPACO is held there. This was the first time it was officially screened in Africa. At the end of the film, students from the university in Bangui got to hear from the director. "If there's one positive outcome of Norbert Zongo's assassination in Burkina Faso in particular, it's that President Blaise Compaore, his clan and his family understand that they cannot easily touch the people involved in journalism in Burkina," said Damiba. Central African Republic has one of the world's worst press freedom records - if anything, it's worse than in Burkina Faso. So it's not often that students get to discuss issues like human rights and press freedom this openly. "It's very important to show it because this way it gets seen by the authorities. This film calls for press freedom which is so important for journalists. And it will help make journalists less scared. When you're in a position to expose the truth, you have to do it," said Ingrid Sandanga, a student. Although Bangui, with its Hollywood style sign, appears to be quiet, the rest of the country suffers regular violence. The army, who have been fighting rebel militias in the north, have been accused of executing civilians and burning villages. More than 200,000 people have fled the area. Recently the United Nation's humanitarian chief, John Holmes visited some of the affected areas. "CAR is one of the biggest humanitarian crises and one of the most neglected, one of the most forgotten, one of the least talked about," said Holmes. Holmes also spoke to villagers who told him of their perpetual fear of attacks. "We are still worried about the situation today because of what we experienced before at the hands of the army. We suffered a lot and we still fear it can happen again," said one woman. During the festival, more than 12,000 people came to see the films on show. The press freedom and human rights record of Central African Republic will not change overnight, but this film festival may have given the people here a taste of a more liberal future.

ITN Source | August 17, 2007

Tags:. .sitting. .packed. .accused. .burning. .given