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Dear Mandela: Putting a Documentary to Work
Impact does not happen in a straight line: you make the film, show it, and things change. We spent four years shooting Dear Mandela, but it wasn't until we finished that we fully understood where our audience would be.
WITNESS
February 6, 2013
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Watching, Documenting, or Participating: A Documentarian’s Ethical Dilemmas
When is it okay to watch? When is it okay to shout with the crowd? Filmmaker Chris Kelly explains his bright line between observing and participating. Do you agree? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
WITNESS
January 25, 2013
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A Big Year For WITNESS
A changing world needs a changed vision: committing to support the millions who can transform the human rights landscape with video.
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm
January 11, 2013
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Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Early Days of Music Video Activism
This video of ‘My Country Tis of Thee You’re Dying’ is from an episode of Pete Seeger’s Rainbow Quest, is demonstrates an early blending of video, song, and human rights advocacy.
WITNESS
November 24, 2012
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Mexico: Peoples’ Tribunal Confirms “Gross Violations” in Dam Projects
Communities harmed by dam projects in Mexico won an important victory. A panel of international experts serving as judges for the Mexico chapter of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) recognized a pattern of "gross and systematic human rights violations" in the construction of dams throughout Mexico over the past 40 years. More than 185,000 people have been forcibly evicted.
Priscila Néri
November 9, 2012
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Forced Evictions Activist To Be Honored by U.S. Secretary of State Clinton
The Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women leaders around the world who are the unsung heroines working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity, and protect human rights. The awards were established by the organization Vital Voices Global Partnership, which Secretary Clinton co-founded in 1997. Tep Vanny joins a very distinguished group of internationally recognized women. The award ceremony will take place in April 2013 in Washington, D.C.
WITNESS
November 5, 2012
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Dam-Affected Communities in Mexico Take Government to Peoples’ Tribunal
On November 5-6, many of our local partners fighting forced evictions in Mexico will travel to the small town of Temacapulín, in Jalisco state, to tell their stories to an international panel of judges representing the Mexico chapter of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT).
Priscila Néri
November 2, 2012
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Major Victory for Activists Fighting the La Parota Dam in Mexico
After nearly 10 years of campaigning to save their homes and lands, our partners from the CECOP network in Mexico are celebrating a significant victory on the path to the definitive cancellation of the La Parota dam project. If built, the dam would forcibly evict at least 25,000 campesinos and small farmers from their lands and negatively impact an additional 75,000 people due to environmental changes downstream and throughout the region.
Priscila Néri
October 4, 2012
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The Venerable Luon Sovath Wins Prestigious Martin Ennals Award
I am incredibly honored to announce that the Venerable Luon Sovath from Cambodia has just been presented the Martin Ennals Award - an award given by 10 major human rights organizations to recognize those working at great risk for human rights.
WITNESS
October 2, 2012
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People Before Profit: New Video on Global Forced Evictions
New video People Before Profit – bringing communities across the world together to tell the global story of forced evictions. WITNESS has supported forced evictions campaigns for more than 10 years. During this time, these projects have amplified the voices of communities across the world. For World Habitat Day we are bringing many of these voices together for the first time to tell another story.
WITNESS
September 27, 2012
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Ideas, Buzz Words and Connections at the Social Innovation Summit 2012
What do the President of JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Lady Gaga’s mother, a young woman computer programming whiz, the former Hollywood director of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the Chairman of World Economic Forum and a former NFL player have in common? They all spoke, along with many more, at the Social Innovation Summit of 2012, held at the United Nations last week.
WITNESS
June 6, 2012
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Cambodian Monk and Advocate for Human Rights is Detained, May Be Defrocked
We have received word that the Venerable has been released and was not defrocked. More information soon. The fastest way to get updates on this developing situation is to follow me on Twitter: @WitnessRyan
WITNESS
May 24, 2012
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The Belo Monte Dam in Brazil: “Development” vs. Indigenous Communities
In every corner of the world, we see unfathomably huge hydroelectric dams that destroy entire ecosystems and indigenous livelihoods. The notorious Three Gorges Dam in China has its rivals on all other continents, from the proposed Grand Inga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the James Bay Project in Canada.
WITNESS
May 23, 2012
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Mother’s Day Reflections on Human Rights from WITNESS Moms
The second Sunday in May is celebrated as Mother's Day here in the United States (and in other countries). With that in mind, I asked my colleagues who are also mothers at WITNESS if they'd be willing to share some thoughts on what human rights issues hit closest to home for them.
Matisse Bustos Hawkes
May 13, 2012
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Airport Expansion in North-East India Forcibly Evicts 17 Families
Since independence in 1947, tens of milions of Indians have been displaced in the name of development. They have been forcibly uprooted from their homes, farmlands, fishing areas and forests to make way for dam reservoirs, irrigation projects, mines, plantations, highways, and tourist resorts. Reportedly less than 20% have ever been rehabilitated.
WITNESS
April 11, 2012