HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

The First Human Rights Film Festival in Nicaragua

The Human Rights Film Festival in Nicaragua is an initiative from People in Need and Movimiento Puente.

Movimiento Puente first applied for the project in 2014, receiving the grant for organizing the first human rights film festival in Nicaragua in 2015. The main idea was to set up a festival seeking to contribute to the public discussion of human rights and democracy in countries where they are not openly discussed.

The "Festival Más" was focused on young people and high school students, to introduce values that represent a democratic society. The festival sought to inspire and strengthen civic engagement to contribute to positive change.

As executive coordinator for Movimiento Puente, my roll in "Festival Más" was to organize and set up the festival from zero:

Selected Film Programming
Negotiated Film rights with international film agencies and managers
Hired project team
Hired communications officer
Prepared a strategy to attract additional donors and possible partners
Contacted schools, universities and cultural centres

The project was sponsored by the One World Film Festival, one of the biggest human rights film festivals in the world. I was invited to the One World Film Festival to learn how to properly set up a Human Rights Film Festival. I participated in a number of workshops to understand how to make the right programming according to the selected audience, how to negotiate film rights and how to lead discussions with the audience after each show.

Festival Más translates to More Festival. The meaning behind the name is the need and want of MORE: more activists, more questions to the government and local authorities, more change, more diversity and more respect.

The festival took place from May 21st to June 4th, 2015. Nine documentaries were presented, seventeen screenings with special guests in five different cities. Over eight hundred people attended the different projections.

The festival got support from the European Union in Nicaragua and opened 4 screenings for Festival Más, as part of their own European Union Film Festival in the country.

FestivalMas_MovPuente1

FestivalMas_MovPuente2

FestivalMas_MovPuente3

FestivalMas_MovPuente4

FestivalMas_MovPuente5

FestivalMas_MovPuente6

FestivalMas_MovPuente8

FestivalMas_MovPuente9

FestivalMas_MovPuente10

FestivalMas_MovPuente11

FestivalMas_MovPuente12

FestivalMas_MovPuente13

ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP HANDBOOK

Movimiento Puente is a not-for-profit organization formed by young people with the purpose of promoting and strengthening leadership among other young people between the ages of 16 to 30. Since 2008, Movimiento Puente has been working on developing and strengthening democracy, governability and the rights of young people in the country.

In Nicaragua young people, represent more than 70% of its population. The economic crisis and the unfavourable conditions, in both the political and social areas, have discouraged Nicaraguan youth to actively participate in the democratic process for changes needed in the country.

In 2015, Movimiento Puente created and published the first Active Citizenship Manual for young people in Nicaragua. The manual was part of a project with The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) which supports small-scale but high-impact initiatives. A relevant factor for creating this manual was understanding and recognizing youth as subjects of rights and active agents of social transformations, contributing to the growth and development of Nicaraguan society. It is from this vision that this manual aimed to be a reference and a pointer to develop personal and social skills for young people from any political ideology, social extract or gender.

As executive coordinator for Movimiento Puente, I had the task to review the content written by the author, Edna Medina, a founding member of the NGO. I also coordinated the rest of the team involved to choose the right design, graphics, photos and interviews with some of our volunteers.

This manual was created to help teens and young adults, in the process of involvement with national or local matters of their interest.

The Active Citizenship Manual was published in February 2015, that year alone, over eight thousand copies were given away to different schools, volunteers and teachers throughout the country.

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente2

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente3

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente4

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente5

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente6

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente8

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente9

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente10

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente11

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente12.

ActiveCitizenshipManual_MovPuente14

100IN1DAY - MANAGUA 2013

I was a member of the organizing team for 100 in a Day Managua 2013.

100 in 1 day is a worldwide citizen-driven initiative that invites people of each city to come up with 100 urban actions or interventions in one day. The goal is to inspire citizens to better their communities starting with a small action and reclaiming public spaces.

In Managua we truly wanted citizens of all ages to take over the city, to be creative and to question how they can make their communities better starting with their own actions.

During six months a group of +50 volunteers organized:

-Marketing and advertising strategies in radio and television show inviting citizens of Managua to participate.

-A series of free workshops around the city explaining the basics: