Indonesian citizen wins the 2018 Mobile Film Festival

A one minute long Indonesian film has won the Grand Prix of the 2018 Mobile Film Festival.

This year´s Mobile Film Festival is devoted to human rights in the run-up to the celebrations of the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The requirements for entry are that the movies are one minute long and shot on a mobile phone.

The award-winning movie tells the story of Anissa, who falls in love with a class mate. The girls are caught by surprise and beaten, and Anissa forced to marry a man she doesn´t love.

The movie´s author Barry Putta received the award at the closing ceremony of the festival in Paris, 4 December, attended by 600 people.

“My movie has already been seen by 200,000 people. I hope this prize will contribute to changing mentalities. In Indonesia, many, not least religious people, consider homosexuality as a curable disease and forced marriages are frequent,” says Barry Putra.

 LGBT as well as violence against women were among the topics most frequently covered in the 51 films from 19 countries which were selected for this edition of the Mobile Film Festival.

Matteo Dugast was awarded the special prize of the jury (Coup de cœur du Jury). The Hungarian film Cycle which won the Grand prix Europe tells the story of a girl who is too poor to buy personal hygienic products. The best scenario prize went to the Iranian film Maiden, which criticizes forced marriages. The Grand prix France was given to Gohu and Merick, who focused on the migrant drama in the Mediterranean.

“These films are all moving and often very courageous,” said the President of the Jury, Mary Robinson, President of the Elders and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“No one is unmoved after watching these films. They convey emotions from laughter to sorrow, wonder and sometimes horror. They remind us in a forceful way that there is still much to do to defend Human Rights and are a call to action,” says Laurent Sauveur, head of external communications of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

More than 22 million have watched the films selected for this year´s Mobile Film Festival, which is supported by the European Union, the United Nations and Youtube Creators for change.