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UVa Film Festival Focuses on Human Rights Issues

Posted: 5:33 PM Mar 3, 2013
Reporter: Frankie Jupiter

March 3, 2013

A special film festival at the University of Virginia puts human rights on the forefront.

The Human Rights Film Festival is a completely student-run initiative at UVa. Screenings and discussions are scheduled throughout the coming week.

The festival's goal is to raise awareness of human rights issues on grounds, and to have students think critically about and take action on those issues.

"I really think that film is a unique way to address these issues," said Kathryn Clinard of the festival, "because [these are] issues that people might otherwise not hear about, and kind of that visual medium is a way for people to really emotionally connect with what is going on in different parts of the world."

The first screening was of The Invisible War at Newcomb Theater.

Organizers say they hope to debunk the myth that human rights is only an international issue.