London Human Rights Watch Film Festival Opens with Mediha

The opening night film, Mediha, made by a documentary filmmaker, Hasan Oswald, is a heartfelt and intimate account of Mediha Alhamad.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival, now in its 28th year in London, presents a lineup of 10 award-winning, international feature-length films, in partnership with Barbican Cinema and Rich Mix and supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The festival program, presented at the Barbican and Rich Mix from March 14 – 22, 2024, includes in-depth Q&As, and panel discussions with filmmakers, film participants, activists, and Human Rights Watch researchers following all screenings.

The majority of the program will also stream across the UK and Ireland on the festival website from March 18 – 24. Tickets go on sale to the public on February 8.

According to Human Rights Watch, this year’s edition celebrates the convergence of art and human rights and highlights the role of youth in rising up to confront systems of power.

The opening night film, Mediha, made by a documentary filmmaker, Hasan Oswald, is a heartfelt and intimate account of Mediha Alhamad, a teenage Yazidi girl recently returned from the captivity of the extremist armed group Islamic State (also known as ISIS), who turns the camera on herself as she initiates investigations into the crimes committed against her, standing up for her family and the Yazidi people in the process.