Helen's Blog /

Visions of Slavery in Cinema This is the theme of the 9th edition of the Festival international du film contre l'exclusion et pour la tolérance.

" Visions de l'esclavageau cinéma " organised by FIFET, held December 5th through 13th at UNESCO in Paris, France.

In conjunction with the Unesco-themed program on the "Slave Route", several features dedicated to aspects of slavery from countries around the world were shown, followed by discussions and presentations with prominent historians. Intended for young students, the films gave rise to debates about the consequences and repercussions of the tragic slave trade, touching on racism, discrimination etc. The timing coincided with the commemoration of the 160th Anniversary of the abolishing of slavery by France as well as the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The object was to show how the issue was handled in films from various countries.

UNESCO reports there are still 27 million slaves in the world, among which almost 20 million are concentrated only in the indian sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal) where the problem is worsened by discrimination among different castes.

This alarming statistic was produced in a report by the UNESCO, published for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the same study, 12,3 million persons comprise forced labour, 2,4 million are victims of human traffic and 2,5 million are exploited by a state or armed rebel groups.