‘Opin Yu Yi’ with Sierra Leone’s first Human Rights Film Festival

“Opin Yu Yi” – Open Your Eyes: Sierra Leone Human Rights Festival (c) Tom Bradley

Idriss Kpange, videographer, Opin Yu Yi organizer

On February 18th, the British council will kick off  ‘Opin Yu Yi’ (Open Your Eyes), a 5-day Human Rights Film Festival in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The festival which will coincide with World Social Justice Day and is joint effort between Reuters Videographer Idris Kpange, and Advocaid‘s Executive Director, Sabrina Mahtini.

The documentaries shown will highlight prisoner rights, the death penalty, women’s issues, corruption, and the environment. After “Opin Yu Yi” is launched the festival will move to two additional locations in the City, including the slum community of Kroo Bay and Globe Cinema. These two locations were selected to make the films more accessible to the masses. The first screening at the British Council will target secondary school and college students.

“We hope this first festival will raise awareness of human rights issues, especially with young people ,10 years after the end of the war. Films carry very powerful messages”, Kpange said.

War Don Don (Sierra Leone/ USA) and Lost Freetown (Sierra Leone) are among the festivals main features.

At the end of the festival, organizers will launch a film competition in an effort to encourage Sierra Leonean film makers to submit their entries for next year’s event.

“We hope to get good prizes for them (film makers) like money or much needed equipment. This we hope will encourage the local film industry to focus on human rights stories”.

For more information on Opin Yu Yi