Leicester event to explore human rights issues through film and the Arts

As part of the 2017 Leicester Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, an event will be taking place to address the ‘migration crisis’ through the medium of film and the Arts on 5 December.

Organised by Dr Maria Rovisco from the Department of Media and Communication, the event will be focused around Newcastle- based visual artist and filmmaker Isabel Lima’s film Broken Chords Can Sing a Little – Episode 1: The Birds.

The film addresses the ‘migration crisis’ in general and the experience of displacement by Middlesbrough-based asylum seekers and refugees in particular. The film includes scenes inspired by Aristophanes’ classical theatrical comedy "The Birds", acted by asylum seekers and refugees who wear bird masks to conceal their identities.

The event will take place at Leicester’s Upstairs at the Western pub and theatre- starting at 6.30pm with a film screening followed by an open discussion, where the panellists and the audience will be invited to respond to the concerns raised by the film. The event is organised in association with the Leicester Migration Network.

Event organiser and panellist Dr Maria Rovisco said: “We have put together this panel to generate much needed debate about artistic responses to the so-called European migration crisis. EU leaders have been more concerned with managing and reducing the numbers of people arriving in Europe, rather than with saving lives and protecting the human rights of people seeking refuge in Europe.

“Against this grim backdrop, artists and activists are responding to the plight of these people with a range of artistic interventions and initiatives of solidarity. It is vital to shed light on what some of these initiatives and artistic productions have achieved and show how they might shift the public debate on asylum and migration”.

The event is free and open to all but places are limited. Booking is therefore required and can be done through Upstairs at The Western.