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The foundation 'True Heroes, films for Human Rights Defenders' has as its mission to protect human rights
defenders worldwide through the production and distribution of film images.
The Foundation will furthermore engage in networking, fundraising, some pre- and post-production work, promotion of films at film festivals, the organisation of parallel activities and generally in networking for the benefit of the films it (co-) produces or otherwise has agreed to support. Background At the international diplomatic level human rights may nowadays receive attention, but when it comes to the actual implementation at the grassroots level it is still the dedication of individual human beings that count most. Some of these heroes have to sacrifice more than their time and energy, too many having been arrested, tortured and even killed. Without the individual human rights defender, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights risks to remain a dead letter. While many human rights organizations are strongly present on the worldwide web and get a fair amount of attention in the print media, they have generally had great problems getting into the mass media (radio and television) in spite of the fact that they now count as the most important source of information for the majority of the people. In other words Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) are persons one who risks or suffers victimisation, harassment or disadvantage for exercising the rights expressed in the International Bill of Rights, and who, in conformity with these instruments, promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others, individually or in groups. The foundation 'True Heroes, films for Human Rights Defenders' grew out of the experience of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) which pioneered making filmed portraits of its laureates since 1994. While the images proved again and again to have great potential for the protection of human rights defenders, the weakness remained the limited distribution. Films with more potential for broadcasting require expertise and funding that are difficult to find for a normal human rights NGO or a coalition of 10 international NGOs such as the MEA. Therefore, after conducting a pilot project in 2006, it was decided to create a new specialised organisation. The Foundation was legally set up on 11 December 2006 as a Stichting under Dutch law (registered under no27294663 with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague). The Board consists of: A group of Dutch personalities acts as Advisors, namely: In a later phase personalities from other parts of the world will be added. |
