International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival INCONVENIENT FILMS

“Inconvenient Films” is an international human rights documentary film festival, taking place in various cities and towns across Lithuania. Established in 2007 as annual film event, it is currently the biggest documentary film festival in the country and the only film festival of this kind in the Baltic States. The Festival invites filmmakers, experts, activists and festival audience to appreciate and discuss the role of documentaries in reflecting and shaping our understanding of reality. The mission of the Festival is to use award winning author driven films in raising awareness about human rights issues around the world and encouraging public debate on the ways to address them. The Festival has also supported artists at risk or persecuted filmmakers, by raising awareness on their activities. The Festival is run on a non-profit basis and is aiming at accessibility for all. In addition to thematic debates and talks, the Festival also runs an educational platform for schools. The Festival is also a commitment to accessibility for viewers with special needs. This is a rather unique feature of the festival in the national context; none of the other film festivals come close to the scope of efforts, made by “Inconvenient Films”. In 2018, the Festival became the first film festival in Lithuania to introduce a screening accessible to visually impaired audience. For this initiative, the Festival was also nominated at the National Equality Awards, which is yearly high-profile televised event, organised by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson institution (National Equality Body). Since 2016, the Festival has also been working towards increasing the number of screenings, which are made accessible to deaf persons or persons with reduced hearing abilities. The Festival is organised jointly by “Inconvenient Films” (IF) and the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights (LCHR). LCHR is a Vilnius based NGO, which has been working in the field of human rights for nearly three decades. Since its foundation by private persons in 1994, the LCHR focused on human rights education, advocacy and research, implementing numerous projects and activities in the field. While IF is the organisation which organises International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival “Inconvenient Films” and encourages, promotes and distributes socially engaged documentary films in Lithuania.