Human Rights Film & Digital Media

The Human Rights Film+ Series was initiated in 2005 and has foregrounded critical human rights issues spanning local to global levels through the medium of film. The Series has featured experienced and emerging filmmakers in conversations about their films, engaging students, faculty, staff and community members through post-show discussions. The Series organizers have partnered with varied units on campus to address themes such as civil rights as human rights, economic and social rights, and art and activism. In 2020, we expanded the Series to “Film+” to include other forms of digital media, including games and animation.

Friday, May 19, 2023 - Sunday, May 21, 2023
Northeast Human Rights Film Festival
Location: The Dodd Center for Human Rights

The Northeast Human Rights Film Festival (NEHRFF) is a three-day forum for screening and discussion of compelling films and digital media projects that address contemporary human rights issues. In addition to film screenings, filmmakers will have the opportunity to engage with other filmmakers, scholars, and practitioners for skills training, advocacy, and impact strategy development. Festival attendees will have the opportunity to engage in dialogue around critical issues related to human rights film.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022 // 5:00-7:00pm
“Women, Life, Freedom: Iran’s Uprising & the Power of Digital Media”
Location: Konover Auditorium, The Dodd Center for Human Rights

How is today’s movement in Iran different from earlier movements? Speaking from her background as an Iranian women’s rights activist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh will explore how phone cameras, digital media, and social media are changing the nature of progressive movements in Iran, helping to build broader-based alliances where the young generation, particularly women, are in the lead.

Monday, March 28, 2022 // 3:30-4:45pm
“Tacheles - The Heart of the Matter”
Location: Virtual

Yaar is a young Israeli living in Berlin, refusing being a Jew. He accuses his father of suffering from the Holocaust, although he never experienced it firsthand. In order to face his own family history, he decides to communicate the Holocaust in a new way: in a computer game. Together with his two German friends, he creates a 1940s Germany in which Jews can defend themselves and Nazis can act humanely. His father is shocked. “Tacheles - The Heart of the Matter” shows how the trauma of the survivors affects the third generation. By blurring the truth and switching the roles of victims and perpetrators, can anyone cope with his own history?

Thursday, February 10, 2022 // 4-5:30pm
“American Insurrection”
Location: Virtual

In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE, ProPublica, and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program team up in “American Insurrection” to examine how far-right extremist groups have evolved in the wake of the deadly 2017 Charlottesville rally — and the threat they pose today.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 // 5-7pm
“Letters from Nuremberg”
Location: Virtual

The student-created film “Letters from Nuremberg” will be screened, followed by a discussion with students, Senator Christopher Dodd, and representatives from University Archives and Special Collections around the theme “Nuremberg: Yesterday and Today.”

Wednesday, September 15, 2021 // 5-7:30pm
Latino Heritage Month Film "Singing our Way to Freedom"
Location: Virtual

Singing Our Way to Freedom is a multilayered look at the life of Chicano musician, composer, and community activist Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez. Borrowing from musical traditions on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, Chunky uses music and humor as powerful weapons in fighting for social justice. Following a screening of the film, Sam Martinez will host a virtual Q&A with director Paul Espinosa.

Armenian Memory Project

Under the guidance of filmmaker Catherine Masud, students enrolled in DMD 2200 Motion Graphics 1 (spring 2019) created an animated motion graphics video based on archival photographs from Dr. Armen T. Marsoobian's Dildilian Photography Collection depicting early 20th Century Armenian life in Turkey, prior to the genocide that erased the Armenian community. Students from DMD 3998/5998 Visual Representation of Armenian Memory (fall 2019) created a second video called The Dildilians: A Story of Photography and Survival. Watch a panel discussion with Catherine Masud, Dr. Armen T. Marsoobian, and some of the student producers on YouTube. Learn more about the project via the Norian Armenian Project.

2020 Election Social Media Research

John Murphy and the Social Media Analytics Command Center

As part of the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of the Provost’s funded project “The 21st-Century Poll - Making UConn the Leader in Gathering, Analyzing, and Disseminating Social Media Data and Sentiment Around the 2020 Election Cycle and Other Topics,” we conducted research on the culture wars, fake news, and Black Lives Matter. We also streamed an election night broadcast on YouTube with analysis of social media activity and predictions.

Social Media, Hate Speech, and Human Rights Defenders

Molly Land and Richard A. Wilson with support from the Social Media Analytics Command Center

Social media provides a platform for human rights defenders to share information and express opinions. At the same time, it is increasingly being used to target and harass human rights defenders, including journalists, environmental activists and lawyers. Read more about the project of Molly Land and Richard A. Wilson through the American Bar Association, SSRN, and Just Security.