JDCHS film festival raises awareness of human rights

Friday, Dec. 12, 2014

DRAPER – The Juan Diego Catholic High School Human Rights International Club Film Festival is at full speed preparing for this year’s event, which will be open to the public.

The festival will present “The Human Experience” in the Juan Diego CHS auditorium on Jan. 15 in connection with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./Human Rights International Day.

According to the synopsis of the award-winning documentary, “The Human Experience” is the story of  two brothers who traveled the world searching for answers to the questions: Who am I?, Who is man?, Why do we search for meaning?

During their journey, the brothers were joined at times by two friends, and they were brought into the middle of the lives of the homeless on the streets of New York City; they also visit Ghana and Peru.

“Through one-on-one interviews and real-life encounters, the brothers are awakened to the beauty of the human person and the resilience of the human spirit,” reads the film company’s Webpage. 

The documentary was produced by Grassroots Films and directed by Charles Kinnane.

“This film is not about homelessness directly, [it’s] more about connecting to humans and finding humanity in one another,” said Nicole Stanchfield, Juan Diego Catholic High School theology teacher and Human Rights International Club moderator.

The film is rated PG 13, but it “is really suitable for all ages,” Stanchfield said.

The Human Rights International Club is a student-run club that tries to  raise awareness about human rights and takes different actions to seek  to end grave abuses of human rights, Stanchfield said. 

Those actions include letter writing, public awareness campaigns, fundraisers for world charities, and the annual film festival.

“The Human Rights International Club has been holding the Film Festival at the school for over nine years, and we try to highlight different human rights issues in society,” said  Stanchfield.