Sex Trafficking Film Scoops Top Prize for Actress-turned Director
ADVANCE PRESS RELEASE – STRICT EMBARGO. STRICTLY NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST IN ANY FORM BEFORE 9.30PM ON WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2011. FOR PRESS ATTENDENCE AT TONIGHT’S EVENT, PLEASE CONTACT WALTER AT THE DETAILS BELOW.
Spanish actress-turned film director Mabel Lozano scooped top prize in the prestigious ICCL Human Rights Film Awards at the Irish Film Institute this evening (Wednesday, 15 June 2011).
Lozano first caught the public eye in Spain as a model and actress in top-rated television shows such as Los Ladrones van a la oficina (The Thieves Go to the Office) and well-regarded films such as Berlanga’s París-Tombuctú (Paris-Timbuktu) and Juárez’s Dile a Laura que la quiero (Tell Laura I Love Her).
More recently, she has developed her career as a film director with an uncompromising focus on women’s rights, children’s rights and human trafficking.
This evening’s winning film Listen to Me is an unflinching look at the human impact of sex trafficking. The film is based on the true story of sex trafficking victim Svetlana Demidovitch and shows how the complicity of her “clients” helps to ensure that human traffickers can continue their trade. The film’s minimalist style and sparse dialogue underscore the power of its message.
Speaking about her film, Lozano said today:
“This is a film festival about human rights. One of the worst violations of human rights that I can think of is the trafficking of women and girls; the buying and selling of human beings as if they were bags or shoes. I hope that my film and films like it will help to highlight this serious human rights violation”.
ICCL Director Mark Kelly said:
“Over its three years the ICCL Human Rights Film Awards shortlist has always had an international dimension, and we are delighted that this year a foreign film tackling an issue of real relevance here in Ireland has won the Grand Prize”.
The Awards Gala, which took place on the evening of Wednesday 15 June 2011 in the Irish Film Institute, Dublin, also saw honours go to two further films. Jury member and award-winning documentary maker Ken Wardrop presented the third place prize to Hilary Fennell for Hearing Silence, a touching documentary about a talented musician facing hearing loss. Senator David Norris presented second prize to first-time director Fran Cassidy for Freedom Driver, a lively and entertaining portrait of disability activist Dara Gallagher. A further public vote prize, for the competition’s school-focussed ‘Under a Minute Challenge’ went to St Mac Dara’s Community College in Dublin.
For further information, and to advise of press/ broadcast attendance to the Gala, please contact:
Walter Jayawardene
Communications Manager
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
9-13 Blackhall Place
Dublin 7
Ireland
Tel. + 353 1 799 4503
Mob: +353 87 9981574
Fax. + 353 1 799 4512