Oxfam launches the first edition of the 'AcTUa' International Short Film Festival

The festival will present awards for best fiction and non-fiction short films on the impact of violence on development

Today in Madrid Oxfam launched the first edition of the AcTUa (Act!) International Short Film Festival, a new cultural event that aims to raise awareness of day-to-day life in poor countries while also discovering new cinema talents.

The Festival will focus on a different subject each year. This year the event will deal with violence, and alternatives to it, on the road to peace and social justice. People from all over the world interested in competing in AcTUa can send their films to Oxfam before April 15. The Festival will be held in Madrid on June 8-10.

“The use and abuse of arms and violence contributes to human rights violations, fuel conflict and domestic violence in impoverished communities in both developing and developed countries," says Irene Milleiro, Oxfam's Festival Coordinator. "Film can contribute to ending the culture of violence through the power of pictures and stories.”

This year the Festival will also contribute to the Control Arms campaign, run jointly by Amnesty International, IANSA and Oxfam all over the world. The campaign has already won support from over 650,000 people who want to bring about the signing of an international treaty to control the arms trade.

Among those backing this campaign are well-known artists such as Carlinhos Brown, Joseph Fiennes, John Hanna, Emmanuelle Béart, Bob Geldof, Youssou N’Dour, Manu Chao, Franz Ferdinand, Carlos Santana and Billy Bragg.

Any short film produced after June 2001 and focusing on the Festival's themes can participate. A jury of directors, scriptwriters, actors and critics will select a 20-film short-list of movies which will then be shown in June in Madrid. The Festival will then present awards to the two best films in each category (fictional and documentary).

More information for participants at www.controlarms.org