Cinema evening for freedom: Sacharov Prize and impressive film in Vienna

Cinema evening for freedom: Sacharov Prize and impressive film in Vienna

On Saturday, December 7, 2024, the documentary "Once Upon A Time in Venezuela" will be shown in the Vienna Top Kino. The event that is in the context of the This Human World - International Human Rights Film Festival takes place, is organized on the occasion of the awarding of the Sakharov Prize for intellectual freedom in 2024. After the film there is a panel discussion with the MEPs Lukas Mandl (ÖVP) and Andreas Schieder (SPÖ) and the director Anabel Rodríguez Ríos. Frank Piplat, the head of the European Parliament's liaison office in Austria, will moderate the discussion.

Sakharov award winner 2024

The radiance of this event is reinforced by the honor of the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and the elected President Edmundo González Urrutia. These two personalities were honored for their tireless efforts for the restoration of freedom and democracy in Venezuela. In her film, Anabel Rodríguez Ríos documents the suffering of the villagers of the disappeared village of Congo Mirador, which stands for the moral and physical decay of Venezuela, which is brought about by environmental destruction and an authoritarian regime.

In the context of the event, the challenges that journalists are faced with today, especially with regard to slapping suits. Such tactical complaints against public participation are increasingly being used to silence critical voices, as formulated in the resolution of the European Parliament to strengthen media freedom and media pluralism. According to the resolution, it is crucial that the Member States take measures to protect independent journalism and civil society, and it also demands that legal protection in the EU is reinforced in order to prevent such attacks that can lead to the intimidation of media professionals, as in the document of the European Parliament confirmed.