https://www.gchumanrights.org/gc-news/projects/20-years-of-cinema-human-...
https://www.gchumanrights.org/
Summer School in Venice | 25 August – 3 September 2025
For twenty years, the Summer School has been a unique meeting point for students, activists, filmmakers, and human rights professionals from around the world, offering a unique training opportunity where cinema is explored as a tool for human rights education and advocacy.
Held at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and in partnership with Picture People, the School immerges participants in 10 days of engaging daily lectures, debates, and hands-on workshops, and opens the possibility for them to attend exclusive screenings at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, and then have enriching discussions among them, and also occasionally with prominent directors or filming industry professionals.
As Claudia Modonesi, co-director of the Summer School, highlights in the celebratory video: “We believe in the power of cinema to transform perceptions and inspire change. This is why the Summer School is not just an academic programme, but an immersive experience in advocacy.”
Nick Danziger, award-winning photographer and filmmaker and co-director of the Summer School, adds: “Watching a film together and talking about it afterwards can open perspectives that no textbook can provide.”
The 2025 edition features an internationally recognised faculty, including Manfred Nowak, Christopher Hird, Emma Lawrance, Kelly Matheson, Nick Danziger, and Claudia Modonesi, leaders in human rights, documentary filmmaking, climate justice, and strategic storytelling.
Within these 20 years of history, the Summer School has created strong bonds of collaboration with institutions orbiting around Biennale Cinema, which have enriched the film selection and strengthened networking between participants and the filming industry, namely Biennale College Cinema, Giornate degli Autori and Premio Kinéo.
Biennale College Cinema offers the possibility for CHRA participants to meet with first-time young talented directors and producers and discuss about the challenges of a limited-budget project, and this year’s involved teams are going to be those of Becoming Human by Polen Ly and One Woman One Bra by Vincho Nchogu.
Giornate degli Autori, as independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, has a vast selection of movies, among which many are focused on pressing human rights issues, and they intersect perfectly with recurring themes discussed in the School programme. This year they have suggested attending the screening of Memory by Vladlena Sandu about the collapse of the Chechen Republic and facilitated the organisation of a private meeting with the director.
Premio Kinéo, a cultural association and official collateral award of the Venice Film Festival, collaborates with Global Campus in spreading awareness of and promoting the intersection between human rights and cinema culture, offering visibility to the award and awardees, and this is done through the awarding of the Premio Kinéo & GCHR Award. This year the award will be presented to Monica Guerritore on 30 August at 2 PM at the Hotel Excelsior Lido of Venice, recognising her lifelong commitment to humanitarian causes, also reflected in her book Quel che so di lei.
As it celebrates its 20th anniversary, the Summer School continues to empower a new generation of changemakers bridging art and activism and reaffirming the enduring impact of film on human rights.
Follow the Conversation
Stay updated on the Summer School and Biennale Cinema 2025 through our official hashtags:
#HumanRightsEducation #MediaActivism #GCHumanRights #Venezia82 #BiennaleCinema2025
For further details about the programme: gchumanrights.org/chra.
