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Cambodian filmmakers have the chance to show case their educational films as part of the first Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) film competition.
The UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), with the support of the Royal Television Society, has launched the competition to worldwide filmmakers.
Founded in 2012 by former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, along with actress, Angelina Jolie and UN Special Envoy of the High Commissioner for Refugees, PSVI aims to raise public consciousness of sexual violence against women, men, girls and boys in situations of armed conflict, and rally global action to end it.
“The term ‘conflict-related sexual violence’, refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict,” according to the 2019 report of the UN Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.
Tariq Ahmad - UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, released in a statement that rape and other forms of sexual violence continue to be used as weapons of war in conflicts around the world. These crimes range from opportunistic acts of brutality to deliberate torture and systematic campaigns of ethnic cleansing.
He further emphasized that competition is an opportunity for filmmakers to fight against the sexual violence by raising awareness on injustice and empowering survivors as film is a powerful tool to shine a spotlight on sexual violence in conflict and help to bring about real change.
Candidates can submit films about any theme related to ending sexual violence in conflict, either in fiction or based on real experiences.
Darathtey Din, Political and Public Diplomacy Officer at the British Embassy in Phnom Penh expressed that PSVI is a global issue. It does not happen in Cambodia alone and the British embassy is working in many places around the world. They wanted Cambodian producers to have confidence to join this competition by using creative ideas to study the issue through film and bring Cambodia into the international stage.
The winning entries will be invited to attend the PSVI international conference, Time For Justice:Putting Survivors First, in London from 18 to 20 November, where the winning and commended films will be screened and promoted across the UK’s global network of embassies.
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