WOW FILM FESTIVAL
CREATING SAFER SPACE
WOW 2024 presents 7 projects realised with the support of the Creating Safer Space project an international research and impact collaboration, which aims to understand and support unarmed civilian protection and self-protection
amidst violent conflict.
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LA FIESTA
La Fiesta is a piece inspired by the findings of the research project “Art That Protects" and performed by Harlequin and the Jugglers. Witnessed by 600 spectators at the renowned Pablo Tobón Uribe Theater of Medellín on May 17, 2023, this magical piece transported the audience into a realm of wonder. Among them were members of artistic-cultural organizations from vulnerable urban areas, underscoring the transformative power of art in communities affected by urban violence.
STORIES OF UNARMED CIVILIAN PROTECTION
This series of films is about civilians harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces for a dignified life. Drawing from real-life experiences in Colombia, Nigeria, and Palestine, these films are born from projects commissioned by the Creating Safer Space research network. Developed collaboratively by academics, communities, and accompaniers, they delve into the practice of unarmed civilian protection, showcasing historical resistance and innovative approaches to imagining, implementing, and sustaining peace.
WATER CONFLICTS + panel discussion
These 3 videos emerged from a project that explored water conflicts around the rivers La Paloma (Argelia), Santo Domingo (San Francisco) and Dormilón (San Luis) in the Oriente region of the department of Antioquia, Colombia. Peasant communities and organizations in the region have a history of social mobilization against extractivist projects such as hydroelectric power plants, mining, and construction works in protected areas. These projects, often backed by armed actors, have changed the landscape and agricultural lifestyle of many municipalities. Community self-protection in these contexts includes cultivating social practices and relationships aimed at caring for water and life.
+ nodens (2023) follows Afon Hafren from source to mouth, exploring what is both strange and familiar through walking with river ecologies. It expresses the feeling of knowing and unknowing, continuously, and simultaneously, with the ever-changing iterations of water.
PALESTINE: CIVIL
PROTECTION TO STAY ON OUR LAND
This short film explores the Palestinians' non-violent response to ethnic-cleansing in the South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta). Produced by local filmmakers, it documents the experience of Palestinian farmers and shepherds of the area and how self-protection has been
enhanced by the existence of international civilians in the area who are there to film and document the daily threats of expulsion and dispossession by Israel and the settlers.
