Dutch Princess Mabel inaugurated the The Hague Film Festival 'Movies That Matter' Thursday evening, accompanied by her husband Prince Friso. "I am delighted to join you for the opening night of this important festival of human rights films. I am especially pleased that the festival’s first film is "Pray the Devil Back to Hell", she said in her opening speech.
"Movies can of course play an important role in connecting us beyond our own borders and in inspiring change. That is what Movies That Matter is all about – explaining big issues in accessible ways and helping us to understand what is happening beyond the limits of our own experience."
"A great film creates empathy between those in the film and the audience. Not sympathy, empathy: a feeling that we are connected with the people and stories we are watching – that what we do, can touch anyone on this planet."
"Archbishop Desmond Tutu led a discussion after the screening in Davos. He said – in that special way that only he can – that the women (in the film) showed us what ordinary people are able to do: that people are resilient; that they are incredible; that people can laugh even in the toughest times; and that every single one of us can make a difference."
"And he appealed to all of us to support people who, like the women in Liberia, decide to recover their lives – from war, from corrupt politicians, from poverty, from violence or from disease", Princess Mabel stated. © GPD; Photo by © Capital Photos, Frank van Beek
Comments