How to protect civilians in times of war?

February 18 2017

Film screenings and debates at the film festival Human Rights Human Wrongs.

In connection with the screenings of the Fritt Ord-supported documentary film Nowhere to Hide about Iraqi family father and nurse Nori Sharif, Fritt Ord, the Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival and Ten Thousand Images invite the public to three debates at the Cinematek:

The struggle for Iraq’s future – Wednesday, 15 February, at 7.45 p.m.
Media on War (in English) – Saturday, 18 February, at 6.30 p.m.
How to protect civilians in times of war? – Saturday, 18 February, at 8 p.m.

About the event: “How to protect civilians in times of war?”
The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are terrifying examples that show how the international community fails to give sufficient help to civilians who are trapped in blankets of bombs and exchanges of fire. We find many heroes in civil society: those who dig people out of bombed houses and buildings, those who transport food, clothing and medicines between bursts of fire and those who to try to rebuild cities that have been totally destroyed.

How does the international community try to help civilians in distress today, and why do we get the feeling that international players are standing on the sidelines? What should be done to help and support civil society when it finds itself deadlocked in the most serious war situations? How can one improve preparedness and do more on the ground when conditions are extreme?

Panel:
Ole Solvang
, deputy director of the division for investigating and reporting breaches of human rights in crisis situations at Human Rights Watch.
Cecilie Hellestveit, lawyer, author, researcher, and one of Norway’s foremost Middle East analysts.
Hans Husum, physician specialising war injuries and author of the manual “War Surgery: Field Manual” – a textbook in War-time Surgery.
Manal Alsheik, Iraqi poet and author, associated with the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN)

Moderator: Stig Arild Pettersen, (founder of the podcast “Du Verden!”)

Time and venue: Saturday, 18 February, 8.00 p.m. at Cinemateket



The film Nowhere to Hide is scheduled for the following screenings at Human Rights Human Wrongs:

Wednesday, 15 February, 5.30 p.m. at Cinemateket
Friday, 17 February, 1.00 p.m. at Cinemateket
Saturday, 18 February, 4.00 p.m. at Cinemateket

Read more about the Oslo première here.

About the film festival:
The Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival is being arranged from 14 to 19 February, and features 25 Norwegian and foreign documentary films of current interest. The debates are part of HRHW Live, the segment of the festival programme that includes debates, exhibitions, etc. The full festival programme can be downloaded here (pdf).

News

Eirin Larsen and Hadia Tajik join the Fritt Ord Board

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Eirin Larsen (36) and Hadia Tajik (42) bring valuable experience from journalism, technology, politics and jurisprudence to the Fritt Ord Board.

Making the film «Farouk» – on the geologist that secured Norway its oil

July 1 2025

Geologist Farouk Al-Kasim joined the the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in 1968, shaping Norwegian petroleum resource management for decades afterwards. Now, documentary film director Halkawt Mustafa and producer Janne Hjeltnes are making a film about Al-Kasim’s life and reflections.
“Farouk tells me something in this film that he has not talked about before, because he has always told the version he feels Norway wanted to hear,” recounts Mustafa, who has Iraqi roots himself.

Read the interview with the director and see the list of grants awarded by Fritt Ord in June 2025.

Bård Vegar Solhjell new chair of the Fritt Ord Board

July 1 2025

Bård Vegar Solhjell (53) has taken over as the new chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board.

Cultural newspaper TBATBA.no and new journalism grants – June 2025

June 19 2025

– Cultural journalism is under pressure. Part of the problem is media outlets failing to cover culture in formats and ways that appeal to people under 30, says Ida Madsen Hestman, editor, freelance critic, and founder of TBATBA.no. Last year, she started the kind of publication she herself would want to read.

The magazine TBA is among those awarded funding in June 2025. See the full list of grants in Norsk Journalistikk.