Wednesday 21 - Friday 30 March:
INTERCULTURAL & ANTI-RACISM PROGRAMME 2012

This year the Intercultural and Anti Racism Festival will take place over ten days from Wednesday 21-Friday 30 March.  For the seventh consecutive year, the Nerve Centre is delighted to be highlighting this important event offering primary, secondary schools, colleges, community groups, and the general public, a programme of international films, documentaries, presentations, workshops, and outreach screenings, exploring the themes and issues involved.  For the first time the Intercultural & Anti-racism Festival will be delivered in three locations: Derry, Belfast, and Strabane. 

This annual event is aimed at raising awareness around themes such as racism, discrimination, harassment – including racist bullying.  It seeks to educate children, young people, and the wider public, to accept, value, and embrace diversity in all its forms – whether race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, the poor, migrants, minorities, those with physical disabilities – as well as encouraging awareness of local and global issues like war and human rights abuses.

Highlights of this year’s event include a talk by human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who has been campaigning for human rights for over 40 years, on issues of democracy, civil liberties, social equality, environmental protection, peace and global justice.  From 1971, he was a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front in London; staging the first ever gay rights protest in a communist country, East Germany, in 1973.

Other highlights include screenings of the film ‘The Lady’ which is the extraordinary story of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  The films screenwriter Rebecca Frayn will provide a special introduction to this film, and answer questions after the screening.  Also included in this year’s programme is the innovative documentary ‘The First Movie’. Made by Belfast born Mark Cousins, who gives kids in Iraq cameras so that they can record their day-to-day lives in a war zone. The result is magical!        

The full programme will be announced soon.