Cinema for Peace Awards are prizes awarded by the Cinema for Peace Foundation, a Berlin-based initiative that claims to raise awareness for the social relevance of films. Since 2002, Cinema for Peace has been inviting film makers, humanitarian and human rights activists, and public figures to its annual awards ceremony in Berlin to honor a selection of cinematic works on humanitarian and environmental issues. The event occurs at the same time as (but not as part of) the Berlin International Film Festival.

History

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Jaka Bizilj launched the Cinema for Peace initiative with the annual gala as a platform for communicating humanitarian, political and social issues through the medium of film. Bob Geldof described the awards gala as "the Oscars with brains".

Activities

Cinema for Peace as global initiative regularly acts in many countries. Cinema for Peace screenings, campaigns, advocacy events, and galas have been taking place for example at the Filmfestival in Cannes, in Los Angeles on the occasions of the Golden Globes and on Oscar weekend, in Uganda at the conference of the International Criminal Court, and in Berlin, where Cinema for Peace annually highlights the most valuable films of the year at the Cinema for Peace Gala. The Cinema for Peace Foundation organizes various monthly screenings, mainly through partnering cinemas, such as the Schikaneder in Vienna Cinema for Peace distributed the Bosnian Oscar-winning war satire No Man's Land by Danis Tanovic. In 2014, Jaka Bizilj as the Founder of Cinema for Peace invited Pussy Riot to the Olympic Games in Sochi and brought them to Hollywood and to Washington in order to promote global human rights responsibility and advocate a global Sanction List for human rights offenders.

Committee and supporters

Among the Cinema for Peace speakers have been: Buzz Aldrin, Antonio Banderas, Deepak Chopra, George Clooney, Catherine Deneuve, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bob Geldof, Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John, Nicole Kidman, Sir Christopher Lee, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Hilary Swank, Wim Wenders, Ban Ki-moon, Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Fatou Bensouda as well as Mikhail Gorbachev.

Awards

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024