People across various communities and identities eagerly gazed up at the flickering images of powerful film, excited to engage with the work of filmmakers and artists from across the world in the most recent ACT Human Rights Film Festival screening.

The Festival shares voices through unique stories that unite individuals, encouraging them to advocate for change and take action. The 10th annual ACT Human Rights Film Festival was held April 2-6, drawing a fairly large crowd to engage with themes of social justice and human rights.

Beginning in Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center Theater and ending at The Lyric, the festival presented a diverse range of films to facilitate discussion and call audiences to act.

“The main hope is to get people in the theaters and watch a film that will hopefully change their life,” said Anya Guttormson, publicity and media intern for ACT. “A lot of the films are raw, and they’re about dense topics, but we’re just hoping to enforce change and (make) it accessible.”

ACT also works to provide a platform for various forms of artistic expression outside of filmmaking during the festival. On opening night, the Cultural Enrichment Center of Fort Collins presented the young hip-hop group New Bloodline to share songs of power, change and self-love.

ACT worked with The Lyric to organize a live poetry reading to celebrate the opening of the theater’s exhibition, “Hyphens & Hemispheres: The Places We Come From.” This further communicated ACT’s message of supporting human rights and uplifting voices that were once limited or oppressed.

Across the five days, the festival presented 25 films, showcasing communities all around the world. After each film, audiences got to engage with multiple filmmakers and experts through in-depth Q&As.

“There are violations of human rights happening every day, and they might not be imminent, but they’re hidden everywhere. (The festival) is a message of hope. We all have both a responsibility and the tools to make a change and engage with it.” –Alice Franchi, director of “Simme Tutt’uno”

Jesús Castro Gonzalez is currently a CSU student studying theater and was the moderator for the panel discussion after the film “Separated.” He said he found beauty in seeing how people with different identities embrace one another as they view a variety of heavy and profound topics.

“(These stories) are a reminder of who we are as people in Fort Collins,” Gonzalez said. “Being here with so many people and learning together has been very healing. … We all have a story to tell, and we each have so much to give to this community.”

Guttormson has made memories as a part of ACT and experienced the creative side of activism. She has appreciated seeing the growth of this festival in Northern Colorado, especially because of the presence of international filmmakers and in establishing a platform for human rights education.

“Film festivals are kind of a lost art,” Guttormson said. “They are a way for people to experience film and talk about it and exercise empathy through these stories. Being able to have this space and hold panels with filmmakers from around the world is such a cool opportunity.”

Imani Morris is a CSU alumna from the journalism department and has been making the trailer for the festival since 2018.

“It is nice to have a place to go and watch films with people that care about other people,” Morris said. “I’m glad that there are filmmakers out there that are not afraid to dive in and invest in some of those stories because if they don’t, then nobody will.”

Mark Rinehart is the producer of “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?” which discusses the life and journey of activist Nathan Law. He enjoyed the films’ unique lens, approaching human rights in various ways.

“As a filmmaker, you’re always trying to remove yourself from the minutiae of the aesthetics of the actual filmmaking (so that) you’re just impacted by the story,” Rinehart said. “Despite there being different approaches and subject matters, there’s that through line of human rights.”

Alice Franchi directed the film “Simme Tutt’uno,” which focuses on cultural growth among youth in Scampia, Naples, Italy. She found it to be an honor for audiences far away from the town to get to see and experience her first film.

“The story is reaching people, and it is resonating with them,” Franchi said. “We were really hoping that the human side of it would come through. People wanting to see and bring it in spaces like this is beautiful.”

From the films he watched at the festival, Rinehart said he discovered another level of compassion as a human being.

“Someone who collectively attends this festival and sees all these films as a group will likely walk away feeling more connections that they didn’t think they even had with the fellow humans that are around them,” Rinehart said.

Franchi said she saw how ACT brings awareness to tough issues, encouraging audiences to make a difference in the world. She is looking forward to this festival as it continues to be a light for the Fort Collins community.

“There are violations of human rights happening every day, and they might not be imminent, but they’re hidden everywhere,” Franchi said. “(The festival) is a message of hope. We all have both a responsibility and the tools to make a change and engage with it.”

Reach Sananda Chandy at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.