The third annual In Light (Human Rights Documentary) Film Festival (ILFF) is aimed at promoting and supporting the intersections of human rights and ethnographic documentary films. ILFF was started by a group of graduate students interested in human rights and documentary film, in both theoretical and practical ways. ILFF was thus shaped by students for students and has two main pillars: Through new and powerful documentary films, as well as via academic events, the festival is meant to engage the undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members with professionals and scholars in the field of human-rights documentary filmmaking. As one of the few human rights documentary film festivals in the Midwest and one of the few in the world staffed solely by students and faculty, ILFF has a strong academic focus, meant not only to inform through films and debates, but also to educate and train through scholarly roundtables and master classes.
Documentary films have long been used as effective teaching aids and, at the same time, as tools for public debate on contemporary socio-political issues. By continuing our festival, we wish to create a bridge to facilitate dialogue between professionals in documentary film and scholars of all ages. Guest filmmakers/scholars will be present at each film screening to participate in a post-film discussion. Visit the ILFF website to learn more about the festival.