Films on water and human rights open 10 December

In observance of International Human Rights Day, Cinemata launched “Rising Waters, Raising Rights: Human Rights Through the Lens of Water,” a film program that explores how water connects to survival, livelihood, memory, and resistance. The nationwide online screenings run from 10 to 20 December 2025, with the Philippine kickoff taking place today, 10 December, at 2:00 p.m. at the UP Film Institute Videotheque in Quezon City.

The Philippine edition, curated by independent filmmaker and film educator Eunice Helera, opens the regional initiative examining water as both lifeline and battleground for human rights. Helera, whose work focuses on documentary practice, community cinema, and environmental storytelling, gathered short films and documentaries tackling climate vulnerability, coastal labor, displacement, queer identity, and community resistance.

The launch is co-organized with Film Workers Against Corruption and Elevated Frames PH, in partnership with Kinoise PH and Laya Coffee Diliman, with UPFI Film Center as the official venue partner. Additional community-based screenings across the Philippines will follow within the 10–20 December run.

After the Philippine launch, the program will extend to Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia, with the regional kickoff on 13 December 2025 led by Malaysian filmmaker and cultural worker Nadira Ilana.

The Philippine edition is divided into three thematic streams: “Sinking Grounds: Climate, Flood, and Survival,” which depicts environmental destruction and human adaptation; “Tides of Silence: Queer Currents and Mermaid Longings,” which explores identity, longing, and myth; and “Fisherfolk & Frontlines: Labor and Livelihood at Risk,” which documents the lives of coastal and maritime workers facing economic and ecological pressures.

Through these stories, “Rising Waters, Raising Rights” presents how water shapes human rights struggles and reflects the realities of communities bound by both survival and resistance.