The video entitled "Genocide in Burundi" A Film By Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of Burundi, is set out like a real movie trailer and created in the style of numerous films based on African tragedies such as “Hotel Rwanda”, “The Last King of Scotland” and “Johnny Mad Dog”. The campaign has been created to showcase a powerful message that if the situation in Burundi continues to deteriorate, this fictional trailer could become an actual real-life movie in the not so distant future. The only movie you wouldn’t want to see.
“Presenting our campaign as a movie, a media which everyone can easily relate to, allows us to get our message to a large global audience. However Burundi’s descent into hell is no scenario written in Hollywood, it is really taking place right now. We must act before it is too late and take action to end the serious crimes that are currently being perpetrated in the country,” declared Dimitris Christopoulos, FIDH President.
[TRAILER] Genocide in #Burundi: We need your help to prevent the release of this film #StopThisMovie https://t.co/qlcsa2Lz0F pic.twitter.com/pAoXlWKKX5
— FIDH (@fidh_en) November 16, 2016
At the end of the trailer, internet users are invited to sign a petition. Written by Anschaire Nikoyagize, ITEKA president, the petition is a letter, a cry for help asking the African Union and the UN to deploy a peacekeeping mission to protect the civilian populations and prevent a possible genocide.
A CAMPAIGN BASED ON THE MODEL OF A BLOCKBUSTER FILM LAUNCH
The “Genocide in Burundi” trailer is presented on the French movie platform AlloCiné (similar to IMDB), as if it were a real movie trailer. It is also shown for one week on an electronic billboard in New York’s Times Square from November 15-22, as well as in many French theaters as if it were a real movie trailer. To top it off, on social networks, FIDH will call out to a number of international public figures and movie stars with personalized messages.
We Are Social France have led the campaign strategy, creative idea, editorial plan, content creation, influencer outreach and media campaign including screenings in Times Square.
BEHIND THE FICTION, A REALITY: REPRESSION & GENOCIDAL DYNAMICS
The #StopThisMovie campaign is designed to raise public awareness of the situation in Burundi highlighted in the report ‘Repression and Genocidal Dynamics in Burundi’ that FIDH revealed on November 15. This 200-pages report is based on facts and analyses compiled over several months, led by FIDH and ITEKA (the Burundian League for human rights). It demonstrates that crimes of the most serious nature are currently being committed in Burundi: murders, kidnappings, disappearances, torture, rape and massive detentions, ordered by the highest ranking officials.
Extremely worrying phenomenon: the government’s propaganda is founded on an ethnic ideology. It assimilates members of the opposition, of civil society, journalists and Tutsis as enemies of the regime. Enemies that must be eliminated. Burundi also just suspended its cooperation with the UN and withdrew itself from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
About FIDH FIDH is an international NGO committed to the defense of human rights. It federates 184 organizations in 112 countries. Since 1922, throughout the world, FIDH investigates, documents, and urges states to adopt policies respectful of human rights. FIDH also prosecutes the authors of human rights violations and supports victims in legal proceedings. FIDH’s headquarters are in Paris and the organization has offices in Abidjan, Bamako, Brussels, Conakry, Geneva, The Hague, New-York, Pretoria and Tunis. http://www.fidh.org/ About ITEKA The Burundian League for human rights – Ligue ITEKA was created in 1991. Its vision consists of a democratic and unitarian Burundi where peace and security rely on the Rule of Law. Its mission is to defend and promote human rights and the development of the Rule of Law in Burundi. ITEKA has a network of 17 federations (one in each province) with 32 sections in the whole country. www.ligue-iteka.bi |