Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravičius’s “Barzakh”, a movie about the Russian-Chechen war, has won the Amnesty International Slovenia’s award for human rights as part of the 14th Ljubljna Film Festival of Documentary Films, which was held from March 22-29, 2012.

The Ljubljana International Documentary film festival is a showcase for some of the most cutting edge filmmaking from across the globe. Exploring social and political themes, the festival’s films portray the world in a realistic form through the craft of documentary-making. The festival also works with Amnesty International Slovenia to award a prize for best film on the theme of human rights. The three member international jury, selected by Amnesty International Slovenia, bestows the award to the best film on a human rights subject among the films screened in the main competitive section of the festival.

“Barzakh” is a documentary movie about a Chechen family looking for their missing son who was charged with anti-Russian activity in the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The movie has already won plenty of awards: “Ecumenical Jury Award” and “Amnesty International Award” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011; “Best Film” at the Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival in 2011; “Best Film” at the Vilnius International Documentary Film Festival in 2011; “Best Debut” at the Vilnius International Film Festival; “Silver Crane – Best Documentary in 2011” from the Lithuanian Film Academy; and “Cinema Quality Award” from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco