STUDENTS at Oxford Brookes University are putting on a festival of films focusing on human rights and justice.

It will be the eighth annual Human Rights Film Festival, and all the movies, which feature Burma, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, Kenya and Western Sahara, have been chosen by students on the university’s masters degree in development and emergency practice.

In total, 15 films will be screened at locations across the city.

Many of the viewings – which are free and open to the public – will be followed by discussions led by speakers with personal experience of the issues raised.

Festival co-ordinator David Woodward said: “This is a great opportunity for people not only to see some fantastic films but also to increase their awareness of injustice and oppression.

“We have some amazing speakers attending who will provide first-hand testimony and an opportunity for the audience to really get a feel for the facts behind each film.”

The festival runs from this Friday, February 26, to Friday, March 5.

The speakers include former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Deghayes, who will speak after a screening of Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo, at Headington Hill Hall, Oxford Brookes, on Friday, March 5.

Ko Aung, a Burmese political prisoner and activist, will speak at the festival launch, following a screening of Burma VJ, at the Main Lecture Theatre, Oxford Brookes on Friday, February 26.

Other films planned include Milk, a biopic of gay activist Harvey Milk, which will be screened at Phoenix Picture House, Walton Street, on Sunday, February 28, and To Shoot an Elephant, an eyewitness account of everyday life in Gaza, to be screened at Oxford Quaker Meeting House, St Giles, on Saturday, February 27.

There will also be music on the launch night at Baby Simple, Cowley Road, with performances from Sarah Williams White, Toyface, and Dizraeli.

Manmeet Kaur, a scholarship student from India, said she had enjoyed the experience of putting the festival together.

She said: “It’s not just any festival, but is about human rights which affect each and every one of us.

“I am sure people will feel empathy for the subjects of the films and will learn about the issues.”

Although the festival starts in earnest this Friday, The Burma Play: A Comedy of Terror, was performed at the North Wall Arts Centre, Summertown, last Friday as a precursor to the film screenings.

For a full list of films, talks and locations, see humanrightsfilmfest.org