The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Israel is pleased and honored to be once again a supporter of the International Women’s Film Festival. This unique event is an integral part of the diverse Israeli film festival scene, which increasingly faces challenges due to changing funding priorities of the Israeli government.
With our support, we aim at strengthening independent film festivals. As the political foundation of the German Green party, the focus of this year’s festival on women and environment is of particular relevance. In all our thirty offices worldwide, promoting climate and environmental issues as well as striving for gender equality and women’s participation in political, economic, social and cultural life are central goals of our work.
In Israel, a recent result of our funding was a benchmark study on women and environmental health by the Public Health Coalition. In Kenya, we have been early and long-time supporters of The Green Belt Movement, founded by 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate Wangari Maathi, who also received the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Petra-Kelly-Award in the same year for her leadership in the areas of human rights, non-violent conflict resolution and environmental protection. She will be remembered at this year’s festival by the screening of “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai”.
We wish both the organizers and the audience a successful and lively festival.
Marc Berthold
Director,
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Israel
For screening details and more information please visit the International Women's Film Festival's website: http://www.en.iwff.net/Programs/Women_Film_Environment/