Spanish Screening of “Sandstorm” Triumphs at International Human Rights Film Festival in Barcelona

At the International Human Rights Film Festival held in Barcelona, the film “Sandstorm” received a strong and favourable reaction from the audience. This film exposes the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and was recommended by human rights organisations in Spain, as well as the organiser of this film festival. People were shocked and frustrated that basic human rights and freedom of belief are still being seriously trampled on in China, even in the 21st Century. Organisers of film festivals in Andorra, Argentina and some other South American countries’ and areas contacted the festival organiser to ask if the film could feature in their nations’ film festival.

Before the festival, “Sandstorm” was broadcast to the whole South American area and the rest of the world through Spanish satellite HISPASAT. This satellite covers all Spanish speaking countries, as well as North America and Europe.

The programme which broadcast the film is called “Essence and Vision”. This programme is produced in cooperation with the International Film Festival and Spanish human rights organisations. It is operated by ATEI - Asociación de Televisión Educativa Iberoamericana - and has support from big international organisations and a Spanish TV station. Essence and Vision is a programme that speaks out for human rights and has 590 million viewers. Through this programme, millions of people had the chance to hear about the persecution against Falun Gong in China.

Sandstorm started to broadcast regularly from the 14th to the 25th of February. On the second day of broadcasting, the main organiser began to receive telephone calls from all sorts of people, including the representative of a government department. Some of the calls even came from abroad. People expressed their shock and strong concern at the persecution happening in China that is exposed in this film.