About True Heroes Platform

Mission
Organisation

True Heroes Films (THF) started in Geneva as a filmmaking organisation: human rights documentaries, portraits of defenders, thematic work on torture, peace, dialogue. Our approach was never simply media or journalism - the human story and the evidentiary record, always together. We work in partnership with major international media outlets and broadcasters such as BBC, international organisations including UN agencies and human rights bodies, and governments. We run a fully equipped studio next to the UN building, at the centre of international human rights work.

From our collaborations and field work, we saw how much powerful information existed - research, documentation, testimonies, legal frameworks, the actions people were taking - but it was scattered and often disconnected from the human stories at its centre. We wanted to bring it together from a personal and human perspective.

The platform grew from that experience. The Digest of awards and laureates, the methods and training, the toolbox and submission flows - they came from collaborations in the field. We named the shift explicitly: from making films about defenders to building infrastructure for them.

THF is still a Geneva-based association (founded 2006 in the Netherlands, moved 2013 to Geneva). Revenue comes from projects and partnerships. The committee - Chair: Hans Thoolen, Secretary: Katharina Vogeli, Treasurer: Lukas Biedermann, and Margaret Sekaggya - oversees a core team of filmmakers, communication specialists and developers. We often work in hostile environments; for safety, only the committee is listed here. Names of the team are available upon request; not all members are publicly listed.

Contact: True Heroes Films Association, 3 rue de Varembé, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland - info@trueheroesfilms.org, www.trueheroesfilms.org. We also have an office in the Netherlands: Hooghiemstraplein 165, 3514 AZ Utrecht.

The Digest: Method & Scope

The world’s leading database of human rights awards. The True Heroes Awards Digest is an interactive database of Human Rights Awards and their laureates. Search and discover awards from across the globe and learn more about the winners they celebrate.

About The Digest 2021

The number of international human rights awards has surged to over 220, with half of the awards created in just the last 20 years. In order to assist the human rights world in finding and accessing all these awards and their winners, True Heroes Films (THF) has put together a unique Digest of international human rights awards and their laureates.

The digest of Awards came online in July 2017. Now (2 February 2021), the digest of Laureates is also ready for publication. The following donors have made the work possible: Bread for the World Germany, the City of Geneva and the Netherlands Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

The idea of the Digests and much of the initial research was done by Hans Thoolen in the context of writing an article on Human Rights Awards for the Special Issue of the OUP Journal of Human Rights Practice on “The Protection of Human Rights Defenders” in November 2013. Special mention for her contribution should go to Luce van de Weg.

International scope: The awards digest covers only international and regional awards - meaning awards which aim to award people from every country in the world or that region. A problem remains that a few awards are “international” in name but are given disproportionately to nationals of the country of the award giver. Users can assess this for themselves in the laureates part of the Digest.

Selection of awards: This remains a difficult topic. Many awards do not use the word “human rights” in their name; their name may reflect an inspirational figure (e.g. Mandela, Sakharov, Martin Ennals), the founder/funder (e.g. Nobel, Magsaysay) or the issuing organisation (e.g. Council of Europe, UN, Front Line). Quite a few awards whose main stated goal is “peace”, “activism”, “freedom” or “humanitarian action” are given so often to human rights defenders that they are included (e.g. Nobel Peace Prize, Sydney Peace Prize). Now that the Laureates digest is completed and linked, it is easier for the public to judge the extent to which an award is truly a human rights award. In certain fields (film, literature, academia) many awards with human rights in the title are not covered exhaustively; scholarships or fellowships presented as awards are also not yet included.

Past awards: When an award ceases to exist there is rarely a public statement. The Digest still includes those and their winners, but mentions that the award has ceased.

Prize money: Many awards are honorary; only half state or imply any monetary component, and the exact amount is often missing. The Digest allows searches limited to awards that come with a monetary component where information is available. A few awards prefer not to state the amount for security reasons.






Laureates

There are over 2,760 winners of awards identified by name. Most awards regularly go to human rights defenders but sometimes to persons whom few would consider HRDs (e.g. some politicians). Completeness was chosen over filtering; users can judge for themselves. Filters allow users to search for laureates by gender, nationality, age and profession.






General Warnings and Disclaimers

THF sees human rights defenders as role models for the media and the public. However, the argument cannot be reversed to imply that only those who get awards are worthy of support. There are simply not enough awards in the world to cover all deserving cases.

THF has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in the Digest is correct and up to date. We have based ourselves first of all on publicly available sources (websites, publications) and on information received from individuals working for the award givers. THF and the authors are not responsible for any errors that have been provided by third parties.

The Digest remains a work in progress and lacunae will have to be filled with the assistance of the award-givers and feedback from users. One of the goals of getting the Digests online is to gradually improve this information.

The images used are an artist’s impression of the award winners. Some are based on images available in the public domain. Where applicable we have tried to contact copyright holders. If there is still a problem please let us know.

Corrections: If you believe an international award or a laureate is missing, or that information in the Digest is missing, out-of-date or incorrect, please send the correct information to thedigest@trueheroesfilms.org, stating why the new information is more correct or complete, and giving your name and function in relation to the award or laureate in question.

Images: Profile images and illustrations in the Digest are AI-generated artist impressions and do not represent real individuals. If you believe your image rights or any other rights have been infringed, please contact us at platform@trueheroes.org and we will respond promptly.