“People”: Il Festival di EMERGENCY | 6-8 September 2024
Join us in Reggio Emilia from 6th to 8th September for “People”, the 2024 edition of il Festival di EMERGENCY: three days to celebrate and engage with peace, human rights, culture.
Reserve your seat to watch EMERGENCY Festival events here. Seats are limited: reserve yours now!And if seats for the events you are interested in are no longer available, don’t worry: you can follow them standing, without a ticket.
Since 2021, il Festival di EMERGENCY has annually brought together journalists, writers, representatives of EMERGENCY and contemporary voices, to create a multi-day programme of events and panels. The aim: to foster an environment for collective reflection on the themes of peace and the practice of human rights, and to offer keys for interpretation – and action – to build a better world.
The Festival takes place every year in Reggio Emilia, Italy, at the beginning of September. Join us for this year’s edition, “People”. See below for details of the English-language events, with more to be announced.
Il Festival di EMERGENCY 2024 English Programme
10:00 – 20:00 | Humanity LoversExhibition – Palazzo dei Musei On 15 May 2024, EMERGENCY turned 30 years old. This path recounts its birth, its growth, its vision. HUMANITY LOVERS is a declaration of confidence, where utopia is understood to be achievable: an impossibility that can be made true. We have chosen to illustrate this path through ten themes: WAR, HUMAN RIGHTS, NEUTRALITY, EQUALITY, UTOPIA, CARE, PEOPLE, BEAUTY, CULTURE, CHOICE. Curated by Stefania Vasques with EMERGENCY Exhibition design by Vasques Studio with Carlotta Marani and Massimo Blandini 17:00 | Long NightLuci sulle persone – Teatro San Prosperoby Lynzy Billing (July, 2024) Original version with English subtitles (30 mins) Lynzy Billing, an investigative journalist and photographer with extensive experience in Afghanistan, visited EMERGENCY’s projects across the country to document the organisation’s work through the testimonies of staff and patients. The film’s title evokes the countless long nights marked by mass casualties over the years, a recurring theme throughout the interviews. A Q&A with the creator will follow the film. 23:00 | DJ set by MazZzMusica tra le persone – Piazza San Prospero In collaboration with The RIFF
07:30 | Music at dawnAl risveglio– Piazza San Prospero The first light of morning is greeted by the sounds of violins, viola and cello, between classical music and contemporary sounds for a moment of peace, contemplation and togetherness. String quartet with violinist Valentina Del Re. 10:00 – 20:00 | Humanity LoversExhibition – Palazzo dei Musei On 15 May 2024, EMERGENCY turned 30 years old. This path recounts its birth, its growth, its vision. HUMANITY LOVERS is a declaration of confidence, where utopia is understood to be achievable: an impossibility that can be made true. We have chosen to illustrate this path through ten themes: WAR, HUMAN RIGHTS, NEUTRALITY, EQUALITY, UTOPIA, CARE, PEOPLE, BEAUTY, CULTURE, CHOICE. Curated by Stefania Vasques with EMERGENCY Exhibition design by Vasques Studio with Carlotta Marani and Massimo Blandini 12:15 |What is the state of journalism in Afghanistan?Domande per pensare – Piazza Casotti Although hostilities formally ended in August 2021, Afghanistan’s problems are far from over. While the Taliban’s restrictions on press freedom pose unprecedented challenges, Amu TV stands out as an independent source of news and entertainment for the Afghan people. A television channel in exile, created to respond to the need for information and culture in the country. With LotfullahNajafizada, CEO of Amu TV 15:00 | Mourning in Lod (1h13min) Luci sulle persone – Teatro San Prosperoby Hilla Medalia (Israel, 2023) Original version with English and Italian subtitles The tragic destinies of three families are inextricably intertwined in Lod, one of five ‘mixed’ towns, inhabited by Israelis and Palestinians, some 50 kilometres west of Jerusalem. Conflicting feelings of love, anger and forgiveness run through the town and offer a glimmer of hope, despite everything: a light to counteract a collective state of endless mourning. At the end of the film, a recorded video (18 minutes long) will be shown featuring director Hilla Medalia and the film’s protagonists. 23:00 | DJ set byEx-OtagoMusica tra le persone – Piazza San Prospero
10:00 – 20:00 | Humanity LoversExhibition – Palazzo dei Musei On 15 May 2024, EMERGENCY turned 30 years old. This path recounts its birth, its growth, its vision. HUMANITY LOVERS is a declaration of confidence, where utopia is understood to be achievable: an impossibility that can be made true. We have chosen to illustrate this path through ten themes: WAR, HUMAN RIGHTS, NEUTRALITY, EQUALITY, UTOPIA, CARE, PEOPLE, BEAUTY, CULTURE, CHOICE. Curated by Stefania Vasques with EMERGENCY Exhibition design by Vasques Studio with Carlotta Marani and Massimo Blandini 12:15 | What is happening in Gaza?Domande per pensare – Piazza CasottiThe humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is critical, with tens of thousands of victims, bombarded medical facilities and aid workers deliberately targeted by the Israeli forces. A session to hear the direct testimony of a Palestinian journalist, born in Gaza, who reported on the lives of the people of Gaza for the first six months of the conflict. With Sami Alajrami, journalist and former Gaza correspondent for La Repubblica
People
The EMERGENCY Festival | 6 – 8 September 2024 | Reggio Emilia
What unites one person to another? What divides us? When do we feel part of a community? And when is a community capable of generating change?
Today’s global challenges can either divide us or spur us to recognise our common humanity, beginning with both an individual and collective commitment to imagine – and then build – a more fair and just society.
EMERGENCY’s 30-year commitment to humanitarian work has always put people at the centre. It is our founding principle and our final purpose: all of our actions are aimed at guaranteeing the human rights of all people, without discrimination.
Whether in a country at war, in the countryside of southern Italy or in the Mediterranean Sea, each of our projects stems from an attempt to empathise with another person’s experience, recognising ourselves in them and in their needs.
One person at a time, we try to do our part to build a fairer world.
“Don’t give in to injustice. Observe, live, ask questions, imagine alternatives, find your voice, start acting for a different world.” – Dr Gino Strada, founder of EMERGENCY
We look forward to seeing you in Reggio Emilia for the fourth edition of the Festival!
