The 12th International Human Rights film festival titled “Stalker” (named after one of the most famous films of internationally renowned film director Andrey Tarkovsky) has opened in Moscow's House of Cinematography.

The festival is very prestigious in Russia. It demonstrates films which are devoted to the issues of human rights.

This year’s festival started with the announcement of new rules.

The jury is now divided into two groups – film directors and human rights advocates.

Some believe this makes the final decision of the jury more objective, as directors often judged films from an artistic point of view, while the activists judged films on how close they were to reality.

As for the festival’s programme, it lists hundreds of Russian and international films this year. Most of them have already received prestigious film prizes.

In addition, there are also films from several young directors. 

“Nowadays young directors do not just try to entertain, they also try to think over what's going on around them,” said Valery Akhadov, a film director and a jury member.

At the festival, there also will be a new prize for “best scriptwriter”.

Internationally acclaimed film director Andrey Konchalovsky was among those who founded this special award.

“Politically oriented films are not commercial, but those who create them are also humans who need to survive. This festival helps them a lot,” stressed Mr Konchalovsky.