Film-for-Law
The framework of international law, maintaining peace and applying creative problem-solving solutions in practice, to all levels of society, is at the base of Film-for-Law. This leads to the strengthening of international law through film and creates manifold opportunities in education, not only for higher scholarly use, but also for the young and for all those for whom international law matters.
Decades of humanitarian advocacy and accumulated knowledge about conflicts and people in the world have been calling for change. Yet film-based advocacy was hardly being used as an efficient tool for a better understanding of international law. There was an acute need to increase field-based advocacy in defense of beneficiaries’ rights and to make their voices heard more widely. Civil society’s general awareness of international law has to be raised in order for genuine accountability to be upheld.
In 2015 AdvocacyProductions started focusing on these issues. The concept of Film-for-Law was born out of the need to use film as an additional source for humanitarian advocacy, where learning is put at center stage for all audiences and participants.
In the words of Former ICJ Judge and President, Abdulqawi A. Yusuf, “International Law needs to be disseminated more widely, because it’s no longer only a system which applies among States alone. It’s a legal system which affects the daily lives of human beings.”
On 2 July 2026 the newly coined concept of Film-for-Law was introduced to a wider audience in a Human Rights Council side event at UN headquarters in Geneva. This means our ideas are now gradually being seen and heard in conjunction with a call for accountability from the bottom up.
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To date, well over 100 renowned university libraries have purchased licenses for AdvocacyProductions’ film material making it possible to teach tens of thousands of students each year and support their learning.
Over 3 million people have viewed BROKEN and The Mandate all over the world.
4-D Film-for-Law Documentary Methodology
Methodology
Our filmmaking methodology is based on an approach to documentary film which aims at objective meaning. Any documentary created in pursuit of objectivity and using the 4-D methodology, our four development stages, will incorporate a holistic appreciation of reality. This is particularly true when dealing with international law. The idea stems from Gestalt theory which recognizes that we will ever only be able to approximate reality.
The ‘4-D Film-for-Law Documentary’ is an approach originally established by our Geneva-based production company, uniquely creating films that serve the strengthening of international law through awareness creation, advocacy and education. It is a concept very distinct from say, Human Rights based films.
The methodology applies the following four steps:
1-D Community of Interest based Research with beneficiaries, experts and other stakeholders applying Participative Action Research (PAR). The bottom-up/top-down approach allows the filmmaker to learn the intricacies of context while developing workable visual solutions.
2-D Concept of Film-for-Law references international law taking queues from the lifeworld and voices of those immediately involved. Knowledge is therefore acquired cyclically in partnership with Communities of Practice. Scriptwriting becomes a chain of learning experiences.
3-D Creation of Objective Meaning through narrated storytelling as well as non-verbal and visual expression. Applying authentic language and narration through interview techniques such as biographical interviews, help design the film’s skeleton.
4-D International Advocacy as a key to this type of film work. Advocacy for practical solutions, while strengthening international law, may include participative donor involvement.
