Breaking stereotypes

4th Competition of ideas and proposals for an intercultural approach
Years 2007/2008

Rome, 20 March 2009
NIHMP Conference Hall

Award ceremony for the Competition
BREAKING STEREOTYPES
Moving images against discrimination

A whole day of intercultural debate with the school world about the role of stereotypes as a cause of discriminations took place on the occasion of the award ceremony for the 6 schools winner of the short film competition “Breaking Stereotypes – 4th Competition: ideas and proposals for an intercultural approach”, promoted in 2008 by UNAR. The event took place on 20 March, the day before the United Nations anti-racism day.
UNAR, the National Office for the Fight against Racial Discrimination of the Department for Rights and Equal Opportunities, organized the prize competition “Breaking Stereotypes” for the year 2007-2008. It aimed at stimulating proposals and practices for intercultural communication in the school world and involved all Italian secondary schools. Breaking Stereotype devoted particular attention to the analysis of stereotypes and their role in the construction of discrimination behaviours, supporting actions against this kind of prejudice and promoting intercultural and multiethnic exchange.
The main objective of the competition was to stimulate national initiatives with the purpose to abandon prejudices against foreigners, Rom and other ethnic and linguistic minorities, the elderly and disabled people and every kind of diversity.
For its constant commitment against disadvantage and diversity in general, NIHMP was the suitable place for the award ceremony of Breaking Stereotypes. The Institute studies in deep how interethnic stereotypes form and develop leading to discrimination and racism. This is the cultural and scientific basis of NIHMP activity, which has now reached the extreme borders of twenty-fist century Europe, the shores of Lampedusa, the arrival point of thousands of migrants and the starting point for a difficult integration.

UNAR awarded a prize for the 6 best short films about the fight against stereotypes and discrimination, under the motivation that by realizing the films, the students had contributed to the creation of a more united society. Indeed school, as a place of education, has outstanding importance in eradicating discrimination which often leads to violence, even in school classes.
For the award ceremony an iconographic exposition on prejudices and racial stereotypes was set up. The short films awarded showed the capacity of communicating the importance of the intercultural communication, even outside the school context. The award ceremony was an opportunity for NIHMP to start a debate on cultural diversity, discrimination, integration and intercultural approach from the student’s perspective.
Furthermore, since 10 February 2009 for three weeks NIHMP hosted the exhibition “Breaking the Stereotype”, an important project started in the interdepartmental research centre “Cultures in Contact” of Innsbruck University in collaboration with "Kadir Has” University of Instambul, “Ege and Dokuz Eylül” Izmir University and “Notre Dame” University of Beirut. It presented a research about the reciprocal stereotyped representation of Eastern and Western cultures.