Image courtesy of Compassion Film Festival

A short film by Portsmouth activist and videographer Sandra Hammel will be shown this Friday at the Compassion Film Festival in Newport, according to a Facebook post. Hammel's 5-minute short, "DARFUR The Abandoned Genocide" was one of the entries selected by the jury for the festival this Friday from 6-7:30 pm at the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport. Tickets are $10 and will benefit the Newport non-profit Looking Upwards.

The festival will include work created by individuals with and without disabilities working with director Rocco Michaluk of Newport's Video & Vision as well as shorts by local and regional filmmakers.

Hammel, who has been outspoken on the ongoing crisis in Darfur, said this about her film. "Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability. It has been flourishing in Darfur since February 2003."

"It is our responsibility as human beings to care about others," Hammel added. "Complicity and impunity will never end a genocide. One voice won't stop a genocide, but that is no excuse to be silent."

The festival features films exploring "what compassion could mean to our world at a time when throughout the world we all are facing tremendous challenges," according to a release posted on the RI State Council on the Arts web site.

Editorial note: Written with material from several press releases.

Update: Spelling of "Hammel" corrected in grafs 3 and 4. I had it right in the first graf, then failed to proof. Sorry about that.