Human Rights Nights was born out of a collaboration between the University of Bologna and Fondazione Cineteca of Bologna. The first film screenings took place in 2001 starting from an idea of the Centre for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (CCSDD), an interdepartmental centre of the Law Faculty (University of Bologna) and Hopkins University – Bologna Centre. This embryonic stage was then developed into Human Rights Nights festival thanks to the cooperation of the different departments of the University of Bologna which study human rights, development and migration.
Human Rights Nights has always interacted with the American universities which have academic facility in Bologna (among them: Johns Hopkins University, Centro per l’Impegno Civico Denver University, Centro Studi Università della California, Dickinson College, Spring Hill College).
